INSPORTSRATION  
動 見
2013.07.13~08.16

Curator／Sean C.S. Hu

Every four years the Olympics return as the biggest sports event that captivates the world. Beneath this athletic carnival, what we witness is not only a form of demonstration of the host country’s capability and interactions between cultures but also a necessity to create a domestic market through massive construction projects as well as a great opportunity to attract the capital of global corporations to for earning profits and promoting the host city. Moreover, the Olympics have also become a stage for the political struggle between nations. As early as the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union had boycotted each other and transformed the Olympics into a contest between the opposite state systems of capitalism and communism. It has even become a site of bloodshed for the Middle Eastern countries to express their political stands. In the past Olympic Games, Taiwan has also sought opportunities to be seen hoping to gain international publicity while facing consequently the inevitable political suppression of China. 

Therefore, the term, the Olympics, has become a complex noun as well as verb and manifested as an encapsulating spectacle in the era of globalization. No matter we are looking at the sports per se or the competition in general, it is clear that the modern Olympics serves as the epitome and representation of the global reality. It is a presentation centering on the dominating Western powers, an international summit of powerful countries, an exotic exposition of uprising countries as well as an exhibition of multinational corporations. Hence, the Olympics is not simply a sports event, and sports are no longer athletic games. 

In recent years, Taiwan has gained some particular insights on athletic competitions, from the criticism following the unexpected setbacks in the 2012 Olympics, to the excellent performance of Taiwanese baseball players, to the world champion of female professional golf, to phenomenon triggered by Jeremy Lin, etc. All these evidence point out that our lives are closely connected to sports and make visible our collective desire and reality in the era of globalization. “Insportsration” hopes to suggest an alternative direction as well as way of thinking for contemporary society in terms of the sports industry, environment and thinking.

Starting from this modern athletic event, “Insportsration” attempts to review and reinterpret sports and the multiple meanings behind them. The artworks of Taiwanese, Indian and Australian artists will redefine the cultural meanings of sports, and integrate various sports such as gymnastics, soccer, dancing, yoga, and ultimate sports into the diverse languages of behavioral art, post-colonialism, national identity, international politics, class conflict, subcultures, and gender identity, etc.

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策展人／胡朝聖

每四年舉辦一次的奧運盛會，已成為目前全世界最為關注的運動賽事，在這個嘉年華底下，其所呈現的不只是各國在運動競賽上的國力展現與文化交流，更成為主辦國大興土木創造內需市場，集中全球企業資本開創商機以及城市行銷的大好機會；除此之外，奧運也成為許多國家政治角力的舞台，早在冷戰時期，美、蘇兩國彼此抵制，成了資本主義與共產主義的國家體制與兩大陣營的擂台賽，甚至成了中東國家表達政治立場的血腥場域。台灣在過去的奧運賽事上，極力尋求表現，增加國際曝光，當然不可避免的，依然必須面對中國大陸的政治打壓。

奧運在此成了一個複雜的名詞與動詞，成了全球化下的巨大奇觀，不論是純運動自身或是競賽而言，我們可以發現奧運所指涉的就是全球現況的縮影與再現，是一種以西方政治勢力制訂的遊戲規則為主的發表會、世界強權國家的高峰會、後進國家異國情調的博覽會以及跨國連鎖企業的展售會；至此，奧運不在是奧運，而運動也不再只是運動而已。

這幾年台灣在運動競賽上頗具心得，不論是2012年奧運成績引起國內輿論的不滿、台灣運動員在美國職棒的精采表現、女子高球的世界冠軍以及NBA林書豪現象等等，這些運動員在競技場上的成功與否，甚至牽動著整個國家民族的情緒起伏，在在凸顯出運動與我們生活息息相關的方方面面，背後投射的更是全球化或是國家意識下的集體慾望與現實處境。

從這個當代運動比賽的概念出發，『動見』展覽企圖重新觀看、詮釋運動，以及其背後所延伸的多重意涵，從台灣、印度和澳洲等三國藝術家的創作，重新來審視運動之定義，以及從各式運動如體操、足球、舞蹈、瑜珈、極限運動所延伸出包含行為藝術、後殖民主義、國家認同、國際政治、階級鬥爭、次文化、性別認同等的多重語境。期待『動見』的提出，能在運動產業、環境和思維背後為當代社會開拓出另一條思緒蹊徑與多元方向。

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