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Where are you from? Where are you going?

May2024 

"Where are you from? Where are you going?" is a multi-channel video installation that explores Taiwanese identity.

In different eras, the question of what it means to be Taiwanese has had various answers. From the ethnic conflicts of the 228 Incident in 1947 to the exploration of local identity around the lifting of martial law in 1987, and up to the nation-building efforts in 2024, what does the declaration "I am Taiwanese" truly represent? And how does contemporary Taiwanese society view past identity? This video installation begins with a reframing of “A City of Sadness”, using close-up shots of faces to represent the gaze of contemporary viewers. Just as “A City of Sadness” interprets the 228 event, this work re-examines and juxtaposes different historical periods through various media, discovering the differences in the repetitions of audio-visual elements.

The work focuses on a scene from “A City of Sadness”, where Lin Wenqing, played by Tony Leung, attempts to answer questions from other Taiwanese about his origins and destination. The complexity of identity in this scene deeply interests me. The expression of Taiwanese identity is examined through various lenses: the challenges faced by a deaf person in understanding the question, Tony Leung's interpretation of a Taiwanese role as a Hong Kong actor, and the different difficulties the question has faced across eras. How these issues are answered in the contemporary context, and whether a unified answer should exist, remains for the audience to consider.

"Where are you from? Where do you want to go?" consists of four parts: 

1. A slow-motion projection of close-up shots of Lin Wenqing's mouth answering questions, filmed with a handheld camera.
2. A dual-channel video re-framing Lin Wenqing's face, filmed frame by frame at one frame per second on 16mm film, then presented at normal speed on a CRT television.
3. In different areas of the screening space, sound recordings of one frame per second, repeated multiple times and then sped up to normal speed with added film soundtrack, are broadcast through a radio.
4. The slow-motion sound from the previous section is used as ambient noise, resonating through a wooden box placed behind the viewer's seats.

 

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