Both Sides Now 6: Viral Futures 彼岸觀自在VI : 感染式未來 - Brochure 小冊子

Both Sides Now VI : Viral Futures In August 2020, the science publication Nature announced, “COVID-19 is here to stay”, a prophetic declaration, and still relevant, even with the hope of vaccines. We took this statement as inspiration for our thematic title of Viral Futures for the sixth edition of Both Sides Now. Commonly, the term ‘viral’ leads us to associations with social media; how an idea can be captured, usually in an image, phrase or video, and shared (transmitted) dynamically across the globe. Over three billion images are shared across the world every day. Memes and soundbites digitally multiplied by human hosts. Virally spreading across the internet allowing memetic ideas to infect the next carrier.

This dynamic digital transmission also exists in computer viruses, though the vector is maliciously different. Digital viral pathogens invading computer programmes is a global phenomenon; according to one IT security institute over 1.1 billion new computer viruses will be created in 2020. According to Forbes, the global cybersecurity market is worth $173 billion (USD), and is set to rise to $270 billion by 2026.

Beyond the familiar digital concepts associated with the term viral, we have notions related to the obvious biological ones. Those of disease, sickness and death. Ironically, our own evolution and existence could be as a result of viruses. Pandemics and epidemics lead to adaptation in populations, evolving species. Over millions of years, viruses have affected cells at every level. About 8% of human DNA has viral remnants. We can expect viruses to continue to affect how life evolves far into the future.

Through Both Sides Now 6 we explore notions of viral phenomena; from ideas and the ways in which they are transmitted to reproduction and evolution. Both Sides Now 6 brings together work by 10 artists in a curated programme of film and video from across the globe. Including work by Bob Bicknell-Knight, Chen Pin Tao, Adrian Garcia Gomez, Lu Yang, Laura O’Neill, Pak Sheung Chuen, Clifford Sage, Angela Su, Cattin Tsai and John Walter.

彼岸觀自在 VI : 感染式未來

2020 年 8 月，國際科學期刊《自然》發表文章提出「 2019 冠狀

由病毒一詞聯想起的，除了耳熟能詳的數碼世界概念之外，

希望，依然貼切。我們以此論述為啟發，將第六屆彼岸觀自在

死亡，凡此種種。然而諷刺的是，我們人類的進化和存在亦可

病毒將會繼續存在」的預言聲明，即使到現在疫苗研發帶來 的主題定為感染式未來（ Viral Futures )。

「 Viral 」一詞總會讓人聯想到社交媒體，一個想法如何透過圖

片、流行用語或影片被擷取以及快速靈活地分享、傳播全球。 每天有超過 30 億張圖片在全球分享傳播。人類宿主大量地

數碼複製不同網路迷因和言論節錄。各種迷因思想在網絡世 界藉由病毒式散播感染下個承載者。

這種動態數碼傳輸同樣存在於電腦病毒中，儘管電腦病毒的

傳染媒介不同且具有惡意。數碼病毒原體入侵電腦程式是全 球化現象，而根據一個資訊科技安全機構的統計，2020 年製 造的新型電腦病毒將超過 11 億種。根據《福布斯》統計，今年

全球網絡安全市場總值達到 1730 億美元，估計到 2026 年將 會升至 2700 億美元。

我們還有一些顯而易見、與生物學相關的概念。疾病、不適、 以由病毒促成。瘟疫與傳染病推動人類的適應能力，造就不 斷演化的物種。在過去數百萬年間，病毒從不同層面影響人

體細胞。人體基因約有 8% 是病毒遺留物。我們可以預想病毒

將會持續影響生命如何演化到未來。

彼岸觀自在 VI 旨在探索病毒現象的不同觀念，涵蓋各種病毒 由傳播到複製及進化的想法與方法。彼岸觀自在 VI 透過策劃

流動影像項目，集結 10 位世界各地藝術家的作品，包括來自

Bob Bicknell-Knight、陳品陶、Adrian Garcia Gomez、

陸揚、Laura O’Neill、白雙全、Clifford Sage、徐世琪、蔡琪玟

和John Walter。

Isaac Leung Isaac Leung is a practicing artist, curator, and scholar in art and culture.

In 2003, Leung received an Honorary Fellowship of a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the New Media Art Department of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. During 2013 and 2020, Leung was appointed as the Chairman of Videotage.

During his tenure, he initiated and participated in projects that included exhibitions, workshops, lectures, publications, online projects, and symposia. Some of these include 40 Years of Video Art in Germany and Hong Kong (Hong Kong and Germany), The 12th Venice Biennale International Architecture Exhibition (Italy and Hong Kong), Perpetual Art Machine (USA), Time Test – International Video Art Research Exhibition (China), ISEA Festival (Hong Kong, China), Both Sides Now (Hong Kong, UK, and various countries), Loop Barcelona (Spain), One World Exposition (Hong Kong), China Remixed (USA), Clockenflap (Hong Kong), and Art Basel Crowdfunding Initiative (Hong Kong). Leung has taught at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Baptist University, the City University of Hong Kong, the Education University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He is currently Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Arts of the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Board Director of the Hong Kong Jewish Film Festival.

梁學彬

梁學彬身兼藝術家、策展人及藝術文化研究學者。

在 2003 年，梁學彬獲頒美國芝加哥藝術學院的新媒體藝術系

美術學位榮譽院士。2013 和 2020 期間，梁氏被委任為錄映太

奇的主席。任內推動並參與多個新媒體藝術計劃，內容包括 展覽、工作坊、講座、出版、網絡計劃及專題討論會，當中有二

零零六年德國及香港錄像藝術四十年（香港和德國） 、威尼斯 雙年展國際建築展（意大利威尼斯，香港） 、Perpetual

Art

Machine（ 美國紐約） 、時間測試：國際錄像藝術研究觀摩展 Festival ） （香港） 、 、 彼岸觀自在（香港，英國和各國） 、Loop 巴塞羅那（西班牙） 平行世界（香港） 、China Remixed（美國）和巴塞爾藝術博覽

（中國） 、電子藝術交流協會藝術節（ ISEA

會眾籌項目（香港） 。梁氏曾任教於香港中文大學、香港浸會 大學、香港城市大學、以及香港理工大學。梁氏現擔任香港中 文大學文學院助理教授。梁氏亦現任香港猶太電影節董事。

Jamie Wyld Jamie Wyld 在文化界工作超過 20 年，當中包括藝術節、電影

院、藝廊及博物館等，涉及各種藝術、文化及歷史文物領域。

2005 年，他與藝術家 Ben Rivers 和策展人 Laura MousaviZadeh 創辦 videoclub，自此致力支持來自世界各地的藝術 家，展出逾 500 位藝術家的作品。

20 0 8 至 2013 年 期 間，他 為 布 賴 頓（ 英 國 ）數 碼 文 化 機 構 Lighthouse 的策展人及臨時行政總監，與 Kutlug Ataman、 Laure Prouvost 和 Semiconductor 等藝術家合作策劃展覽。 更早期他亦曾任錫菲（英國） Showroom Cinema 和 Workstation 的數碼藝術節目策劃及英格蘭藝術委員會的視覺藝術及媒體 主任。

他是 The Nimbus Group 的共同創辦人，製作混合不同平台、 社會參與性的藝術和文化遺產項目。他亦是藝術管理機構

This is Wyld的創辦人。

Jamie Wyld has been working in the cultural sector for 20 years in various arts, culture and heritage contexts, including festivals, cinemas, galleries and museums. In 2005, he established videoclub with artist Ben Rivers and curator Laura Mousavi-Zadeh. Since then, videoclub has supported and shown work by over 500 artists in countries across the globe.

Between 2008 and 13, he was Programme Curator and interim CEO at digital culture agency Lighthouse in Brighton (UK), where he curated exhibitions with artists such as Kutlug Ataman, Laure Prouvost and Semiconductor. Previous roles include being Digital Arts Programmer at Showroom Cinema and Workstation in Sheffield (UK), and Visual Arts & Media Officer at Arts Council England.

He is Co-director of The Nimbus Group, which produces mixed-platform, socially engaged arts and heritage projects. He is also Director of arts management agency, This is Wyld.

香 港 藝 術 家

Hong Kong Artists

Temple of Physiotology Chen Pin Tao 陳品陶 2019, 8’46”

Breathing in a House 呼吸一間屋的空氣

Pak Sheung Chuen 白雙全 2006, 6’14”

I live in a small house, Breathing, Until I use up all the air in the whole house.

I rented an apartment (6.7m x 2.7m x 2.2m, as small as an apartment in Hong Kong! ) in Busan. I lived in this small apartment as usual, but I collected the air I breathed with transparent plastic bags until the whole apartment was filled with these plastic bags with my own breathing. The whole process took 10 days. It felt like part of my life has sojourned at this apartment. 我住在一間小屋裡，呼吸，直到用完這裡的空氣。

我在釜山租了一間屋（體積 6.7m x 2.7m x 2.2m，和香港的屋

一樣細！） ，我住在這裡照常作息，但我用透明膠袋把我呼吸

Chen Pin Tao’s “Physiotology” series embodies an existential angst towards the nature of being. It puts forward propositions in which religion and conventional cultural establishments are questioned. The work revolves around the historical Peruvian city of Chan-Chan as context. The recorded mythical and historical information of the context acts as seedlings for the development of factish storylines. The narratives hints at themes of religion, fetishism, totemism, gender, nature, and the notion of being with an antinatalist and nihilist perspective. Through a tribalistic ritual and trance-like visual experience, the work conveys discontents towards a mainstream creationist dogma, and the faulty construction of the human body. 陳品陶的「 Physiotology」系列體現了對存在本身的焦慮，進

一步對宗教信仰和傳統文化建構提出質問。作品的脈絡圍繞

著秘魯的昌昌古城，被記錄下來的神秘歷史成為實像拜物故

事線的發展基礎。當中的敘述隱含著反生育主義和虛無主義， 涉及宗教、拜物主義、圖騰崇拜、性別、自然以及存在等主題。 作品透過部落習俗和讓人迷失的視覺體驗，對主流創世論教 條和充滿缺陷的人體構造表達不滿。

的空氣都儲存下來，直至這些儲有我空氣的膠袋填滿了整間 屋為止，過程一共用了十天的時間。感覺就像我一部份的生 命寄居在這間屋似的。

中 國 藝 術 家

China Artists

Cancer Baby 癌寶寶

Memes 2020

2014, 2’21”

2020, 3’18”

Lu Yang 陸揚

Cattin Tsai 蔡琪玟

In Cancer Baby, cancer cells have metamorphosed into animated characters in dazzling colors. The cute cartoon combined with a catchy theme song that sounds like J-Pop breaks the serious view of death and disease. The beguiling beauty of the characters, typical of Lu Yang’s artistic approach, on the other hand, reveals much of irony and cruelty of the realistic world that must be negotiated. 在《癌寶寶》中，癌細胞演變成色彩炫麗的動畫角色，加上輕鬆

洗腦的日系主題曲，顛覆人們對死亡與疾病的嚴肅看法。作品 具有陸揚典型的藝術風格，癌細胞的形象可愛迷人，卻揭示了 現實世界的殘酷和諷刺，以及與之協調的必要。

Memes 2020 is a work Cattin made during the pandemic, in which she applied a post-internet approach to creating a metaphor for this pandemic situation where human beings are captivated to confined spaces. Large transparent blue tubes, like the blood vessels inside the human body, are connected and intertwined. Just as we construct the world while being entangled by the construction, in Cattin’s work, there is a sense of black humor. Beneath the glacier, the ocean hosts countless comfortable beds, where the pigs staying on these hospital beds mechanically repeat a few movements, surrounded by countless computer screens.

Memes 2020 是 Cattin 於疫情期間創作的作品，她嘗試用詼

諧的後網絡手法來隱喻疫情期間被封閉在有限的空間內的人

類。巨大的透明的藍色管道，如同人體內的血管相連、交織。 正如我們構建了世界，也被世界纏繞著，冰川之下的海洋，是 無數張安逸的床，床上的豬機械的重複著僅有的幾個動作，乖 巧的待在病床中，被無數的電腦屏幕圍繞著。這是 Cattin 的

黑色幽默，相信作出這個比喻是殘酷的。試圖用發達的科技讓

人類不斷進步的設想，卻變成屏蔽人們雙眼的工具。這些矛盾 不斷地碰撞相遇，世界，也變得失控。

United Kingdom Artists

There are already 35 server farms on Mars. It is the perfect temperature.

Bob Bicknell-Knight 2017, 3’08”

There are already 35 server farms on Mars. It is the perfect temperature explores ideas of digital escapism in the post-truth era. It utilises found footage taken from YouTube, accompanied by a voice actor commissioned through Fiverr, who reads a speculative script considering how our lives are becoming increasingly digitised.

In the film, groups are now seen as a commodity, a new form of currency akin to Bitcoin. Enabling the creation of a safety net around our physical bodies - which feeds on simulated fear triggered by fake news - allowing our digital selves to run wild and free through VR and emergent technologies.

作品探討後真相年代的數碼南柯夢，素材是 YouTube 上找

來的片段。從自由工作者網上平台找來的配音員朗讀著旁白， 內容是推斷生活如何日漸變得更數碼化。

在這片段中，群體被視作商品，成為類似比特幣的新形式貨幣。 這能在我們的肉身周圍建立出一張安全網，安全網以假新聞 所觸發的仿製恐懼維生，而我們的數碼形態得以透過虛擬實 景和新興技術，自由自在地奔馳。

AGAIN AGAIN AGAIN (WHY I FEEL SICK WHEN I WAKE UP) Laura O'Neill 2018, 9’51” 在這動畫短片裡，某人（我）正獨自走過歐洲。英國脫歐的狂亂

狀態下，放眼盡是末日廢墟之景。物件、資料、人、其他物種到

處移動，動作或比以往更艱難，或比以往更輕鬆⸺全因他們 想這樣做，需要這樣做，或是「純粹這樣做」 。要在包羅萬象的

平面上認路，關鍵是辨別方向，而非方位。虛擬的移動和勞動

In this short animation, a lone character (myself ) crosses Europe during a degenerated mid-apocalyptic Brexit delirium. Where things, data, people and other species move around, with greater or lesser difficulty – because they want to, need to, or ‘just do so’; navigation rather than position becomes key to identity across a horizontal plane of possibles. Spatiality through virtual movement and labour; dust covered words reappear into a tangled stare and somehow we cannot go back again. Laced with a personal narrative about family and life during the last few years.

產生空間感；塵封的文字在糾結的凝視中重現，我們不知何故 已無法走回頭。作品還加入了有關過去幾年家庭和生活的 自述。

英 國 藝 術 家 A Virus Walks Into A Bar John Walter 2018, 20’06”

A Virus Walks Into A Bar narrates the life cycle of an HIV particle as if it were set somewhere between Coronation Street, Twin Peaks and The Teletubbies. The characters include an anthropomorphised capsid, along with other key proteins, co-factors such as CPSF6 and the targeted cell nucleus, depicted by the barmaid surrounded by regulars (the cytoplasm). The high-definition video image contrasts with the handmade quality of the costumes, all produced by Walter.

Co-commissioned by Southwark Park Galleries, London and HOME, Manchester - supported by Wellcome and Arts Council England as part of Walter’s large-scale project CAPSID. 由Southwark Park Galleries, London 及HOME, Manchester 共同委約， Wellcome and Arts Council England 支持，屬John Walter大型創作計 劃 CAPSID 一部份。

作品敘述 HIV 病毒粒子的生命周期，這病毒彷彿來自《加冕 街》 、 《迷離劫》和《天線得得 B 》三者之間的混合體。作品中的

角色包括人形的病毒衣殼，還有其他重要的蛋白質、輔因子， 例如多聚腺苷酸特異性因子 6，以及受攻擊的細胞核，也就是 那個被熟客（細胞質）包圍的酒吧女侍應。片中服裝由 John

Walter 親製，其手作質感與影片的高清影像形成強烈對比。

美 國 藝 術 家

United States Artists

Primavera Adrian Garcia Gomez 2020, 5’00” 這是一套瘋狂的實驗動畫，紀錄 2020 年春天的布魯克林，疫

情爆發遇上 Black Lives Matter 抗爭的情景。片段是在隔離期

間用手機拍攝，探討強加的距離下，觸碰和親密行為如何被 限制。而無形的病毒與死亡附近，正發生著一場反抗種族主

義和腐敗制度的革命。這制度利用人民，將他們視為商品，最

Primavera is a frenetic experimental animation that documents the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter protests as they intersect in springtime Brooklyn. Shot during isolation on a phone, the video explores the effects of imposed distance on touch and intimacy, the proximity of an invisible virus and invisible deaths and the revolt against the racist, corrupt systems that commodify, exploit and render their most vulnerable citizens disposable. The video also parallels the current uprisings with the queer liberation movement which began as a riot at Stonewall and was led in large part by trans people of colour who still experience violence at disproportionate rates.

後將脆弱的人民棄如敝屣。本片也將當下的抗爭和酷兒解放 運動並置。酷兒解放運動的起點可追溯至石牆起義，這場起

義主要由黑人跨性別者率領，惟他們今時今日仍飽受濫暴之 害。

駐 留 藝 術 家

Artists-in-Residence

Angela Su received a degree in biochemistry in Canada before pursuing visual arts. Su’s works investigate the perception and imagery of the body, through metamorphosis, hybridity and transformation. Her pseudo-scientific drawings often combine the precision of scientific sketches with a mythical aesthetics, challenging the audience’s visual sensation of the pleasure of pain.

Her research-based projects include drawing, video, performative and installation works that focus on the interrelations between our state of being and scientific technology.

In 2019, Su was commissioned by Wellcome Trust to present a commission project in “Contagious Cities: Far Away, Too Close” at Tai Kwun, Hong Kong. She has also participated in exhibitions in museums and institutions internationally, including the 17th Biennale of Sydney, Australia; the 2nd Shenzhen Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism, China; National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, Korea; Academy of Fine Arts Vienna , Austria; CAFA Art Museum, China; Saatchi Gallery, UK; and He Xiangning Art Museum, China. In 2013, she published an artist novel Berty, and in 2017, a science fiction anthology Dark Fluid where she uses sci-fi as a method for social critique.

徐世琪在投身藝術創作之前，在加拿大取得生物化學學位。她的創作 通過身體和生物的變形和混合來研究其意象和感知。她的偽科學繪畫 經常將精確的生物學草圖與神話美學結合，以挑戰觀眾對痛楚的視覺 感知。她的創作以項目研究為基礎，並通過繪畫、錄像、行為和裝置，討 論科學和人類生存狀態之間的關係。

2019 年，她被 Wellcome Collection 特別委托參與一個名為《疫症都

市》的項目，並於在香港大館的展覽“疫症都市：既遠亦近”呈現有關的 作品。她的作品曾被廣泛展出，包括於墨西哥大學當代藝術博物館、白 教堂美術館、維也納美術學院、北京中央美術學院美術館、首爾國立現 代及當代美術館、悉尼雙年展、深圳何香凝美術館及深圳城市建築雙 年展展出。2013 年，她出版首本藝術家小說《 Berty 》 ；於 2017 年，她編 緝了科幻小說選集《暗流體》 ，以科幻作為社會批判的工具。

Cosmic Call 宇宙急Call Angela Su 徐世琪

2019, 12’43”

Angela Su’s Cosmic Call sees the virus as a cephalopod spreading its tentacles across astronomy, borders, and archives. Cosmic Call is commissioned by the Wellcome Trust for the Contagious Cities project in early 2019, the timing of which only seems prescient now with COVID-19.

Cosmic Call proposes an alternative to the western medicine-centric outbreak narrative of epidemics, and explores the cosmological and extra-terrestrial origin of infections and diseases based on a review of ancient manuscripts and a critique of Chinese medicine. The video ends with the artist injecting herself with different kinds of virus and bacteria, thereby becoming one-and multitude with the viral paradoxes, an origin story and an end-game scenario at once. 《宇宙急 Call 》由倫敦 Wellcome Trust 委託，為 2019 年的「疫

症都市」項目所創作，在新冠狀病毒全球大流行的現在看來更 見先見之明。 《宇宙急 Call 》提出了替代以西方醫學為中心的

流行病爆發論述的方法，根據批判中國醫學和研究古代文獻 探索了感染和疾病的宇宙學與外星起源。在錄像的結尾，藝術 家為自己注射了不同的病毒，即時與病毒悖論、起源故事和終 局場景合而為一眾。

Clifford Sage is a CGI moving image artist based in London. Often working with animation and virtual world building, Sage explores audio interaction and non-linear storytelling through game engines.

Since graduating in Visual Communications from the Royal College of Art in 2010, Sage has collaborated and worked with many artists over the years, recently with Iain Ball, Lawrence Lek, Lee Gamble, Sidsel Hansen, Candice Lin, and has appeared on the cover of Wire magazine as part of Quantum Natives. Recent projects include Tuner, which has been exhibited and performed at Somerset House Studios, London (2018), Club Adriatico, Ravenna, IT (2018) and LEV Festival, ES (2019).

Buddha Geometry Brain Toy Clifford Sage 2017, 5’44”

Clifford Sage 是倫敦 CGI 及流動影像藝術家。他的創作多數是動畫和 視覺世界建構，並透過遊戲引擎探索聲音互動和非線性敘事。他在

2010 年畢業於英國皇家藝術學院視覺傳意系，自此與多位藝術家合作， 近年合作過的藝術家包括：Iain Ball、陸明龍、Lee Gamble、Sidsel Hansen 及林從欣等。作為 Quantum Natives 的一分子，他曾成為音樂 雜誌 The Wire 的封面人物。近年的項目包括曾在 Somerset House Studios（倫敦，2018） 、Club Adriatico（意大利拉文納，2018）及 LEV Festival（西班牙，2019）演出和展出的 Tuner。

In Buddha Geometry Brain Toy we see ProDance® navigate a small array of passages in a vast wasteland.

He is accompanied by his long lost fear, the Xenomorph.

But instead of running from Xenomorph, he moves to confront his fear. The planet he's on is riddled with an abundance of dimensional tools. One being a rudimentary teleportation centre created by a past human race.

A technology that allows one to teleport beyond the speed of light, and in the process saves and formats the body and soul. 作品中，我們看見 ProDance® 在廣闊的廢墟上沿著狹窄的通

道探索，陪伴他的是他遺忘已久的恐懼⸺異形。但他沒有逃 離異形，反而趨前面對他的恐懼。他身處的星球充滿各種空間 工具，其中一件是由遠古人類建造的簡陋瞬間移動中心，它可 以讓用家以超光速移動，同時儲存及格式化身體和靈魂。

Artist Residency 藝術家駐留計劃

Date 日期

Venue 地點

4 /11 – 8/12/2020

Virtual Cattle Depot Artist Village 虛擬牛棚藝術村

Vital Capacities “Leave Your Body” Artist Residency Showcase

26 –30/11/2020

Hong Kong Spotlight by Art Basel@HKCEC

Part I: Technology 科技

25/1–31/1/2021

http://videoclub.org.uk/

22/2 –28/2/2021

https://www.contentlab.hk/

Physical Screening 實體放映

Spring 2021

Duddell’s, Central, Hong Kong

藝術家駐留計劃展示

藝薈香港 — 由巴塞爾藝術展呈獻 @香港會議展覽中心

Online Screenings 線上放映 Part II: Biology 生物

香港中環都爹利會館

Presenters 主辨

Supported by 支持

Hong Kong Arts Development Council fully supports freedom of artistic expression. The views and opinions expressed in this project do not represent the stand of the Council.

Screening in Hong Kong Co-presented with 香港放映會合辦

Project Team 項目團隊 Curators 策展人

Isaac LEUNG 梁學彬 Jamie WYLD

Assistant Curators 助理策展人 Moritz CHEUNG

Myra CHAN 陳嘉欣

Angel LEUNG 梁安琦 Leave Your Body Residency Created by Kyle CHUNG 鍾亦琪

Graphic Designer 平面設計 Suze CHAN

Translator and Editor 翻譯及編輯 Myra CHAN 陳嘉欣 Frances LAI 黎沅慈

@videotage @videoclubinternational videotage_hk videoclub_uk both-sides-now.org #BSN�