文_馬泉

探究、實驗、解碼、編碼

Explore, Experiment, Decode, Code

關鍵詞：認知、動機、生産

Key Words: Acknowledge, Motivation, Creation

城市空間：人群聚落、建築陣列、街道花園等應有盡有，但似乎與你無關。城市是人類製作的盆景。

City Environment: A city has everything, from population settlements and building permutations to street side gardens, yet these all seem irrelevant to you. Cities are man’s pot of creation.

沙漠空間：看似什麼都沒有，但無數沙粒塵埃組成的宏大空間，反而有無窮的想像與微觀中的宏大！我喜歡在城市與沙漠這兩個空間轉机換，有中見無，無中生有。算是兩個不同的場域，一個人造，一個天造，它們都具有場景性。

Desert Environment: This grand space created by countless sand and dust seems empty, but in truth, it embodies immeasurable imagination and glory through a micro lens. I love transitioning between cities and deserts, nothing created by something, and something created by nothing. These environments are differentiated by their provenance, one artificial, and the other natural, yet they both have individual sceneries.

十年前，一次內蒙之行，被朋友帶到沙漠，嚴格來説還不算是純粹沙漠，沙地加雜草之類的，部分沙漠……。Ten years ago, I, along with my friends, visited theA Desert during a trip to Mongolia. Strictly speaking,This Desert was a half desert instead of a complete desert because there were weeds that grew in the area.

我和輪胎第一次與沙地接觸，興奮不已，從來沒有這種體驗，進去才明白，車子根本就走不了，給油就陷車，越加油越陷車，最後乾脆底盤直接落地，得，徹底動不了了，後來知道進沙漠之前要放掉部分輪胎的氣，使車子輪胎與沙地接觸面增大，加大摩擦面積，慢慢啟動，等車速起來了，再根據地形較快的行進，儘量不要停車，要停也要停到好起步的硬沙地面或者有點坡度的沙丘，以防再次啟動時陷車，這些都是慢慢才懂得的。

It was the first time I had ever set foot in a desert as well as the first time the car I was driving had ventured into such a place. I was extremely excited for I had never experienced this before. After gazing at the spectacular desertscape, we decided to proceed on our journey. I started the car, stepped on the gas, and soon realized that it could not move not all as the wheels sank deep into the sand. Then the chassis fell straight to the ground. I thought,“Great! Now we are completely stuck here.”I was then told I needed to deflate the wheel slightly in order to increase the surface of the wheel touching the ground, thus increasing the surface for friction. I started the engine and proceeded to move slowly forward, accelerating only when the topography allowed. It is important to avoid having to restart a car, and in cases where absolutely necessary, it is suggested to move to an area with hard sand or a steep hill to prevent the car from sinking. These were all the things I gradually understood as we attempted to return to safer roads.

儘管會有同伴一起，但，其實始終要自己面對各種未知地形和獨自駕駛，只有在陷車或者遇到危險情況時，大家才互相救援幫助，最好自己掌握一些脫困技巧，儘量不麻煩人家。大家都是出來體驗的，沙漠裏由於地形複雜危險，難免出現險情，如車子在沙坡上側行，抗拒著地球的引力，經常會因為掌控不好，造成失速，車子就會挂在側坡上，這是比較好的情況了（嚴重的就直接翻滾下來了）。這時候就需要同伴救援。

Although I was accompanied by my friends, as the one behind the wheel, I alone needed to face the unpredictable topography and maneuver the car safely for all of us. Only during times when I was in a dangerous situation or when the car sank would my companions help me. To this end, it was better that I learned to recognize and escape from dangers on my own instead of having to bother others constantly. All of us were in the desert for the experience, but owing to its complicated and menacing topography, dangerous situations were unavoidable. For example, the car could sidetrack down the hill, not to mention the more serious situation of the car just toppling down. In these scenarios, I needed my friends to rescue me.

通常，有個大家共同認可的默契，雖然結伴同行，但並不承擔彼此的生命責任，有救援的義務，所以，應該量力而行，謹慎行車，既不能致自己于危險中，也儘量不給同伴添壓力，所以，其實是在自己面對所有困難。

Usually, there is unspoken mutual consent for cooperation. Although we traveling together, we were not responsible for one another’s lives; instead, we were obligated to help one another. Therefore, everyone needed to move in their own capacity, drive carefully, not put our own lives in danger, and minimize the times we impose pressure on others. In the end, I needed to face the challenges myself.

之後，不知怎麼，特別喜歡沙漠，有一種久違的感覺，然後就堅持每年平均兩到三次進入沙漠腹地，也就是十一長假、春節或者元旦時間，每到這些假期前半個月，就開始準備各種設備工具和精神狀態。不知道為什麼這樣，以至於都懷疑我的祖先是從沙漠裏出來的，到了我這一代返祖了，總能聽到來自遠古祖先的呼喚，還好，幸好返祖到沙漠，沒弄得渾身長毛。

After this trip, I started to love the desert; it brings me a long-lost feeling but I do not know why. Therefore, I insisted on returning to the desert two to three times every year during the October holiday, New Year festival, and Spring festival. A half-month before these holidays, I begin preparing all kinds of equipment as well as mentally prepare myself. I am confused as to the reason I love desert to the point where I question if my ancestry was of the desert, and it was only until my generation that we returned to my birthplace. I can almost hear my ancestors calling. Fortunately, I will not become hairy by returning numerous times to the desert.

也許是習慣了在人類社會環境的生活，也習慣了各種複雜結構和制約，突然進入到陌生的無人沙漠自然空間，真有點不知所措，不知道該如何和沙漠打交道，再加上地形的複雜險惡，操控技術的生疏，恐懼感油然而生，生怕陰溝裏翻船，即使操控技術已經提高，這種恐懼感依然存在，但，心態已經舒緩，可以開始適應這個地球另類空間帶給自己的極致般的驚喜，也嘗試慢慢打量和沉浸在她的懷抱裏享受下極致孤獨後的通暢。

Perhaps I am accustomed to living in a civilized society with all its complicated structures and restrictions. I was overwhelmed as I entered the unfamiliar natural space of a desert, not knowing how to interact with it. Fear arouse as I was rusty with my driving technique in addition to the complex and dangerous topography. Even with my improved techniques, I was scared I would fail and this feeling refused to cease. However, as I calmed down, I was able to adapt to the surprises that this other space on earth brings. Moreover, I was able to attempt to indulge myself in her arms as I enjoyed the smoothness after extreme solitude.

我在想，這應該算是回到了人類出發的地方，那種似曾相識又非常陌生但又無比親近的空間，或許就是地球編碼的一個區域，否則不可能喚醒我身體內沉睡的、莫名的、冥冥之中的衝動，嗯……，看來我要好好的深入了解她，研究她……。並“解碼”她。這就是我創作動機的緣起。而這個強烈的創作動機，是在我沙漠探究六年之後才有，也就是2012年。

I thought,“This is like returning to the birth of humanity—that familiar, intimate, yet estranged space.”Maybe the desert is a place coded by earth, because it can summon me to sleep, an inexplicable and faint sense of impulsion in my body. It seems as if I have to thoroughly comprehend her, explore her, and, importantly, decode her. This is my motivation for creation, a motivation that has only existed for six years since my exploration in the desert in 2012.

這個衝動決定，導致了我近十年的時間投入和實驗，可以看作是個生産過程，這個啟動貌似有計劃，但創作開始後，就陷入了各種混亂，材料，技術，工具等等不適應，更麻煩的是，以為自己清楚，實際上內容始終混沌不清，僅熟悉工具就用了很長時間，還有初期對沙漠場景的不忍割捨導致的主觀認識很難形成。

This impulsive decision led to a decade’s worth of effort and experimentation, perhaps even a process of production. This beginning seems as if it was well planned out, but it was not until I have started creating did I drown all sorts of chaos, including materials, techniques, and tools, among many others. It became even more vexing when I thought I was keen but was in fact clueless, simply getting to know the tools took me a long time. Furthermore, as I was unwilling to eliminate the scenery in the desert, my objective perception was difficult to form.

以及太多預想不到的問題和形式範式干擾，就像我曾經説過的，“理解她容易，表達她是另一回事”，過程中也的確是這樣，時而曙光乍現，時而跌入低谷，好不容易形式語言有點起色，又陷入新的懷疑……。

The desert embodies numerous unpredictable challenges and paradigm interferences. As I previously said,“It is easy to comprehend her, but it is difficult to express her.”This process is similar to this place; sometimes it shines into triumph, sometimes it falls into the trough, and just as its structural language improves somewhat, it immediately falls into new doubts.

起初因空間條件限制，只能從水墨入手，陸陸續續實驗了四年多，也有了點意思，但總感覺缺了很多東西，水墨不能完全表達我對沙漠的整體回應，就問自己，到底你想要什麼？記得很清楚，當時我的回答是，聲音，對，純粹的聲音，我自己創作的聲音，還要時間性和空間，要精確的文獻數據，要這要那，沒完沒了……。

At the beginning, due to spatial restraints, I could only start from paper and ink. Gradually, after four years of experimenting, I started to understand but it still felt like I was missing various things. Paper and ink were not able to fully express my response to the desert, so I asked myself,“What do you really want?”I remember clearly the response I gave,“My voice.”It was true. I yearned for a pure voice, the voice of my creation, with time and spatial factors, with accurate data, with this, with that, with everything.

到這時，我才開始逐漸清晰我到底要表達什麼，那就是整體結構的敘事，對，是沙漠場域體驗後的整體回應。既有對具體空間的回應，又有觀念的回應，既要回應沙漠，又要回應自己……。帶著這些新的角度，又不斷的去沙漠，尋找和採集以往忽略的數據，觀念的清晰，導致平時沒注意的細節也都開始得到解讀。同時，也開始了其他媒介的工具學習和創作實驗。

It was not until then that I began to realize what I truly wanted to express; it was the delineation of the desert’s overall structure. Indeed, it was the response after fully experiencing the desert area, not only the response to the specific space, but also a conceptual response both to the desert as well as myself. With this new perception in mind, I continued to visit the desert, searching and collecting previously neglected data. My clear vision allowed me to decipher previously ignored details. At the same time, I started learning about other mediums and experiments.

這可能是幾十年做設計養成的習慣吧，總要對自己的決定負責。設計是在解決別人問題中解決自身問題。自我探究和創作，是在解決自己的問題仲介入社會問題！只是這次“客戶”變成了自己，而且還是不斷變化觀念和要求，有時甚至不清楚自己要什麼也始終對自己不滿意的“客戶”。

Perhaps it was my habit after 10 years in design, so I take responsibility for my decisions. Design is solving others’problem while likewise solving my own. Self-exploration and creation entail solving my own problem along with that of the society. Only this time, the“client”has become myself, one who has changeable perceptions and requirements. Sometimes, I am not even certain what I desire, a client who is never satisfied.

但我還是感謝自己大學的教育經歷給我帶來的非範式培養，使得我始終就沒有把媒介本身的技術性當做我的主要關注點，才使得我毫無顧忌的根據敘事需要來嘗試各種媒介的敘事可能性，並最終確定敘事媒介結構，即使這樣，也還是需要大量的時間去學習媒介的基本技術原理，如繪畫語言與材料技術，作曲的軟體硬體和作曲所需手指的彈奏機能訓練，影像的攝錄與剪輯等等。有些人也許會説，可以找專業助手來做啊，我也想啊，但哪個人願意給那個都不清楚自己要做什麼的人當助手啊，怎麼做啊！只能自己邊學邊做，邊做邊逐漸清楚！就當是用真誠的過程報答沙漠帶給我的恩典吧，結果如何不重要了！走進沙漠需要勇氣和技術，而走出沙漠去構建一個創作系統和語境並與之保持某種平行又不局限沙漠表像卻很難。

I am thankful for my university education for it provided me with non-paradigm training. It taught me not to turn the techniques of a medium into my central focus. As a result, I am capable of exploring all the possibilities with the mediums depending on the requirements, thus determining the medium structure to delineate the events. Nonetheless, I still require considerable time to study and learn about the fundamental principles of the medium, such as painting language and material technology; software and hardware for composing; and the ability to play the fingerings required for composition, such as video recording and editing. Some people might say I can hire a professional assistant. It is not that I do not want one, but how can I find an assistant who is willing to work for someone who does not even know what they want to do? I can only learn and practice by myself and, in time, start to understand while I practice. I think of this process as using my sincerity to repay the grace the desert has given me. The result does not matter! Walking into the desert requires courage and skills, but walking out of the desert, creating a system and language for creation, and maintaining a parallel yet not constrained expression are infinitely more difficult.

2018年的某個時間，關山月美術館副館長顏為昕先生邀請做展，心想做了這麼多年的實驗，也有一定數量的作品積累，應該沒問題，就滿口答應，時間確定在2019年底。

Sometime in 2018, the director of“Guan Shan Yue”Art Gallery invited me to partake in an exhibition. I thought that after so many years of experimentations, I must have created a large collection of art works, so it should be fine. Thus, I accepted, and the exhibition time was determined to be at the end of 2019.

回來趕緊網羅已有的作品，才發現作品整體碎片化不成系統，很多自己的疑問尚未得到解答，文獻也不夠精確……。這時候才體會到散漫的自由研究和創作一旦有了時間性就顯得蒼白不堪。

I commenced examining all my existing art works as soon as I returned, but I realized my works were fragmented, lacking a consistent system of creation. Many of my questions remained answered, and the documentation was inaccurate. The sloppy research and creation were plain to see when time had passed.

如何在展期前完成梳理工作，如何不受時間干擾繼續作品呈現方式的實驗與探究，如何根據展覽現有空間進行敘事結構的整體考量等等事項迫切的擺在了我的面前和有限的時間內！

How can I organize my work before the exhibition? How can I continue experimenting and exploring within the limited time frame? How can I delineate the structure and the overall picture given the spatial restraints. All these issues were right in front of me with very limited time left!

展覽之約，加速了我實驗的進程和速度，事實上，也的確很有成效，很多想法也是在準備展覽期間被逼出來的，隨著新實驗作品形式的出現，也使得展覽架構和內容板塊得到不斷優化，展覽也是一種催化劑，所以，要感謝關山月美術館，感謝顏為昕副館長的邀請！

Accepting the offer to participate in the exhibition increased my experiment process and speed; in fact, it was effective. Many ideas were forced out of the preparation period for the exhibition. As new form of experimenting work arose, it optimized the exhibition structure and content sections. The exhibition was a catalyst. Thus, I am sincerely thankful for“Guan Shan Yue”Art Aallery and to Director Xin for his invitation.

如果説，沙漠探究和文獻數據採集算作對沙漠的解碼過程，那麼觀念的形成和作品實驗呈現過程就是編碼的過程，而展覽本身，就是這一過程的整體呈現，過程就是結果，同時，也期待展覽能夠帶來觀眾多維度解碼程式的啟動。

沙漠的空間場域宏大浩瀚，高大沙山連綿數萬平方公里，且與周邊環境千絲萬縷。

If saying that desert exploration and documentation collection is the process for decoding the desert, then forming a perception and showcasing the experimental work is the process of coding. Hence, the exhibition itself is the representation of this entire procedure. The process is the result. At the same time, I am hoping that the exhibition can demonstrate to the audience the various dimensions of this decoding program procedure. The desert is vast; its tall sand mountains cover tens of thousands of square kilometers in territory, and the surrounding environments are inextricably linked.

在沙漠腹地，會有處於不真實的空間場景感覺，與經驗裏的空間形態無法對接，仿佛游離在地球之外的某個位置很不具體。

In the hinterland of the desert, there will be feelings of unrealistic spatial scenes, which cannot be docked with the spatial form of experience, similar to floating in a non-specific place outside the earth.

要説有什麼近似的聯想，最接近的就是曾經看過的火星或者其他星球的文獻圖片資料了，總之，不是熟悉的地球，很具體，也很抽象。

If I must offer an approximate association, then the closest thing is a documentary illustration of Mars or other planets that I have seen. In short, it is not a familiar earth, but rather one that it is highly specific and abstract.

我曾經在想，這裡也許是早期人類離開的地方，從地球發展史來看，這裡曾經也是過什麼，如大海？森林？或者其他地貌，否則，地底下不可能有石油和地下水源，至少有機物存在過。地球在數億年的形成過程中，經歷了無數次變遷和自我整合運動，包括生命迭代更新，最終塑造了多樣、生動的地球生態環境，同時，有選擇的推進了生命形式的分類進化和升級，人類是被最終優選的唯一高級進化物種……。

I used to think that the desert may be the place where early humans left. From the perspective of the history of the earth, what has happened here? Was it the same as in the sea, the forest, or other landforms? If not, then it would have been impossible to have oil and water from under the ground or for the least organic matter to have existed. During the formation that took place over hundreds of millions of years, the earth underwent countless changes and self-integration movements, including the iterative renewal of life, which finally shaped a diverse and vivid ecological environment on earth. At the same time, such transformation has selectively promoted the evolution and upgrading of life forms. Human beings are the only advanced evolutionary species that are ultimately preferred.

也許上帝是存在的，這個上帝就是形成宇宙的推手和能量，誰知道呢！

Maybe God exists. God is the promoter and energy that formed the universe. Who knows?

有趣的是，宏大浩瀚無垠的沙漠，盡然是由一粒粒微小塵埃所組成的，小到肉眼幾乎無法辯識，隨著探究的深入，我的興趣也逐漸由宏觀的空間關照，轉入對微觀個體沙粒的好奇上來。

Interestingly, the vast desert is composed of tiny grains of dust almost invisible to the naked eye. As my inquiry deepened, my interest eventually transitioned from the macro space to the microscopic individual sand grains.

我想知道它們是誰？從哪來……

I want to know who they are and where they are from.

查閱了很多沙漠科學資料，大致了解了地理學方面的知識，以及沙漠的形成過程和成因。了解到一顆顆沙粒其實來自不同的區域，各種物質的塵埃在地球氣壓和季風作用下，神奇的歷經數萬年先後到達地球指定區域，逐漸形成目前的規模尺度。

I have reviewed extensive desert science materials, and I have a general understanding of geography and the formation process and causes of deserts. I learned that sand grains actually originate from different regions. Under the earth’s pressure and monsoon, the dust of various substances reached their designated area on earth after tens of thousands of years, gradually forming the current scale.

作為一粒沙塵，在浩瀚的大漠裏，顯得微不足道，當在高倍顯微鏡下觀察時，你會發現每一粒微小的塵埃，都結構清晰複雜，五彩斑斕，生動有趣，表面呈現的各種紋路結構和痕跡，分明記錄了自身摸爬滾打的身世，也記錄了沙漠的發展簡史，有的晶瑩剔透，有的斑駁滄桑。

A tiny speck of dust appears to be insignificant in the vast desert. However, when you observe it under a high-power microscope, you will discover that every speck of dust has a clear and complex structure, colorful, vivid, and interesting with various lines on the surface. The structure and traces clearly record the life of each speck as well as offers a brief history of the desert’s development—some crystal clear, others mottled vicissitudes.

某種意義上來説，人類進化史與之非常相像，人類畢竟也是自然進化的産物。

In a sense, the history of human evolution is very similar to the evolution of the desert; after all, human beings are products of natural evolution.

用藝術的方式提出問題，用設計的方式解決問題！

Ask questions in an artistic way and solve problems in a design way!