在敘事的風景中迷路/找路
陳佳琦 — 攝影研究者

（前略）

物與靈的邊界

創作題材環繞於「鴿子」且逐漸形成個人標籤的李立中，經歷了一段較為浪漫與觀念性的創作之後，摸索出了一條交錯於動物文化史與臺灣史的檔案研究路徑。自幼一直喜愛鴿子的他，從發現賽鴿源自日本軍鴿馴養與大量傳入臺灣開始，一步步探索至大航海時代的物種遷移，以及十九世紀末至二十世紀初期鴿子參與人類戰爭的往事。這些深入考掘讓他從過去著重在物種之美、如謎般的歸巢本能等純粹情感寄託式的表現，進而轉化為知識理性方法，呈現一則則與生物地理、動物馴化、洲際傳播和臺灣歷史相繫的「臺灣鴿的故事」。

於挖掘鴿史的過程中，李立中也許曾經期待找到鴿子參與戰事之具體證據，可遺憾的是，過去並沒有太多物種史跡被留下，也沒有直接可佐證的史料檔案。倘若這是歷史研究論述，恐僅能止步於此。但藝術家不甘心摯愛消失於歷史舞台，進而採取了虛構與想像填補故事空缺，在這一個點上，也可說是李立中作為一個藝術家的浪漫吧。他於1895-96年的乙未割臺和1944年二戰末期美軍空襲臺灣這兩個日本殖民臺灣之起迄關鍵時刻，發展了「竹嵩山戰役與紅腳笭」與「夜間飛行:臺灣空戰記事」兩個系列。想像鴿子是否曾協助臺灣義民傳令而在1895年的抗日戰役中威脅過日軍？或是二戰時期屬於日本領 地的臺灣於遭受美軍轟炸、領空受制的情況下，鴿子是否曾經取代偵察機執行夜間偵查任務呢？李立中運用攝影、鴿子視角的錄像、文獻與歷史檔案，還有路徑圖，構成現地裝置作品，傳遞一個虛實交錯的鴿子敘事，而說「虛實交錯」是因為這些鴿子敘事架構於一真實時代背景上，但與「歷史」的差別只在於被請上舞台的鴿子主角們是否真的做過這些行動，無法百分之百證明。

李立中考據了趨近真實的歷史、構築舞台，讓鴿子上場飛翔,他就像電影道具師一樣，模仿舊報紙的排版細節、作舊紙張、仿造文獻。同時也在仿真之餘，故意留下處處破綻，因為一方面必須認知到多方考證下的高度推論，並不等同於歷史、也難以構成信史；而另一方面，如能讓觀者在錯覺與混淆之中適度覺察這些故事中的虛構面，才會發現「創作」的存在，進而反思歷史與故事之間的虛實邊界。

這次展出的《鐵國山》,方法上延續上述兩作,時代背景為較晚於竹篙山戰役的鐵國山事件，地點移師中部雲林山區的濁水溪流域一帶。頗有意思的是，竹篙山戰役中，鴿群出演為臺灣抗日義軍傳令的菜鴿一角，鐵國山戰役中，鴿群則成為日軍訓練下的軍鴿，對抗臺灣各地的反抗。李立中這系列作品不只指向了檔案的匮乏，並且在敘事的層面上填補了歷史的空缺，甚至讓鴿子成為主體，身不由己地立於不同立場、不同國族，扮演不同角色，且影響了歷史的發展。擬人化的物種，也指涉與反思了自啟蒙時代以降，人類作為萬物主宰的角色，對歷史與環境而言，究竟帶來怎樣的影響。

Lost/Reoriented in the Stories of Our Scenery
CHEN Chia-Chi — Photography Researcher

(omitted before)

The borderlands between objects and spirit

The experience in relatively idealized conceptual creative work has led Lee Li-Chung, for whom the creative theme of "pigeons" has evolved into a personal brand, to a path of archival research where the cultural history of animals and Taiwanese history intersect. With an affinity for pigeons since childhood, he began with a discovery that pigeon racing originated in the domestication of Japanese military pigeons which introduced vast numbers into Taiwan, to further explore the migration of species during the Age of Discovery, and the role pigeons played in human warfare at the end of the 19th century to the early 20th century. This in-depth excavation enabled him to pivot from his previous expressions that focused on the beauty of specific species, the mysteries of the homing instinct, and other purely emotional projections; toward a rational and knowledgebased methodology to present “ the story of the Taiwanese pigeon” relevant to biogeography, animal domestication, intercontinental communication, and Taiwanese history.

In the process of excavating the history of pigeons, Lee Li-Chung had perhaps hoped to find concrete evidence of pigeons involved in warfare but, regrettably, not much remains in terms of animals in history nor are there historical documents that provide a direct corroboration. This would perhaps have been a dead end as a discourse of historical research, but the artist refuses to allow his passion to vanish on the historical stage, and so fills in the narrative gaps using fiction and imagination. This could be described as Lee LiChung's sense of romanticism as an artist. Using the succession of Taiwan in 1895-96 and the US Military air raids on Taiwan at the end of World War II in 1944 as two critical moments to develop the two series The Battle of Mt. Zhugao and Red Feet Ling and Night Flight - The Memo of Formosa Air Battle. Did pigeons assist the virtuou Taiwanese in communicating commands that threatened the Japanese military in the 1895 battle against the Japanese? Or had pigeons taken over night reconnaissance missions from reconnaissance planes over restricted airspace when Taiwan was bombed by the U.S. Military as a Japanese territory during World War II? An onsite installation is created using photography, videos taken from the pigeons' perspective, documents, and historical archives and maps, to convey a narrative of pigeons where fiction intersects with truth. These pigeon narratives are described as an “intersection of fiction and truth” because they are based on actual temporal contexts, but they diverge from "history" because there is no concrete evidence that these pigeon protagonists actually undertook these actions.

Referencing history that approaches the truth, constructing a stage, and enabling the pigeons to take flight, Lee Li-Chung became a prop master who emulated the typesetting details of old newspapers, "aged " papers, and forged documentation. He intentionally includes obvious flaws in his simulations so that, on the one hand, inferences based on a high degree of corroborated research is not equivalent to history nor constitute documented history; on the other hand, enabling the viewer to detect the fictional aspects of these stories mired in phantasm and confusion will enable them to discover the existence of "creativity," and to contemplate the boundaries of reality and fiction that separate history from story.

In the current exhibition, the work Tieguoshan continues in the same methodology of the above two works. The aftermath of the Tieguoshan Incident of the Battle at Mt. Zhugao serves as the historical backdrop, and the location has shifted to the Zhuoshui River basin in the Yunlin Mountain region of central Taiwan. Interestingly, the flock of pigeon in the Battle at Mt. Zhugao played the role of messengers for the Taiwan anti-Japanese rebels, but in the Tieguoshan conflict, the pigeon flock were military pigeons trained by the Japanese in their fight against the resistance across Taiwan. This series by Lee Li-Chung not only underscores the archival insufficiency, but also closes the historical gaps in the narrative, to the point of making pigeons the main subjects who are compelled to play different roles from different standpoints under different nationalities, and thus influencing the trajectory of history The anthropomorphized species also alludes to and reflects on the role of human beings since the Age of Enlightenment as masters over all creation, and their subsequent effects on history and the environment.

If Lee Li-Chung is concerned with the permeability and intersubjectivity of the boundary between human beings and other creatures, then Liang Ting-Yu speaks to the relationship between humans and their souls. The video works The Ridge and The Valley and Death Valley featured in the current exhibition are a part of his Beheaded Stream Project. Liang Ting-Yu is adept at using historical archives and field research, which he not only organizes into academic theses that he presents in arenas of knowledge and rationality; but also reconstructs into perceptions and expressions of knowledge in artistic action and production. His work revolves around the soul, images, local histories, and ethnic issues between the Han and the indigenous peoples.

「敘事中的風景」裡的「液態敘事」
陳冠彰 — 國立臺南藝術大學藝術創作理論研究所博士候選人

（前略）

歷史的伏流 — 梁廷毓、李立中

梁廷毓以及李立中的作品敘事中均碰觸到非人的敘事（河谷、亡魂、鴿子）。為了可以進一步思考兩位如何透過風景、非人去敘說人的故事，在此需借用安娜秦（Anna Tsing）選擇生態學的「聚合』( assemblage)而非「聚落』( community )這個有時僵固受限的名詞的原因—即聚合是結局開放的類聚 ( gatherings )」 。她把有機體視為可以類聚組成的元素，並將生命和非生命的生存方式彙整在一起思考創製計畫裡潛藏的歷史。

（前略）

李立中提及從多年前開始外出看到鴿子就會習慣地拍照記錄，之前的計畫《天使望鄉》便是他因工作南、北移動、習慣在國道上拍攝窗外的鴿子而產生。後來發現賽鴿南、北飛行跟他的移動軌跡竟是高度相似，這樣的發現似乎也讓他跟鴿子捲動纏繞在一起。與其說他藉由展覽在新增擴延計畫內容，私以為是李立中帶著鴿子來國家攝影中心進行放飛的練習。

他裝置於樓梯間的《我只想要回家＠國家攝影中心》這系列作品，會因為前往不同地點而替換內容，同時也把地名標註在計畫之後。作品《鐵國山》利用三樓展間外的兩面廊道窗戶進行裝置，一邊透過2扇窗戶交代此次作品的背景—1895年的乙未戰爭以及1896年的雲林事件；另一邊的7扇窗戶則分別有三個敘事在進行，交代事件的經過。現場放有以「鐵國山」為背景的剪報檔案編輯成冊，內容則是透過軍鴿與事件發展進行的報導：他以Google地圖為底圖，濁水溪橫跨了影像，上頭以紅色的三角點標記出「鐵國山」事件相關的地點。7扇窗依著事件發展，配上不同的剪報及相關照片，最顯眼的是有兩條鴿子飛行的GPS記錄軌跡，一條是從南投起飛沿著濁水溪來到了芳苑，另外一條是從鐵國山的根據地穿越濁水溪到了鹿港。為了讓敘事穿透事件的風景，李立中巧妙將作品設置在前往展場的的樓梯間、廊道、以及具穿透性的窗戶之上，似乎也借鴿子撐開歷史的夾層。

敘事的第3扇影像可以看見李立中放飛鴿子，之後是鴿子的飛翔照，配合GPS記錄軌跡以及檔案的敘事，時序開始交錯了起來，彷若日軍放飛的軍鴿穿越了山林、濁水溪、西部平原、工業區的煙囪、最後來到了鴿舍。這樣的表現似乎說明了藝術家跟鴿子的生命影像，共同捲入了鐵國山事件，跟內在的路徑交纏著。

鐵國山事件中，時任雲林支廳主記的今村平藏在〈蠻煙瘴雨日記〉一文中提及鐵國山附近古坑山區的險峻。若借用梁廷毓訪談時所提及希望將風景或是地景視為一個行動者的角色，「他」應該是主動影響人對於邊界的想像，甚至參與了歷史事件的必然。李立中作品中鴿子的敘事或梁廷毓對「脊谷」的思考，正是對風景撐出一些縫隙，讓幾近消逝的歷史之流再度現身。

Liquid Narratives in Stories of Our Scenery
CHEN Guan-Jhang — PhD. Candidates, Doctoral Program in Art Creation and Theory,
Tainan National University of the Arts

(omitted before)

Undercurrents of History: Liang Ting-Yu, Lee Li-Chung

The narratives in the artworks by Liang Ting-Yu and Lee Li-Chung are all related to non-human narratives (including valley, ghosts, and pigeons). In order to further examine how they used landscapes and non-human elements to tell stories about people, the following argument proposed by Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing is used as a reference: "Ecologists turned to assemblages to get around the sometimes fixed and bounded connotations of ecological community'... Assemblages are open-ended gatherings." Tsing also mentions she considers organisms to be the elements that gather, and brings together the lifeways of the living and the nonliving to contemplate on potential histories in the making. If the narrative presented by Liang Ting-Yu is hidden in the undercurrents of memories for the topography of the ridge and the valley, Lee LiChung, on the other hand, works with undercurrents that describe the sceneries of an event from a bird-eyed and non-human perspective.

(omitted before)

Lee Li-Chung mentions that he developed the habit of photographing pigeons years ago when he first spotted them. His previous project, Look Homeward, Angel, was the result of photographing pigeons on the freeway when he was going back and forth between southern and northern Taiwan for work. He then discovered that he shares a similar route with racing pigeons that also moved between the south and the north. The discovery then led to the ties he has formed with the pigeons. Rather than thinking that he has expanded his project specifically for the exhibition, it is perhaps more befitting to think that Lee has brought the pigeons to practice flying at the National Center of Photography and Images. The artwork, I Just Want to Go Home @National Center of Photography and Images, installed at the stairwell of the venue is a site-specific piece. The artist has also indicated the name of the venue on the project title to distinguish it from other editions.

The artwork, Tieguoshan, is an installation placed on the windows on the two sides of the hallway located outside the exhibition space on the 3rd floor. The background of this artwork, which involves Japan's invasion of Taiwan in 1895 and the incident of Yunlin Massacre in 1896, is presented on two windows on the one side. Presented on seven windows on the other side are three alternating stories, which explain the course of the incident. Also on view in the exhibition is a booklet consisting of archived news reports on “Tieguoshan" , an antiimperialism militia organization. The news reports include articles on military pigeons and details of the incident. Google Maps is shown in the backdrop, with the Zhuoshui River stretched across the image and red triangle markers used to indicate the locations where instances related to Tieguoshan took place. The course of the incident unfolds on the seven windows, which is accompanied by various news clippings and photographs. Also the most eye-catching ones are the GPS documented two aviation routes taken by pigeons. One route starts in Nantou and follows the Zhoushui River to reach Fangyuan. The other route departs from the base of Tieguoshan and passes by the Zhoushui River to arrive in Lukang. In order for the narrative to run through the sceneries of the incident, Lee has cleverly installed the artwork at a stairwell and in a hallway of the exhibition venue and also on lucent windows, with the pigeons seemingly used to form an interstratified seam, where history can then be pushed open.

The third image shows Lee releasing pigeons, followed by photograph of the pigeons flying. Accompanied by GPS documented tracks and archival stories, the time sequences seem to overlap, appearing like the military pigeons released by the Japanese army have flown through the mountain ranges, the Zhoushui River, the Western Plains, the chimneys in the industrial zone, and finally arrived at the pigeon loft. The expressive approach seems to denote that the images of the artist and the pigeons' lives are jointly involved in the Tieguoshan incident and are internally entangled.

The then director of the Yunlin branch office during the Japanese occupation of Taiwan documented the Tiequoshan incident in a book titled Clouds and Miscellaneous Rain Logs, which described the mountain terrain in Gukeng near Tieguoshan as steep and arduous.

According to an interview with Liang, his intention is to treat the scenery or landscape as an agent, whereby this agent would actively affect how people imagine boundary and perhaps even contribute to the historical event. What precisely the narrative of the pigeons in Lee's artwork and the way Liang considers the ridge and the valley have done is pushed open fissures and cracks on these sceneries, which then allows the nearly faded undercurrents of history to emerge once again.

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