Unground

渾

沌

立方計劃空間 渾沌 UNGROUND

藝術家 Artist | 加斯特 · 布歇 ＋ 娜丁 · 希爾伯 Gast Bouschet & Nadine Hilbert 策展 Curator | 凱文 · 穆蘭 Kevin Muhlen 主辦 Organizer | 專案管理 Project Manager | 羅悅全 Jeph LO

專案執行 Project Coordinator | 王萱 WANG Hsuan 行政助理 Exhibition Assistant | 董淑婷 Dale DONG 平面美術 Graphic Designer | 王萱 WANG Hsuan

翻譯 Translator | 米傑富 Miller Jeffrey Ryan，羅悅全 Jeph LO 開幕現場演出－風暴巫師 TEMPESTARII ＠ The Wall live house

藝術家 Artist | 加斯特 · 布歇 ＋ 娜丁 · 希爾伯 Gast Bouschet & Nadine Hilbert, 史帝芬 · 歐馬利 Stephen O'Malley 發行 Publisher | 立方計劃空間 TheCube Project Space 100 台北市羅斯福路四段 136 巷 1 弄 13 號 2 樓

2F, No. 13, Aly. 1, Ln. 136, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Rd., Taipei, 100, Taiwan +886 2 2368 9418

www.thecubespace.com info@thecube.tw

出版 Published 2014. 9

© 版權所有：藝術家、作者 All rights reserverd. Copyright: the artists, the authors and the photographers. 贊助 Sponsors |

渾

沌

加斯特 ‧ 布歇 + 娜丁 ‧ 希爾伯

Gast Bouschet & Nadine Hilbert

關於本展 〈渾沌〉是台灣與盧森堡雙向藝術交流計劃的來台展出部份。盧森堡卡西諾當代藝術中心與立方計劃空間基於雙方對當 代藝術的持續研究與觀察，並期冀深化藝術領域的國際交流，經過一年多的討論，雙方決定進行合作計劃。合作形式以 策劃展為主軸，使歐洲和亞洲的藝術家得以藉此機會交流。此交流計劃的來台部份，是由卡西諾藝術中心藝術總監凱文 · 穆蘭所策劃，邀請加斯特 · 布歇 + 娜丁 · 希爾伯兩位盧森堡藝術家來台。而立方計劃空間亦將於 2015 年春天與卡西諾 藝術中心合作策劃三位台灣藝術家至盧森堡展出。 2010 年至 2014 年間，布歇與希爾伯在倫敦與冰島兩地拍攝取景，影像以混合了「城市文明」與「自然力量」的景緻 所穿叉交織而成。其中，以倫敦商業金融中心為背景，拍攝其中上班族以及都會中心焦慮的流動人群，另一部份則同時 呈現了冰島的火山、冰川與荒地等極地地景。充滿流動感的黑白畫面，反映著世界經濟的異變痙攣，呈現自然運行力量 的大地景觀和經濟世界以十分衝突卻又意有所指、既統合又對立地相互辯證和見證人類在地球上的失控發展與命運。 2010 年時，冰島艾雅法拉（Eyjafjöll）冰川下的火山噴發，隨之而來的大量火山灰癱瘓了歐洲的空中交通。布歇與希爾 伯著迷於自然力量帶給人類的巨大衝擊，拍攝中將火山灰與冰霜以象徵性的手法佈於每個鏡頭前。這種手法使得畫面顯 得晦暗不明，視野變得模糊不清，干擾觀者視覺感官。布歇表示：這件作品是「關於我們所經歷的深沈感知危機」。透 過其所呈現的世界，藝術家以隱喻的手法反思了這個決定了意識與現實的「原古」力量。 台北展覽的聲音製作，是由樂手史帝芬 · 歐馬利所設計。

The Exhibition Unground 's visit to Taipei is part of a cultural exchange program between Taiwan and Luxembourg. Shared interests and enthusiasm for contemporary art brought Casino Luxembourg – Forum d'art contemporain and TheCube Project Space into discussions on ways to extend and deepen mutual exchange opportunities. Casino Luxembourg's artistic director and curator Kevin Muhlen is spearheading the program to invite Luxembourgish artist duo Gast Bouschet & Nadine Hilbert to Taiwan. For its part, TheCube is currently developing a program with Casino to bring an exhibition by three Taiwanese artists to Luxembourg in the spring of 2015.

The basis of Unground is a collection of filmed images captured by Bouschet and Hilbert in London and Iceland between 2010 and 2014. The two have since woven the images of these two very different places and environments into a dialectic, visual narrative that juxtaposes modern urbanity with the forces of nature. Images in the former category focus on London’s Financial District and its frenetic streams of professionals scuttling to and fro. Images in the latter focus on the concurrent eruption of an Icelandic volcano as well as on scenes of that country’s glaciers and open landscapes. Black-and-white images capture the spasmodic convulsions inherent to our global economy while highlighting the underlying conflict between the human and the natural environment as well as the implications of this conflict. The exhibition’s side-by-side examination of this epic conflict dialectically dissects, and bears witness to, humanity’s unrestrained exploitation of planet earth and our ultimate, collective fate.

The 2010 eruption of the Eyjafjöll volcano beneath an Icelandic glacier sent a stream of ash into the atmosphere that effectively brought European air transportation to a standstill. Nature’s continuing ability to create unchecked impact on humanity is a source of deep fascination and interest for both Bouschet and Hilbert. During filming, they splattered camera lenses with volcanic ash and dirty ice to create images marred by patchy areas of darkness and imperfect vision.

Bouschet describes Unground as “a piece about the profound crisis of perception we are going through.” Through the lens of Unground , the artists have constructed a metaphor for all of us to reevaluate the primal forces that determine both consciousness and reality.

The sound accompaniment to Unground in Taipei was designed and produced by Stephen O’Malley.

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創作自述

時機決定一切。時機即是當下，要不就是即將到來，你能否感覺到？它在地底躁動著。 ─德瑞克 · 傑森（環保作家）

我們發表的錄像〈渾沌〉，2010 至 2014 年間攝於倫敦與冰島，是一件沉浸式的影音裝置作品，充滿著對於現代大都會 的地底礦層結構、金融系統崩解、冰川融化、古老地穴、火山與人類世界之外的極地荒原的指涉意象。 影片中的所有事物都具有生命與傳染力，裝置中的錄像片段也總是彼此映射，湧現出物質、形式與內容。〈渾沌〉需以 一個整體來體察，它邀請觀者去感受、想像與思慮那些將人性和自然阻絕開來的力量。人類文明正在墜向萬劫不復，面 對此威脅，我們深信我們必須將這種孤絕感以及文化疏離感轉化成反叛的巫師姿態，並讓憤怒與不滿的經驗成為能量的 來源。 〈渾沌〉是一陣黑風、一道詛咒，它將侵蝕、轉化所觸及的一切。我們的藝術創作，抗拒今日貧弱的美學和高解析度圖 檔。藉由直接在攝影機鏡頭上灑上火山灰與骯髒的碎冰，我們試著打破當代藝術的慣常實踐方式，正面挑戰潔淨的惡靈。 我們運用視覺素材營造晦暗難明的地帶，干擾清晰的感知與理解力。在此之下，萬物蒙晦，事事無常。 我們的文明已面臨危急關鍵，我們的星球地表已經被過度的經濟行為與資本消費主義徹底地改變。身處二十一世紀的我 們正目睹空前的全球性的覺知──人類以外的一切事物都在消失，不再有安全與穩固的立足之地，我們的所在是個猶如 傷口的世界。但在腳下永夜的地底深處，有個能量源源不絕的核心，一個黑色的太陽，不斷地噴洩火焰與無以測度的力 量。 視域之外，大地深處，壯浩的煉金術正在施行，它將使這個星球浴火重生。就在我們的行星存有的中心裡，一場拒絕同 化與收編的全面顛覆行動正蓄勢待發。 〈渾沌〉所提出的，是針對光明帝國的異議與反抗方式。裝置中的影像指向一種存在的方式──在一個超越資本主義實 在論所侷限的世界裡──並打開一扇大門，通往充滿嶄新自由與可能性的暗黑秘域。

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Artist Statement Timing is everything. And the time is right, or very soon approaching. Can you feel it? It is rumbling in the ground.

- Derrick Jensen.

The videos that we will present were filmed in London and Iceland between 2010 and 2014. Unground is an immersive video-and sound installation bursting with references to the mineral understructures of the modern metropolis, financial meltdowns, thawing glaciers, archaic caves and volcanic, arctic wastelands at the border of the inhabitable world.

Everything that we encounter in these films is vital and contagious. The video sequences in our installation constantly bleed into each other. There is a permanent spilling over of matter, form and content. Unground needs to be embraced as a whole. It's an invitation to feel, think and meditate the forces which have cut off human nature from the rest of nature. We believe that we have to transform feelings of alienation and cultural estrangement into sorcerous gestures of insurrection and to revalorise experiences of anger and discontent in order to face the threats of a civilization that is heading towards the abyss.

Unground is a black wind, a curse that infects and transforms whatever it encounters. Our art takes a stand back from today's anemic aesthetics and highresolution files. By applying volcanic dust and dirty ice directly onto the camera lens, we try to break the routines of contemporary art practices and fight the clean evil. The manipulation of the visual input creates zones of opacity and indiscernibility which pervert clear perception and comprehension. Nothing ever reveals itself completely. And all things change.

Our civilisation has reached a crisis point. The surface of our planet has been profoundly transformed by economies of excess and capitalist consumerism. In the 21st century we are witnessing an unprecedented global awareness as such that everything, which is not human, is disappearing. There is no longer a safe, stable ground. We inhabit a world like a wound. Below the ground though, within the eternal and nocturnal reign of the deep earth, there's an inner core thriving with unfailing energy. A black sun constantly unleashing fire and unscalable power.

Hidden from our view, vast alchemical operations take place, within the bowels of the earth, which transmute and regenerate our planet. A deep subversion lies at the heart of our planetary being which escapes assimilation and acculturation.

Unground offers a manner of resistance and dissent from the empire of light. The videos of the installation point towards a way of being in a world beyond the limits of capitalist realism and open a gate to a dark and secret realm, charged with new freedoms and possibilities.

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其下如其上？ 1 文／凱文 · 穆蘭 〈渾沌〉一作近乎「壯美」（sublime，或譯為「崇高」），埃德蒙 · 伯克（Edmund Burke）、康德與叔本華 2 或許都 會這個詞來描述它，因為這樣的裝置作品難以用「優美」形容，而且無論從哪個角度來談，「美」皆非其重點。〈渾沌〉 那（後）啓示錄的光景，散發出令人窒息與驚嚇的氛圍，它毋寧說是具有一種恐佈的魅力。 關於我們這個「當代」世界的最糟糕的描述，在於它抿除人性。看起來事事雷同又步調一致，籠罩在有如一團迷霧的不 安空氣中。不眠不息的世界浸沒於深沈的暗夜，卻又處處有著擾人的人造光點。太陽早已不再主宰白畫，它退居為配角， 膽怯地躱在汙染的高牆後，像一顆白晝之月唯諾地發亮。玻璃的金融大樓、當代建築以及高聳的光塔，影像被削弱到像 是中世紀山寨，而衣著得體的商人則成為無面目的現代戰士、遊動的黑色團塊。符號與數字一天二十四小時捲動著，像 是在呼喊戰鬥的口號。刺眼光芒與尖銳噪音的迴盪著，彷彿是警報器預示即將發生的危機。軍事或工業的戰爭皆己退位， 金融股市成為無聲無形的廝殺戰場。 〈渾沌〉揭露了我們所處的資本主義消費社會中的醜陋表象，剝去人類所製造的華麗盔甲，裸露出其內部。〈渾沌〉鼓 動人們逃離，但是迷人、變化多端的資本機制也許更引人入勝──這個即將崩壞的金融帝國，讓我們全神貫注，像是在 等待著晚會壓軸的壯觀煙火秀。 逃脫的行動朝向地底，黑色的影子似乎要衝向地下的庇護所，遠離即將爆炸毀滅的地表。在腐敗的世界之下，我們發現 躁動、駭人的原始自然世界，有著崇高而宏偉的力量。我們往在地表，總是未意識到這鞏固我們地球的底層結構。這支 撐我們，容忍我們的神秘領域，莊嚴優越的暗黑王國，徹底超出我們的理解範圍，它一次又一次短暫或永久地癱瘓其周 遭的生命，宣告它的存在，要求我們順服。它的莊嚴，在於其平靜與可畏；它的崇高，在於其過度與固執；它的壯美， 在於其恒永。 這暗黑世界彷彿靜止的時間，是渺小與輕浮地表世界的反面，那裡人們步調凌亂，正經歷無法回返的轉變。這些感官正 在加劇：眼前所視不見五指，只有天光稀微地閃亮猶如黑色太陽；耳邊所聞僅有遠方傳來嗡嗡回音。這裡的變化緩慢得 幾乎無法察覺，整個歷程的時間就是人的一生、一個世代甚至一整個文明。儘管地表世界的發展與景觀受到天氣、政治、 社會事件種種紛擾的影響，地表下的世界卻不為所動，繼續以自己的步調及方式運行，完全脫離地上的現實。兩個截然 不同的世界同時共存，但卻是在背反的時間性裡。 〈渾沌〉引領我們進入一個時間與空間之外的向度，當我們逐步走進，時間似乎不再重要，無所不容的黑暗吞沒了今日 世界的狂亂。眼前的影像逐漸模糊，難辨其來源，我們是否正見證著一意孤行的現代社會走向自我毀滅所造成的隱性混 亂與災難之中？或者，我們的所見，是奪回控制權的大自然正吞噬著人類社會的影像？抑或這是遙遠未來的預視？最 終，事件的時間順序已不再重要，萬物皆走向循環之路。 〈渾沌〉強調，「資本主義的巫師」轉移、挪用、形變了原古的力量，試圖征服頑強的大自然，奪取寶藏，佔據土地， 耗盡資源。但是被人類吃光抹盡的大自然，將捲土重來，其時間、規模與損失皆無以預知，而人類仍執意走向自己的廢 墟。從歷史來看，時代與文明總是起起落落。現代人類在索求無度的資本主義之下，真的以為可以躱過這種盛極而衰的 循環嗎？我們有種欲望，出於好奇，無論隱藏在內心有多深，期待目賭這個資本主義王朝的覆亡，甚至，或許是這種好 奇讓我們走向衰敗。我們甚至可能是故意挑起這一切，希望親眼見到一種新的良知──或是文明──從中誕生，它將更 趨向以地球原初價值為本的現實。不確定的未來如此迷人，我們不再懼怕虛無：「無論是什麼，若能引發了痛苦或危險 的念頭，也就是說，無論是什麼，若有著某種恐怖的樣貌，或形似令人驚駭的物體，或是以恐怖的方法來運作，它都是 一種壯美的來源。」 3

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1. 譯 註： 本 文 標 題 取 自 鍊 金 術 的 宇 宙 觀：「 如 其 在 內， 如 其 在 外； 如 其 在 上， 如 其 在 下。」（As within, so without; as above, so below.） 2. 參 見： 埃 德 蒙 · 伯 克《 壯 美 與 優 美 起 源 的 哲 學 探 究 》（A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful ）（1757）； 伊 曼 努 爾 · 康 德《 優 美 和 壯 美 感 情 的 觀 察 》（Observations on the Feeling of the Beautiful and Sublime ） （1764）以及《判斷力批判》（Critique of Judgement ）（1790）；亞瑟 · 叔本華《作為意志和表象的世界》（The World as Will and Representation ）（1819）。 3. 埃德蒙 · 伯克，《壯美與優美起源的哲學探究》( A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful , Section VII (New York: Oxford University Press, [1757] 2009), p. 36.

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As Above so Below?

Kevin Muhlen, curator

Unground is akin to the sublime. Edmund Burke, Immanuel Kant or Arthur Schopenhauer,1 for example, probably would have described it that way, for it is difficult to speak of “beauty” in regard to this installation – which, in any case, is not its point. The oppressive, threatening atmosphere that emanates from the (post)apocalyptic visions of Unground is more likely to induce a terrifying fascination.

Our – contemporary – world is depicted at its very worst, devoid of all humanity. It all looks the same and runs together, bathed in a hazy mass that unfolds with an air of menace. This world that never sleeps is immersed in a deep, dark night interrupted here and there by artificial constellations. The sun has long since ceased to regulate the days: relegated to a supporting role, it lies behind walls of pollution and glimmers timidly, like a daytime moon. The glass palaces of finance, gems of contemporary architecture and skyward-stretching temples of light, are reduced to the image of medieval fortresses, while the impeccably dressed traders become faceless modern warriors, moving in black hordes. Symbols and figures scroll by like rallying cries 24 hours a day. Blinding light and piercing noise resonate like emergency sirens warning of imminent danger. The combat is no longer military or industrial; war has taken a backseat; stock markets have become the battlegrounds of a silent, intangible confrontation.

Unground exposes the superficiality of our capitalistic consumer society at its ugliest. The sleek-looking armour, created by humans, is stripped away to lay bare the entrails. Unground incites flight; and yet, while the inscrutable capitalist mechanisms of change may be spellbinding, the looming collapse of this financial empire keeps us on the edge of our seats, as if waiting for the grand finale of a spectacular fireworks show.

Flight leads to a descent below ground. Black silhouettes seem to rush toward an underground shelter, far from the surface about to explode. Beneath the erupting world we find troubling, intimidating untamed nature, sublime in its power and grandeur. We live on the surface, often unaware of the subterranean strata that form and uphold our earth.

Mysterious realms that support and tolerate us, an abyssal kingdom of majestic superiority, utterly detached from our quotidian concerns. From time to time it calls us to order by manifesting its presence, temporarily or permanently paralyzing life around it. Sublime in both its stillness and its fearsomeness; sublime in its excess and its persistence; sublime in its timelessness.

The near-static time that reigns in this world of shadows mirrors the insignificance and volatility of the surface world, where life is lived at a frantic pace and undergoes irreversible mutations. The senses are heightened: sight is stimulated by a subtle play between total darkness and hypnotic skylights sparkling like a black sun; hearing is seized by cavernous echoes of distant sounds. Transformations there are slow, imperceptible, spread over the lifetime of a person, a generation or a civilization. Despite the climate-related, political and social events and disruptions that influence the development and appearance of the surface world, the underground world remains unshaken and continues to renew itself in its own way at its own pace, completely divorced from our aboveground reality. Two diametrically opposed worlds coexist and operate together, but in antinomic temporalities.

Unground takes us to a place outside of time and space. As we gradually move into it, time seemingly ceases to matter, the frenzy of today’s world disappears in an all-absorbing, consuming abyss. The source and origin of the perceived images become unclear. Are we witnessing latent chaos and imminent catastrophe caused by a contemporary society hell-bent on self-destruction? Or are we seeing images of a society engulfed by a nature that has regained the upper hand? Or are they prophetic visions of a far-off future? Ultimately, the order of events is of little consequence, given the cyclical way of things.

Unground underscores the ancestral powers diverted, appropriated and transformed by the “sorcerers of capitalism” seeking to take control of indomitable nature, to get rich with its treasures and to occupy the space so as to exhaust its resources. But nature, stripped bare by humankind, will spring up again, when and how it pleases, indifferent to

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superficial losses, while humans advance inevitably, once again, toward their own ruin. History shows that eras and civilisations are born and die continually. Does contemporary humankind, in its pursuit of unbridled capitalism, really believe that it can escape its preprogrammed decline? A tiny part of ourselves, no matter how deeply buried, would like to witness the collapse of the capitalist reign – if only out of pure curiosity and even if it entails our own downfall.

We might even be tempted to provoke it, in order to witness the birth of a new conscience – or civilisation – focused on a reality closer to the ancient values rooted in our earth. The dread of nothingness gives way to a fascination with an uncertain future: “Whatever is fitted in any sort to excite the ideas of pain and danger, that is to say, whatever is in any sort terrible, or is conversant about terrible objects, or operates in a manner analogous to terror, is a source of the sublime.” 2

Translated from the French by Marcia Couëlle

1. References: Edmund Burke, A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful (1757); Immanuel Kant, Observations on the Feeling of the Beautiful and Sublime (1764) and Critique of Judgement (1790) ; Arthur Schopenhauer, The World as Will and Representation (1819).

2. Edmund Burke, A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful , Section VII (New York: Oxford University Press, [1757] 2009), p. 36.

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加斯特 · 布歇與凱文 · 穆蘭的對談 訪談於 2013 年 2 月

穆蘭：〈渾沌〉這件作品是以循環和連續的原理為本。從你與娜丁 · 希爾伯合作攝製的影像和它們的象徵概念中，我們可

以看到結束和開始、毀滅和重生、變遷……等概念。經過三年創作，並在盧森堡卡西諾當代藝術中心展出後，你是否將此 刻視為〈渾沌〉的某種開始或結束？

布歇：在卡西諾地下室展出〈渾沌〉的確很成功，從技術和建築的層面來說，展出條件都很好。我們很少有機會用這麼 多錄像投影機作展覽，而且卡西諾的地窖很適合表現這個地下世界。但我認為如此深沈浸淫的展出環境，有點超出了作 品所表述之範圍，而且這件作品也還有採用其他構造的可能。我們覺得有趣的是陰暗地帶被活化成為生動的空間，我們 試圖將某個神話向度重新帶回到當代都會生活中。此外，我們的藝術創作確實是以循環的方式展開，沒有明確的開始或 結束。一切事物都緊緊地彼此相連。

穆蘭：讓我們多談一下你說的「神話向度」。〈渾沌〉這件作品讓人很直接地聯想到馬雅預言──世界末日降臨於

2012 年 12 月 21 日──主要是因為它的陰森與（後）啓世錄的外觀，展出日期也有影響 1，我認為大眾會很直接地採 用政治來解讀這件作品──對資本主義、全球化等等的批判──而沒注意其中的某種神祕主義。可以多談談這部份嗎？ 布歇：如果可以談論我們作品中的神祕主義，那麼，它應該是無神的神祕主義。〈渾沌〉是對各種自然力量的形上召喚。 我們試圖捕捉超越人類的影像。我們所處的時代讓人覺得一切非人類的事物正在消失：野生動物、植物的滅絕，冰河和 極地冰帽，以及自然本身。在這個新世紀，人們普遍有這種感覺，這很可能是人類史上的一個獨特現象。我們將先前所 談的神話向度想成一股革命力量，能夠轉變吾人世界觀的一股能量。這個認知的改變必然具有某種政治向度，因為它指 向人類中心論（anthropocentrism）──將人類置於一切中心的主流哲學學說──之外的另一條路徑。在文化劇烈變 遷的時刻，必須重新界定藝術家的角色。我認為，今日，藝術不能只是好玩或甚至只是批判。藝術的目的應該朝向某種 深刻的心理轉變，和精神性地參與自然萬物的存在。神話經驗之於當代文化界是具有顛覆性與反叛意味的，因為它讓自 己與主導當前藝術及美術館實踐的「計劃」概念保持著距離。「計劃」是現代資本主義的中心概念，它在定義上，就是 有短程期限的工作，而且排除了深度和連續性。

穆蘭：的確，你們的幾件作品顯然並非個別的案例，或涉及某個暫時的心理狀態。此外，你們之前的創作也深植著某種根

本的「自然力」概念。我想到〈碰撞地帶〉（Collision Zone ）2，內容關於地球的地殼構造板塊的運動和地下地層的碰撞。 你們在布魯塞爾住了將近三十年，你們是如何著迷於自然荒野？在你們提示到神秘主義、形上學和上帝的概念時，你們的 視野顯然超出影像的純粹美感，而深入至這些主題之中。

布歇：我向來關注這些問題的政治和社會的利害關係。我們的旅行中，很多時間是在荒野渡過，看到這些地方在文明的 影響下遭到如何破壞，那是我們持續關切的。這也可能關於這件事實：我來自盧森堡的礦區，人類行為劇烈地轉變了自 然的地貌。我對地下世界神話的著迷很可能源自童年早期和年輕時期的經驗。但我認為不需要解釋神話，只需要注意目 前正在我們識閾中（threshold of consciousness）發生的事情。神話要我們去經歷。藝術具有轉變的力量。我們認為， 藉由轉變對某個世界的感知，可以轉變這個世界，即使這個想法可能太天真。西方的思考模式已將藝術的想像能力歸於 無效。現代社會追求的是數量，總是要更多、更快，計劃一個接一個，只重視連續發生，而不在乎經驗的品質。我們嘗

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試著逃離這個時下主流的觀點，我認為，我們都喜歡自問：對於我們正面對的文明和生態危機，藝術的角色能夠與這些 事情產生什麼關係？我們的文明嚴重失靈，數千年來，我們累積了大量知識，但我們活在精神不適的時代。是什麼阻礙 了人類依循自己的智慧行事？這個問題同時是精神性和政治性的。 穆蘭：這是你們的作品的的魅力之一：精神性和政治性並存。在當代藝術中，被認為是「藝術介入社會」或「政治藝術」 的作品大都指涉著過去與當下事件的狀態──更像是針對歷史或目前的事件做出回應。你們的作品具有這個長遠的想

像，讓主題及其視覺呈現之間拉開某種距離，並從現實抽離。這種想像提煉出影像──即使這些影像是從當下的現實產 生，其中沒有任何憑空創造的東西，現實從中直接顯露。當代人類埋頭於日常物質需求之際，往往遺忘了這個現實。你 們帶回了這個現實，但也未落入道德化的陷阱。這是一種「死亡象徵物」（memento mori）嗎？

在你們的作品當中也看得到末日和死亡的概念。其中對於未來的黑暗想像，最近有篇評論將你們和「黑金屬」運動（Black Metal movement）聯結起來看，而這個運動也倡議返回原初的價值。你們是否認同這種解讀方法？

布歇：將我們的創作詮釋成「死亡象徵物」是有點道理，但我們也試著強調藝術的積極角色。藝術家的原型是巫師和巫 醫，藝術可以具有不可思議的力量，但我不確定象徵性的行動在今日是否足以改變人性。現代人的心防厚如城牆，而生 存現狀是由高度的政治和經濟利益所維繫。我們一直在淨化和革新藝術，以及某種強烈的悲觀之間拉扯。為了存活，人 類必須放寛心胸，並施行尊重所有形式的生命的政策，但人是否能夠不考慮自己的直接利益而思考和行動？這是很大的 問題，而且，這是否太遲了？我對文明的存續並不樂觀，人類的破壞和自大已太過份了，我們已經在付出代價。但人類 文明的崩解有可能開創出轉變和重生所需的某種流動狀態，但再回頭說，我們是否真的能不以人類為中心來思考？

〈渾沌〉於盧森堡卡西諾藝術中心展出裝置，2012 Installation view of Unground at Casino, 2012

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近幾年來，我和藝術家、樂手和理論家大量談論「黑金屬」代表什麼。我不知道該將我們自己定位在哪裡，這很複雜。 如果我們認為「黑金屬」是異教的運動，它透過積極的虛無主義姿態，朝向推翻主流價值觀，那麼，我就同意黑金屬與 我們作品是有緊密關係，但可能的詮釋方法有很多。凱文，你也參與極端音樂和文化，你的身份不但是樂手，也是關心 此趨勢的策展人與組織者。你認為，在創造可能改變人類發展的另類價值觀上，今日的反文化是否扮演關鍵的角色？

穆蘭：這是樂觀且有點理想性的看法，但同時，這也是這些反文化背後的驅動力。如果對於改變一點點事物或觸及非常少 的觀眾都不抱希望，那這些參與者也無從產生。現在正是你剛才說的利害時刻，如何對抗資本主義和全球化？同時，另翼 運動是由鮮明的理想主義所驅動。無論是哪種形式的藝術都是武器，它不是防禦的武器，而是喚起覺醒的武器。就這點來

說，我同意你對「動能藝術」（active art）的想法。對世界做出回應是絕對必須的，而且藝術能以許多方式反應。除此之外， 如果藝術還可以引發人們思考自己的價值觀，那它就能成功地達成使命。對我來說，將這樣全面的覺醒擴張到全球規模的 可能性似乎仍然微乎其微，畢竟我們實際上在談論的是參與者佔人口比例很小的反文化。

就你談到的鬥爭性，你們是否也在其他層面加以實踐？在你們的創作中，它顯然是概念性地呈現，但你們也持續和藝術市 場──藝術較商業的面向──保持某種距離？我認為這與你們創作傳達的想法有關聯。

布歇：對，這個希望是另翼場景背後的動力。在我看來，這也是黑金屬很重要的東西──和一般大眾保持距離，有時有 點傲慢、自豪，要無視於這種「從來只有事情改變人，沒有人改變事情」的平庸心態。黑金屬這種菁英、尼采式的態度， 可以戰勝平庸，培養出內在的超人意識，讓自己與這個厭惡基進，卻崇尚識時務和犬儒的社會保持距離。 如何對抗資本主義和全球化？這在今日似乎可能性很低，因為資本主義之外沒有其他的經濟模式可選擇，它宰制了一 切，並且滲透到世界每個角落。我認為，每個人都必須在自己的領域裡與其對抗。身為藝術家，我們選擇了在藝術界裡 抗爭。確實，我們和商業藝術保持距離，而在少數幾次的藝廊展覽中，我們提出的作品都很難賣。但問題在於：在你批 判自己所歸屬、賴以維生的體系時，你是否站得往腳？這個困境不是現今才出現，但它在今日特別嚴峻。每個人都必須 作出自己的決定，並且接受它的後果。

穆蘭：這的確是困境，它似乎經常引發根本的問題，而且已招致了非常極端的反應。對於這點，我認為，例如黑金屬樂手 自殺和殺人的事件，經常是因為當事人自己背叛了原初的價值，這直接證明了你談到的弱點。我覺得黑金屬（音樂）和你 們創作之間的關係好像滿有趣的。正是那想要「搞砸」作品的欲望，賦予它比較粗糙的面向，並且避免使用現代科技的花 招和機巧。黑金屬的聲音往往很刺耳、充滿噪音，老愛用令人不適的音頻。你們的影像也是透過蒙塵的鏡頭拍攝，製造出

模糊、極黑暗的影像，它完全未使用高清的設備或影像。忠於原真性的精神強化了你們影像的力量。這個意識型態的概念、 加上你們的藝術手法，讓我們得以談論「黑金屬視覺藝術」。

你們的下一件作品標題是〈風暴巫師〉（Tempestarii ）3。〈渾沌〉帶我們深入這個世界，就像一趟旅行，帶我們到萬物 毀滅之地走了一遭。你們將透過〈風暴巫師〉探索什麼？ 布歇：訪談開頭我們談到毀滅和重生的循環。〈渾沌〉並非萬物的終點。因為新的錄像作品尚未完成，我不好談太多細 節，只講基本的想法。〈風暴巫師〉來自我們想以中世紀巫術在北極海引發暴風雨的欲望，這也是薛西佛斯神話的某種 再詮釋，這個神話談的是人類面對完全無法掌控的自然力量、無法改變的現狀之時，所採取的姿態和付出的努力是如此 地荒謬。對我們來說，創造（或製作）這部影片是很大的挑戰，首先是因為這個地區的天氣，再加上拍攝工作對體力是 極大的考驗。值得一提的是，我們向來都不與拍片小組合作，我們沒有攝影師、錄音師……等等，只有娜丁和我。如果 有一個人為了搬演一場異教儀式而掉進冰冷的海裡，這部影片就很難完工了。而且我們還缺乏金援，所以更吃力，不過， 做這個也很刺激。我們在去年十月╱十一月拍攝這部片的第一部份，並將在四月回去繼續拍攝。

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穆蘭：最後一個問題。在我們的討論中，經常談到你們的閱讀，以及哲學、神祕主義和政治的參照點。你們最喜歡的書是 哪些？持續關心的議論是什麼？

布歇：尼采很重要，從二十一世紀的角度閱讀他的著作很有意思。喬治 · 巴塔耶（Georges Bataille）、安東尼 · 亞陶 （Antonin Artaud）、威廉 · 柏洛茲（William Burroughs）是我們過去很重要的參考。我讀科學書籍，像是：理察 · 弗

泰（Richard Fortey）的《地球的歷史》（Earth: An Intimate History ），談我們所在星球的歷史，還有亞瑟 · 賈仲（Arthur Zajonc）的《捕捉光》（Catching the Light ），分析光的現象。我也讀很多關於煉金術的書：莫西亞 · 艾里亞德（Mircea Eliade）、提特斯 · 柏柯哈特（Titus Burckhardt），還有尤利烏斯 · 埃佛拉（Julius Evola）──附帶一提，這是個難以

歸類的人物。法蘭西斯 · 葉慈（Frances Yates）寫過一本關於佐丹奴 · 布魯諾（Giordano Bruno）和煉金術士傳統的好 書。人類學家瑪莉 · 道格拉斯（Mary Douglas），她寫關於宗教性汙染的東西。還有很多，我喜歡閱讀，近年對「思辨 唯實論」（Speculative Realism）這波哲學運動很感興趣，而最近對我影響最大的書可能是瑞札 · 奈格瑞斯塔尼（Reza Negarestani）的《風暴百科》（Cyclonopedia ）。

穆蘭：加斯特，很謝謝與你進行這場對話，提供了讀者切入你們的創作的絕佳路徑，以及藝術原理和思想體系等創作基礎。 祝你和娜丁工作順利。

譯註 1. 〈渾沌〉在盧森堡的展期為 2012 年 12 月 8 日至 2013 年 1 月 16 日，期間發生「馬雅曆世界末日」（2012 年 12 月 21 日）。 2. 〈碰撞地帶〉（Collision Zone ）為布歇與希爾伯代表盧森堡參加 2009 年威尼斯雙年展的作品。 3. 〈風暴巫師〉（Tempestarri ）2013 年 首次於盧森堡發表。2014 年 9 月 11 日於台北這牆音樂展演空間演出，並作為〈渾沌〉的開幕活動。

〈風暴巫師〉於盧森堡 CCR Opderschmelz , 2013 Tempestarii at CCR Opderschmelz, Dudelange, Luxembourg , 2013.

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An Interview with Gast Bouschet

by Kevin Muhlen February 2013

KM: Unground is based on the principles of cycles and continuity. In the images that you produced in collaboration with Nadine Hilbert and their symbolic concepts we can find notions of end and beginning, of destruction and

renewal, of transitions... After three years of work and its presentation at Casino, do you see the present moment as a beginning or an end of Unground ?

GB: Showing Unground in the basement of Casino was an accomplishment for sure. The presentation conditions were very good, both on technical and architectural levels. We don't often have the opportunity to work with so many video projectors and the cellars of Casino were great to express this underworld universe. But I think that such a profound immersion in a work opens doors to its beyond and other configurations would be possible. What interests us is to activate shadow zones as dynamic spaces and we want to restore a mythical dimension to contemporary urban life. In addition, it is true that our artistic work evolves in cycles and there is no clear beginning or end as such . Everything is intrinsically linked.

KM: Let's stay for a moment on this mythical dimension that you are talking about. Besides an easy reference to the

end of the world predicted by the Mayans for December 21, 2012, mainly due to the menacing and (post-) apocalyptic aspects of Unground , but also because of the exhibition period, I think that the public more easily projected a

political reading of the work - a critique of capitalism, globalization, etc. - than the seeing of some mysticism. Can you tell us more about this?

GB: If we can speak of mysticism in our work, it is a mysticism without God. Unground is a metaphysical invocation of natural forces. We want to capture the image of something beyond the human. We live in times that give us the impression that everything non-human is disappearing: The wildlife, plant diversity, glaciers and polar ice caps and nature itself. This feeling is globally present in this new century and this is probably a unique phenomenon in human history. We consider the mythic dimension of which I spoke before as a revolutionary force. An energy that can transform our view of the world. This change in perception has certainly a political dimension because it points to an alternative to anthropocentrism, the dominant philosophical doctrine which places human beings at the centre of everything. In moments of intense cultural transitions, the role of the artist must be redefined. I think art cannot just be playful or even critical today. It should aim towards a deep psychological transformation and a spiritual participation in the natural existence. The mythical experience is subversive and rebellious to the contemporary cultural scene, as it sets itself apart from the concept of "project" that dominates the current art and museum practices. The project is the central concept of modern capitalism. It is by definition short-termed and excludes depth and continuity.

KM: Indeed, it is obvious that your works are not isolated cases or relating to a temporary state of mind. Moreover,

your previous work embeds also an underlying notion of "natural force" I think of Collision Zone which incorporates the movement of tectonic plates and the collision of underground layers of our planet. You’ve lived for nearly 30

years in Brussels, how did you get this fascination towards raw nature? It is obvious that your vision goes way beyond the simple beauty of images and it draws deep into the subject when you are suggesting notions of mysticism, metaphysics and God.

GB: I've always been interested by the political and social stakes of these questions. During our travels, we spent a lot of time in the wilderness and we saw how these areas were distorted under the influence of civilization. That was

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something that stuck to us. It may also be linked to the fact that I come from a region, the mining district of Luxembourg, whose landscape was violently transformed by human action. My fascination with the myths of the underworld probably comes from experiences in early childhood and youth. But I think that the myth requires no explanation, only an attention to what is happening just below our threshold of consciousness. The myths call to be lived. Art has a transformative power. We think, maybe naively, that by transforming the perception of a certain world, we will transform this world. The Western model has neutralized the visionary power of art. Modern society values quantity. Always more, always faster. One project follows another. The important thing is succession and not the quality of the experience. We are trying to escape from this current outlook. I think we all have an interest in asking ourselves: what is the role of art in relation to the civilisational and ecological crises that we are facing? Our civilisation is deeply dysfunctional. We have accumulated a vast knowledge over millennia. Yet we live in a time of great psychological discomfort. What is it that prevents the human being from following his own wisdom? This question is as spiritual as it is political.

KM: This is one of the fascinating aspects of your work: the coexistence of the spiritual and political. In contemporary

art, much of what is considered "engaged art " or "political art" refers to situations of past or current events - more like direct a feedback of historical or current events. Your work has this long-term vision which creates a certain distance between the subject and its visual representation and detachment from reality, It abstracts the images, even if they arise out of present reality. Nothing is invented. There's a face to face with a reality that the contemporary human

being tends to forget among all his daily material concerns. You return this reality, but without falling into the trap of moralizing. Is it a "memento mori" of humanity?

Ideas of end and death are present. It is a dark vision of the future which recently earned you associations with the

Black Metal movement which also advocates a return to original values. Is it a medium with which you can identify?

GB: Interpreting our work as a "memento mori" is quite plausible, but we also try to emphasize the active role of art. The prototype of the artist is the sorcerer and shaman. Art can be incredibly powerful but I'm not sure if symbolic acts are enough today to change humanity. The minds are well armoured and heavy political and economic interests maintain the status quo. We are all the time torn between the promises of a cathartic and regenerating art and a deep pessimism.

In order to survive, the human being has to expand his horizon and implement a policy that respects all forms of life. But is man capable of thinking and acting outside of his immediate interests? This is the big question. And whether or not it is not too late. I am not optimistic about the survival of our civilisation. We went too far into destruction and non-respect and we are already paying the price. Yet the collapse of our civilisation could create a condition of flow necessary for transformation and rebirth, but again, are we really capable of thinking beyond the human horizon?

These recent years I've talked a lot with artists, musicians and theorists about what Black Metal represents. I do not know where we situate ourselves, it is complex. If we agree that Black Metal is a pagan movement, which, through a gesture of active nihilism, aims to reverse the dominant values, I'm ready to assume this closeness, but there are so many possible interpretations. Kevin, you're also involved in extreme music and culture, both as a musician and as curator or organizer of exhibitions relating to these tendencies. Do you think that the counterculture today plays a key role in the creation of alternative values which could cause changes in human development?

KM: This is an optimistic and somewhat idealistic view, but at the same time, is also the driving force behind these

counter-cultures. Without this hope to be able to change even a tiny fraction of things or to reach an audience, even TheCUBE

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very small, all these actors could not create. This is exactly what you were talking about at the moment which is at

stake here. How to fight against capitalism and globalization? At the same time alternative movements are motivated by a very pronounced idealism. Art, in all its forms is a weapon, not a defensive one, but one that raises awareness.

This is where I agree with your ideas of active art. It is absolutely necessary to respond to the world and art can

answer to it in many ways. If besides that, it invites people to rethink their values its mission is fully successful. That

such a global awareness is raised into a global dimension seems highly unlikely to me though, as we actually speak of counter-cultures that engage with only a small percentage of the population.

This militancy of which you speak, do you also practice it at other levels? It is obviously conceptually present in your

work, but you also remain somewhat distant to the art market, the more commercial aspects of art? I guess that joins the ideas conveyed in your work.

GB: Yes, this hope is the motor behind alternative scenes. In Black Metal, what also seems important to me is this, sometimes arrogant, pride, to distance oneself from the herd. To ignore the prevalent mentality that says "we must get along with it, anyway we can't change anything" The elitist, nietzschean attitude of Black Metal, the will to overcome mediocrity and create the Superman within sets itself really apart in a society that despises radical positions and values pragmatic submission and sarcasm.

How to fight capitalism and globalization? This seems at first impossible today because capitalism is no longer an economical alternative among others, but it dominates everything and is present everywhere in the world. I think everyone has to fight on his own territory. As an artist we have chosen to fight in the art world. It is true that we take our distances towards commercial art and the few times we have exhibited in galleries, we proposed works that were difficult to sell. The question is to know if you are credible when criticizing the same system that you belong to and which you feed with your productions. This dilemma is not new but it is more acute than ever. Everyone has to take his own decisions and live with its consequences.

KM: This is actually a dilemma that often seems to cause fundamental problems and has already led to very radical reactions. I am thinking here, for example, of suicides and murders in the Black Metal scene, often for reasons of

betrayal of original values, a direct evidence of the weakness of which you speak. An approach seems interesting

to me between Black Metal (music) and your work. It is the desire to "spoil" the work, to give it a rawer aspect and

escape tricks and artifices that are possible with modern technology . The sound of Black Metal is often strident, full of pollution and perched at frequencies that are unflattering for music. Your images are also produced with ash on the lens, blurred, very dark images. We are far from HD devices or images. It is a commitment to authenticity that

reinforces the power of your images. This ideological concept together with your art make it possible to speak about Black Metal Visual Art.

Your next work is called Tempestarii. Unground led us deep into the world as a journey from which we come back with the impression of having been where everything ends. What will you explore with Tempestarii?

GB: At the beginning of our interview, we talked about cycles of destruction and renewal. Everything does not end with Unground . I better not go into too much detail because the new video is not finished yet but here are some basic ideas.

Tempestarii is born from the desire to raise a storm in the Arctic Ocean based on techniques of medieval witchcraft. It is also a kind of reinterpretation of the myth of Sisyphus dealing with the absurdity of human gestures and efforts to face the unchangeable reality of confronting the forces of nature that are completely beyond our control. Creating (or Producing) the film is a big challenge for us, first because of the weather in the region and also because the shooting involves a rather challenging physical performance. It's important to know that we always work without a film crew.

We have no cameraman or soundman etc.. There's Nadine and me and if one of us gets his feet wet in the icy ocean to perform a pagan rite, there are not many left to make the film. So it's hard, also because of the lack of financial support, but it is also very exciting to do. We shot the first part of the film in October / November of last year and we are going back in April to work on the sequel.

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KM: Last question. In our discussions we often talked about your reading and philosophical, mystical and political benchmarks. What are your favourite books or the essentials that you keep coming back to?

GB: Nietzsche is important. It is interesting to read him from a perspective of the twenty-first century. Georges Bataille, Antonin Artaud, William Burroughs were important references. I read scientific books such as: Earth: An Intimate History , the history of our planet by Richard Fortey or Catching the Light by Arthur Zajonc which analyzes the phenomenon of light. I also read a lot of books on alchemy Mircea Eliade, Titus Burckhardt, Julius Evola, a more than ambiguous character be it said in brackets. Frances Yates has written a beautiful book on Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic tradition. Mary Douglas, an anthropologist who wrote on ritual pollution. There are many, I like to read. In recent years, I've been very interested in a philosophical movement called "Speculative Realism" and the book that impressed me perhaps most recently was Cyclonopedia by Reza Negarestani.

KM: Gast, thank you very much for this conversation, which allows an excellent approach to your work and the artistic principles and ideologies that underpin it. Good luck to you and Nadine for the future.

〈風暴巫師〉於盧森堡 CCR Opderschmelz , 2013 Tempestarii at CCR Opderschmelz, Dudelange, Luxembourg , 2013.

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藝術家簡歷 Artists

加斯特 · 布歇 ＋ 娜丁 · 希爾伯 Gast Bouschet & Nadine Hilbert 布歇與希爾伯生於盧森堡，近期活躍於比利時布魯塞爾。他們自 1990 年代起開始合作，擅於結合攝影、錄像 及聲音技法，以影像裝置、文件等多媒材討論當代社會與政治，其中不乏以詩性方式對體制反思與批判。他們 展出頻繁，可以在諸多國際重要場合看到他們的作品。如：波蘭羅茲美術館、盧森堡愛樂音樂廳、安哥拉盧安 達三年展、南韓釜山當代藝術雙年展、法國沙馬朗德酒莊、盧森堡卡西諾當代藝術中心與南非約翰內斯堡保護 色藝廊……等。2009 年他們代表盧森堡參加威尼斯雙年展。 Gast and Nadine were both born in Luxembourg and are currently based in Brussels, Belgium. They have worked together since 1990s, using a combination of photography, video, and sound to create potent social, political, and institutional critiques which they have exhibited at major international venues including the Muzeum Sztuki Lodz, Poland; Philharmonie, Luxembourg; Trienal de Luanda, Angola; Busan Biennale of Contemporary Art, South-Korea; Domaine de Chamarande, France; Casino Forum d’art contemporain, Luxembourg and Camouflage Johannesburg, South Africa… just to name a few. And, in 2009 they represented Luxembourg at the Venice Biennale. (Amelia Ishmael)

策展人簡歷 Curator

凱文 · 穆蘭 Kevin Muhlen 1977 年出生於盧森堡，曾在法國的史特拉斯堡第二大學，以及比利時的布魯塞爾自由大學研習藝術史。2004 年，穆蘭開始於盧森堡卡西諾當代藝術中心策劃展覽，2009 年轉任現職，成為盧森堡卡西諾當代藝術中心藝術 總監暨策展人，並成立國際藝術家駐村計畫 Project room @ aquarium。該計劃曾於 2010 年邀請台灣藝術家王 虹凱駐館創作。此外，穆蘭是第 52 屆威尼斯雙年展（2007）的盧森堡國家館策展人。穆蘭的文章多發表於各 大藝術刊物與展覽專輯。 In 2009 the Luxembourg native Kevin Muhlen (b. 1977) became the artistic director of the Casino Luxembourg – Forum d’art contemporain, where he has been curating since 2004. He studied art history at the Université libre de Bruxelles (Belgium) and Université Marc Bloch (Strasbourg, France).

Since arriving at the Casino Luxembourg Muhlen has curated numerous exhibitions and also initiated the international artist-in-residency program project room @ aquarium, in which the Taiwanese artist Hong-Kai Wang participated (2010).

In addition to his work at the Casino Luxembourg, Muhlen was curator of the Luxembourg Pavilion at the

52nd International Art Exhibition La Biennale di Venezia (2007) for the project Endless Lust by the artist Jill Mercedes. Muhlen has also contributed essays to many publications and exhibition catalogues.

加斯特 · 布歇 + 娜丁 · 希爾伯

Gast Bouschet & Nadine Hilbert