Monthly Archives: March 2018

Kyoushuu

March 19, 2018 2018年3月19日

Will Matsuda is a Japanese American photographer whose personal works are largely influenced by two seemingly unrelated topics: the beauty of nature and an eagerness to better understand his own mixed-racial identity. Following these thematics, his latest photo series, Kyoushuu, takes a look at Kyoto – the city where his parents met and lived – through atypical perspectives.

日裔美籍摄影师 Will Matsuda 的个人作品，灵感源于看似毫无关联的两方面：一个是来自于大自然的美景，另一个则来自于他对了解自身不同种族身份的渴望。他的最新摄影系列《Kyoushuu》也延续着同样的主题，并以独特的角度来定格京都——这也是他的父母相遇、生活的城市。

Sharing his experience of shooting the project, Matsuda tells us, “It rained nonstop for almost the entire week I was there. Almost all of these photos were taken in the last day and a half while I was in Kyoto, due to the fact that those were the hours where there wasn’t torrential rain. This definitely led to a kind of strange, dream-like quality to the photos I took while I was there.”

他与我们分享道：“我在那里的整个星期里，几乎都在下雨。整个系列里的大部分照片都是我在京都最后一天半的时间里拍摄的，因为只有在这些时间里是没有下暴雨的。也正因如此，最后拍摄出来的照片有了一种奇怪的、梦幻般的感觉。”

Matsuda cites the novels of Haruki Murakami as one of his influences: “There’s this sort of slow magical realism that creeps into some of these photos, and that’s definitely inspired by Murakami, or The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles in particular. There’s this great quote from the book that I think about a lot: ‘To know one’s own state is not a simple matter. One cannot look directly at one’s own face with one’s own eyes, for example. One has no choice but to look at one’s reflection in the mirror. Through experience, we come to believe that the image is correct, but that is all.'”

Matsuda 表示，村上春树的小说是他摄影创作的影响之一：“这其中有些照片，像是流露着一股缓慢的魔幻现实主义，这很显然是村上给我的启发，尤其是他的《奇鸟行状录》。这本书中有一句话经常让我思考：‘了解自身状况并非易事。比方说，人无法以自己的眼睛直接看自己的脸，只能借助镜子，看镜里的反映，而我们只是先验性地相信映在镜中的图像是正确的。’”

For Matsuda, photography has become a way for him to explore the notion of home, belonging, and heritage. He tells us, “I’m interested in the intersection of my Western gaze and my inherent Japanese-ness, which is familiar to anyone with a diasporic identity. I have an idea of Japan that is profoundly shaped by my socialization in the West through images and narratives about Japan in pop culture, from katakana text on seemingly every streetwear brand to the whitewashing of Hollywood. I hope to subvert the image of Japan that has been fed to me by tapping into something deeper, something within me. I find that photography is a really powerful tool to unveil my subconscious, and maybe even my own histories, to myself.”

Matsuda 认为，摄影是他了解家庭、归属感和文化传承概念的一种方式。他说：“其实我对自己身上的西方视角与日本文化内在的交融很感兴趣，这种交融对于任何在异国生活的人来说都并不陌生。我对日本的看法，很大程度上是受我在西方生活时那些流行文化中日本影像和描述的影响，从街头品牌上的片假名文字到好莱坞的电影等等。我希望能通过挖掘更深层次的东西，颠覆一直以来人们被灌输的对日本的印象。我觉得摄影是揭开自我潜意识、甚至了解自己过往很有用的工具。”

Website: willmatsuda.com
Instagram: @willfujiomatsuda

 

Contributor: George Zhi Zhao

网站: willmatsuda.com
Instagram: @willfujiomatsuda

 

供稿人: George Zhi Zhao

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My Language Proficiency

March 16, 2018 2018年3月16日

Okui Lala, real name Chew Win Chen, is a fourth-generation Chinese Malaysian. Living in a country well known for its multicultural makeup, Chew is a multimedia artist who explores issues of language, migration, and identity through photography, video, and performance art. Today, we meet up with her in Penang’s Komtar Tower, a once iconic landmark in George Town that the state’s tourism board does not want to give up on despite dwindling public interest.

Okui Lala 原名 Chew Win Chen，是第四代的马来西亚华裔。 在这样一个以多元文化著称的国家里成长，Chew作为一名多媒体艺术家，喜欢通过摄影、影片和表演 艺术来探讨语言翻译、移民和身份认知等问题。今天，我们和 Chew 约好到槟城的光大大厦（Komtar）见面。这幢大厦曾经是槟城首府乔治市的标志性地标，尽管近年来这幢建筑对公众的吸引力已不断式微，但当地旅游局仍然不想放弃它。

Inside the shopping mall, 80s brutalist architecture adds to the grimness of the unoccupied storefronts. It’s here where many of the city’s migrant workers set up their grocery stores, restaurants, and hair salons. It’s also here where many of the city’s Filipino workers send parcels and remittance back home to the families they left behind. Young Burmese men gather in the poorly lit eateries sprinkled throughout the mall, chatting over cigarettes and tea on their only day off.

在这幢购物中心里，80 年代的野兽派建筑让空置的店面显得更加萧条。在这里，许多移民工人开起了杂货店、餐馆和美发沙龙。也正是在这里，许多菲律宾工人往他们家乡里的亲人寄送包裹和汇款。年轻的缅甸男人在他们唯一的休息日里，聚集在商场内各个灯光昏暗的就餐角落，一边抽烟、喝茶，一边闲聊。

In 2015, Chew started working with Burmese migrants on a piece called Let’s Drink and Eat Tea! One of the standout tutorials of the series was a live performance of making lahpet thoke, a simple Burmese appetizer. In the tutorial, Chew learned how to prepare the dish via translated instructions. The normally quick-to-prepare dish took thrice the time to cook as Burmese was translated into Malay, and then Malay translated into English. The video aims to demonstrate the possibilities and limitations of using translation as a tool for understanding.

2015年，Chew 开始以缅甸移民为对象，进行名为《Let’s Drink and Eat Tea！》的系列项目。其中她还试过现场制作茶叶沙拉（Lahpet Thoke）的表演。茶叶沙拉是一道制作简单的缅甸特色开胃菜，但 Chew 要通过翻译后的说明来学习如何准备这道菜。因为多了先将缅甸语翻译成马来语，再把马来语翻译成英语这个步骤，最后 Chew 完成这道原本很简单的菜式花费了比平时多三倍的时间，以此说明，翻译作为交流理解的工具的可能性和局限性。

Let’s Drink and Eat Tea! kickstarted Chew’s thought process on her latest project – My Language Proficiency, a short film in which she holds a panel discussion with herself in Malay, Mandarin, English, and Hokkien. Confronted with an art scene that’s often segregated by language barriers, Chew wanted to explore what intellectual discourse would sound like in a multicultural society if everyone could have a seat at the table and speak in the language that they are most comfortable with. The project also examines the deep influence that history, education policy, migration, and upbringing have on a person’s choice of language.

《Let’s Drink and Eat Tea!》这个项目启发 Chew 开始思考自己的最新作品《My Language Proficiency》（我的语言能力）。她分别拍摄下自己说着四种不同语言的四部短片，用马来语、普通话、英语和闽南语与自己进行一场小组讨论。面对一个经常被语言障碍所隔离的艺术场景，Chew 想探究在多元文化社会中，如果每个人都可以坐在一起，用他们最熟悉的语言来交流，这样的“知性对话会是怎么样的”。此外，这个项目还会探讨历史、教育政策、移民和家庭教育对一个人语言选择的深刻影响。

An excerpt from My Language Proficiency / 一段来自《My Language Proficiency》的影片

 

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As we wander around Komtar, Chew notes how the two waves of Malaysia’s migrants intersect – the “official faces” of Malaysia’s multiculturalism (Malays, Chinese, Indians), and the second influx of foreign workers from Myanmar and the Philippines. “There is xenophobia among our rakyat,” Chew says, using the Malay word for citizens, a word that is usually associated with patriotism and unity on a national front.

In light of recent news of Malaysia’s racial segregation, the country was slapped with a temporary ban from the Indonesian government, stopping the intake of Indonesian workers as a reaction to cases of abuse and the death of an Indonesian maid. Penang itself, with its cosmopolitan past as a trading port, enforced a ban last year on foreign cooks in efforts to protect the authenticity of its famed hawker fares. But Penang’s food, a tourist draw on its own, is a byproduct of Chinese and Indian Muslim traders assimilating with the local culture. The irony was lost on a majority of Malaysians who voted in favor of the ban.

“We’re in George Town, and we have a lot of fixed ideas about what George Town’s heritage is,” says Chew, reflecting on the almost aggressive ownership Penang’s heritage center holds on what it deems as authentic. She says that the new wave of migrant workers is viewed by many locals as “the ‘others’ who will come and take over our jobs”.

“目前马来西亚人（rakyat）中存在一种仇外心理，” Chew 说道。“rakyat”一词是马来语中“公民”的意思，这个词往往还意味着爱国主义和团结。

鉴于最近不少新闻聚焦于马来西亚的种族隔离，甚至被曝有一名印尼女佣被虐待致死，当地政府已暂时禁止印尼工人入境，以作为对多宗虐待案件的回应。槟城以前曾凭借贸易港口的地位发展成为大都市，但在去年，政府下令禁止雇佣外国厨师，目的就是要努力保护当地著名的小贩市场。槟城的美食本身就是一个充满吸引力的旅游资源，也是中国和印度穆斯林商人为了融入当地文化而产生的副产品。但讽刺的是，大多数马来西亚人最后竟然投票赞成这一禁令。

Chew 说：“我们生活在乔治市，关于这座城市的文化遗产，我们有很多根深蒂固的想法。”她认为，乔治市作为槟城的文化中心，当地人对维持所谓地道文化的态度几乎可以说是“咄咄逼人”。她说，在许多当地人眼中，新的外来务工人员只是“一些来抢工作的外人”。

“We haven’t really overcome xenophobia on a social level. How are we going to handle these issues [related to migration policies]?” she questions when asked if she feels pressure to take a social justice angle to her work with migrant workers. Chew’s work urges one to turn inwards with self-reflection to better understand and receive others, to see that their cultural influences are equally important contributions to the make-up of a Malaysian identity.

“Myanmar migrants are new migrants but can the culture that they bring with them be considered heritage? I like this old and new contradiction,” she muses. The constant stream of languages that appear in Chew’s work, be it familiar or foreign, holds a lens to the complex identities of old and new migrants that have chosen Malaysia as home. And perhaps importantly, in an age of Brexit and Trump, Chew’s work implores for acceptance of self and of neighbor.

Chew 的作品试图从社会正义的角度出发，探讨移民工人的现状和问题。被问及 Chew 是否对此也会感到不少压力时，她说：“我们的社会还没有真正克服仇外心理的问题。我们到底应该要如何处理（与移民政策相关的） 问题呢？” Chew 的作品敦促人们自我反省，去更好地理解和接受所谓的“外人”，也去明白他们的文化影响对马来西亚人身份的有着同样重要的贡献。

“缅甸移民是新移民，但他们带来的文化是否可以被视为（本土）文化遗产？我喜欢这种新与旧的矛盾。”她沉思着说道。Chew 的作品中充斥着源源不断的语言元素，无论是当地人熟悉的母语或是外语，其实都为我们提供了一种视角，以探讨那些马来西亚新老移民复杂的身份问题。重要的是，在这个对移民不够友善的整体环境下，Chew 的作品更是在呼吁人们要去包容和接纳自身的移民文化，而非抵触。

Website: cargocollective.com/okuilala

 

Contributor & Photographer: Adeline Chua
Video Courtesy of Okui Lala

网站: cargocollective.com/okuilala

 

供稿人与摄影师: Adeline Chua
视频由 Okui Lala 提供

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Four Characters 四字画语

March 15, 2018 2018年3月15日

Mostly comprised of four characters, idioms, or chengyu, are one of the most beloved methods of expression in China. The appeal of chengyu lies in their power to convey complex and wordy ideas in a concise manner. But being that many of these phrases originated from ancient Chinese literature, they can, at times, be difficult to make sense of without an understanding of their original context. Luckily, the more convoluted expressions have all but faded from the colloquial lexicon in modern-day China, while many of the easier-to-understand idioms are still widely used.

Today, the internet has become a breeding ground for linguistic creativity. Chinese netizens have begun cleverly crafting their own four-character phrases that follow the formula for traditional idioms. One such phrase birthed by the internet is rén jiān bù chāi (人艰不拆), which translates to “life is already hard enough as is, just cut me some slack.” It’s most often used in a jestful manner. Another quirky internet expression that’s made the rounds in recent times is kōu jiǎo dà hàn (抠脚大汉), which is equivalent to “catfishing” in American slang, but it’s tailored to specifically refer to a man pretending to be a woman.

Similarly, many emojis and stickers used in Chinese messaging apps have followed this trend. Images accompanied by four or five-character phrases are commonplace; they’re used to add humor or alter the expression’s original meaning. While much of these are basically Chinese memes, they serve as a testament to the linguistic versatility and nuanced possibilities of the Chinese language. Designer and recent college graduate Xia Ruolan found herself intrigued by the evolution of these expressions, and in wanting to help explain their meanings to a Western audience, she created Four Chars, an illustration project that translates and simplifies some of the more commonly seen four-character Chinese phrases.

如今我们已经很少会在日常对话中用到寓意艰深的成语，有些艰涩难懂的文言文，也随之渐渐淡出人们的视野。但其实随着互联网时代的到来，人们对使用俗语、成语的热情却并没有消退。无论多么纷繁复杂的内容，都可以用四字来概括，甚至年轻一代人还会自创四字短语。从“人艰不拆”到“抠脚大汉”，“表情包文化”的迅猛发展，也让“四字短语的视觉表达”成为了展示汉语魅力的契机。

刚从卡内基梅隆大学的产品设计系毕业不久的设计师夏若兰，就创作了这样的“四字画语”，试图用插画的形式来解释四个小小汉字的万千含义。

In the early days of Four Chars, Xia mainly used the project as a way of setting aside personal time for herself after work, a way to unwind from her stressful days. Xia recalls the many trials and tribulations that she experienced within the first year of her career: She underwent four different boss changes, switched departments three times, and even had to relocate to another country. But aside from helping her cope from the stresses of work, and perhaps more importantly, the project was a way for Xia, who’s spent much of her life abroad, to reconcile with her cultural roots.

“It may seem like being independent and living in a new country is a liberating experience,” she tells us. “But the truth of the matter is, it felt like I was running into dead ends everywhere.”

Being that Xia’s mother tongue is Chinese, Xia often found herself unable to fully articulate certain ideas in English. Out of these frustrations, she gained a newfound appreciation for the depth and versatility of the Chinese language. Xia wanted a way to share the beautiful subtleties and complexities of her native language with the world but needed to figure out an easily accessible approach. Noting the vast amounts of four-character expressions that exist nowadays, Xia came up with the idea to use illustration to offer easy-to-understand explanations for these common Chinese phrases, and thus, Four Chars was born.

最初创作“四字画语”的原因，有一部分正是源于夏若兰“在异国他乡独自生活，出于平复心态、提升自己的需要”而为之。夏若兰说，工作还没满一年，她就换了四个老板，调了三次组，在两个不同国家工作。“一个人在一个陌生的国度生活，好像有无限的自由，但也却处处是边界。”

作为一个中文母语者，夏若兰说，她不时会面临“有货倒不出”的困窘。有些略带俗气的双关词语，让夏若兰一再感受到汉语词汇的广博且“充满弹性”（雅俗共赏）的内涵。这也让她产生了某种“使命感”，要让汉语的丰富含义更加平民化地传播。加之夏若兰发现 Instagram 上“汉语学习”专题与“插画”专题相交叉的一个市场空白，每四个汉字都可能是一个触发点，画面的创作空间非常广阔。“四字画语”就此诞生了。

From fine art to movies and video games, Xia’s inspiration comes from a variety of different sources. “One time, I was cooking something with Sriracha. I was just staring at the bottle of red sauce, and the idiom rè huǒ cháo tiān (热火朝天) popped up in my head mind. At the same time, an image of René Magritte’s surrealist paintings surfaced in my mind. Combining the two, I came up with the idea to draw a bunch of Sriracha rockets flying into the sky as a way of presenting the idiom.”

要说灵感的发源，艺术家的作品、电影游戏的画面，都会成为夏若兰的启发点，“有一次我用 Sriracha 辣酱（中国好像买不到，但在海外很火的‘中国特色’辣酱）做晚饭，看着红红的瓶身，就想到了‘热火朝天’那个词。脑海中又有超现实主义艺术家雷内･马格里特（René Magritte）的经典画作，于是就画出了一大堆辣酱瓶子因为自身太辣变成了火箭往天上飞的场景。”

Xia acknowledges that conceptualizing and executing the illustrations aren’t the toughest steps of the creative process. The most challenging part lies in the fact that there are lots of four-character phrases that simply cannot be explained in a sentence or two. “In most cases, I have to simplify the full meaning; if the dictionary doesn’t explain the literal meaning or breakdown underlying connotations of the phrase, I also have to figure out how to add it in. My boyfriend will often help out too and fix up my ‘Chinglish.’” Xia says, grinning. “But when I’m trying to translate these idioms, it’s not just about their meaning. The most important thing is to explain why its an interesting phrase.”

One of the quirkier phrases Xia covers in the series is “děng dēng děng dēng (等灯等灯),” a four-character onomatopoeia that references Intel’s iconic jingle. The first and third character, děng (等), means wait. The second and fourth character, dēng (灯), means light. Her illustrations present a literal interpretation of the phrase with characters holding traffic lights. This expression is most often used as playful banter between friends and simply means “wait” or “hold on a minute.”

Another phrase Xia enjoyed working on was wèi ài gǔ zhǎng (为爱鼓掌), which is a double entendre. Its literal meaning is “clap in the name of love,” but in Chinese, the onomatopoeia for clapping – “pa, pa, pa” (啪啪啪) –  is associated with the sounds of intercourse (or specifically, the sound of skin slapping against skin). The expression is essentially used as a euphemism for talking about sex. Taking into consideration of the fact that many people might not understand the dual meaning of the phrase, she decided to approach the illustration and definition in a literal manner. Another point she took into consideration is that if she were to present the true meaning through illustration, it’d most likely result in a raunchy image that could be censored by Instagram. Xia tells us, “It was fun to look at the comment section for this post,” she says. “Many people who’re aware of the true meaning were cracking jokes with other double entendres.”

但往往最难的不是设计本身，而是那些无法用三言两语去解释的字词。“大多数情况是，自己把词典提供的释义进行略微的改动；如果词典没有提供引申义和字面义的，自己也需要补上。有时候在美国的男友也会帮忙改语法，以及改掉我比较 Chinglish 的部分。”夏若兰说，“在解释这些词的时候，不仅要解释字面义，还要解释为什么这个词是有趣的。”

比如源自于英特尔广告声音的“等灯等灯”，在形象化描绘了等待红绿灯的场景后，也需要融入声音的通感。又比如“为爱鼓掌”，一语双关。直接解释的话，鼓掌其实就是“啪啪啪”的声响，但夏若兰担心这么解释反会加深非汉语用户的理解难度；可要是直接诠释“啪啪啪”本意，则肯定要涉及到露骨画面，会被网络筛查。所以夏若兰在这时就用了更通俗易懂的方法去描述性爱。“有趣的是，这个词的评论区冒出不少人，他们用了相似的语言风格表露了他们作为老司机的一面。”

Having never been formally trained in art, Xia says this project is actually her first-ever attempt at dabbling with illustration. “While Four Chars has helped me a lot personally, it’s actually my first time ever doing something like this. It’s helped me with managing my stress, but in a way, it’s pretty much just escapism. […] I do feel a sense of elation and relief whenever I’m working on the project. It feels different from doing something just to kill time. There also aren’t any extreme ‘eureka’ moments nor do I experience creative stagnation; the project lets me channel my creativity in a pretty consistent way. I also get to experiment with new styles or aesthetics every day.”

Recalling what life was like before she began the project, Xia estimates that 90% of her time was spent figuring out how to be more effective, how to work faster, and how to get results. Being locked into this mentality led her to feel restless and irritable all the time. “So, as someone who’s always looked within for answers, I began asking myself how I could get out of this slump. I guess I hoped I could use the remaining 10% of my time to come up with an answer, and it turns out, Four Chars was the result of that – this project gave me a chance to work on something that didn’t necessarily need an end goal. It was time that I can use for my personal enjoyment and to better myself creatively. In a way, I’m grateful. If I didn’t face the hardships that I did, then I wouldn’t have come up with Four Chars. Its helped me find motivation in all aspects of my life.”

其实作为一个没有机会进行“艺术科班培训”的画手，夏若兰说，这是她第一次以插画师的身份来做项目。“当然，‘四字画语’给我带来的收益并不是十全十美的。它作为一个精神后花园，很大程度上会让我脱离对物理世界的体会（也会让我产生“幻觉”）……创作‘四字画语’带给我一种上升着的快感，和消磨时间的快感不同，它并不存在一个‘高潮’与高潮消退的阶段。每一天都可以尝试新的画风。”

因为之前受到种种压力的影响，夏若兰每天可能会有 90% 的时间在让自己加速、高效、出成果，需要做到“充实”。但这种“充实”却建立在浮躁本身的泡沫之上。“于是，习惯于独立思考的我立即开始向内心求助，祈求着那个 10% 的我的援助。‘四字画语’就是那个 10% 的时间，它给了我一个‘沉浸做一件事不求目的’的时间段，是一个享受匠人精神的时间段。如果没有之前的转折，就没有‘四字画语’的初心。它像是一个自我鞭策的存在。”

Website: ruolan.design
Instagram: @four_chars

 

Contributor: Chen Yuan

网站: ruolan.design
Instagram: @four_chars

 

供稿人: Chen Yuan

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Life, Death, & Rats 临死前的歌舞庆典

March 14, 2018 2018年3月14日
A still from Zhang Xuzhan's Room 004 – Si So Mi / 来自《灵灵肆－Si So Mi》

Zhizha is a traditional Chinese craft that uses paper to create funeral offerings that are meant to be burned and sent to the afterlife. Typically, these offerings are comprised of money, everyday items, and, at times, even houses. The belief is that these offerings can be received and used by the deceased. 

With the changing times, the traditional craft of zhizha has slowly slipped into decline. However, Taiwanese visual artist Zhang Xuzhan‘s interest in zhizha art has conversely grown over time. In recent years, Zhang has repurposed this traditional craft for creating uncanny and grotesque-looking works of art. In his ongoing Hsin Hsin Joss Paper Store Series, Zhang begins each project by sculpting the characters using zhizha techniques. These characters are then implemented into animations, short films, or installation pieces to tell a larger story. Although the visual presentation is versatile, each piece of work share commonalities in their examination of the absurdities of society, contradicting ideals, the subversion of power, as well as life and death.

张徐展是来自台湾的艺术家，他的创作素材很怪诞，甚至有些灵异的成分在，他用纸扎人来创作。纸扎人是在中华传统的祭祀仪式里，透过燃烧寄送给逝者的小型纸製祭品，通常是一些生活所需，房子、日常用品、钱等等。这是一项随时间逐渐淘汰的传统技艺，现在还遵从这种习俗的人已经不太多了。

在他的系列作品《纸人展与新兴糊纸店系列》中，张徐展用纸扎技术来制作玩偶，再以动画、电影、空间装置等手法去呈现。大部份作品都是延伸自他在日常生活中观察到的现象——荒谬、矛盾、颠复、对于生与死的探索，这样的思辨经常出现在他的作品中。

A snippet from Hsin Hsin Joss Paper Store Series – Room 001 / 来自《灵灵壹–房间》系列
A snippet from Hsin Hsin Joss Paper Store Series – Room 001 / 来自《灵灵壹–房间》系列
A snippet from Hsin Hsin Joss Paper Store Series – Room 001 / 来自《灵灵壹–房间》系列

Zhang’s interest in zhizha can be traced back to his childhood. His family owns and operates Hsin Hsin Joss Paper Store, a century-old store that specializes in paper art funeral offerings. As such, Zhang grew up surrounded by miniature houses, doll effigies, and mythical creatures, all of which were made by paper and intended to be delivered to the underworld. “I’ve noticed that there’s a lot of superstition and misconceptions around zhizha creations,” he shares. “People consider them to be bad luck or creepy. But in my upbringing, I saw them as just products, a way for my family to make a living. Before they’re burned, they’re nothing but paper dolls. For me, I think what was much scarier than these zhizha effigies that lived alongside my family and I is seeing some of the stuff shown on television or in films. The undead monsters on Cantonese shows like Vampire Expert were much more terrifying to me as a child.” 

之所以选用这种题材创作，是因为他的家庭背景。张徐展出生在台湾一间有百年历史的纸扎手艺商店—新兴煳纸店（Hsin Hsin Joss Paper Store），从小和这些灵厝、纸娃、神兽生活在一起。“我发现华人对纸扎文化多半有些刻板印象和迷思，会觉得恐怖或不吉利，但在我的成长经验里祂们只是谋生的商品，在出发之前都是没有功能的纸偶。反倒是港片里的道长林正英在杀殭尸时，影视媒体塑造的形象，比放在家里一起吃饭的纸扎人还要可怕。”

A still from Room 003 – Inferiority Bat / 来自《灵灵参–自卑的蝙蝠》系列
A still from Room 003 – Inferiority Bat / 来自《灵灵参–自卑的蝙蝠》系列

The fourth and latest addition to Zhang’s Hsin Hsin Joss Paper Store Series is Room 004 – Si So Mi, a stop-motion film based on his personal experiences and observations. “There’s an outdoor market near my studio,” he shares. “There, I’d see a lot of dead critters. They might have just been out looking for a bite to eat when they were squished by a car. Tons of people will pass by and not bat an eye. While the creature’s life is over, its physical body remains. It almost feels like it’s openly displaying its death as it waits to ‘log out’ of life.”

在第四号新作《灵灵肆 – Si So Mi》里，角色设定和情节都改编自張徐展的亲身经历。“工作室附近是菜市场，常有很多乾匾的小动物尸体，牠们可能只是出门吃个东西就被压扁了。在马路边没人处理，也不是很起眼，状态很像生命已经结束，但身体留在原地——似乎在晒自己的死亡，等着从生命‘登出’。”

Room 004 – Si So Mi Demo 30 sec

 

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A snippet from Room 004 – Si So Mi / 来自《灵灵肆－Si So Mi》
A snippet from Zhang Xuzhan's Room 004 – Si So Mi / 来自《灵灵肆－Si So Mi》

Room 004 – Si So Mi features a group of paper rodents as the starring characters. Zhang’s inspiration to tell a story about rats comes from a childhood memory, or more specifically, his first encounter with death. “It’s a vivid memory that takes place on a sunny afternoon,” he tells us. “I saw a caged rat half submerged in a near-full bucket of water, fighting for its life.”

Recalling the incident, Zhang says this struggle for life almost seemed like a dance to him at the time, especially against the backdrop of the illuminated water. The water formed a stage and the battle to stay alive almost looked choreographed – it felt like a performance playing out in front of him. While morbid, this left a deep impression on him as a child. It was only after he grew up that he began to fully understand the event and the implications of death.

主角之所以是纸煳老鼠，灵感来自于他小时候一次目睹死亡的记忆。“ 一个晴朗的午后，阳光洒落在一个水大约九分满的水桶，裡面浸有一隻不断想逃脱的老鼠。”他回忆起，那隻老鼠挣扎的样子就像在跳一支怪异的舞蹈，背景是水被阳光反射的闪烁，有舞台，有动作，像一齣小小的舞台剧。当下年幼的他不觉得这和死亡有什么关联，长大后回想起来才明白，这一刻原来离死亡有多么接近。

A still from Zhang Xuzhan's Room 004 – Si So Mi / 来自《灵灵肆－Si So Mi》
A still from Zhang Xuzhan's Room 004 – Si So Mi / 来自《灵灵肆－Si So Mi》

Room 004 – Si So Mi takes this memory and reimagines it into a bizarre stop-motion film. It’s surreal, yet very much rooted in reality. In the short film, the rats are wearing party hats and singing the German folk song “Ach, wie ist’s möglich dann.” This song, in Taiwanese folk culture, can often be heard at funerals. In turn, the first three notes of the song, ‘si-so-mi,’ has become closely associated with death in Taiwan. It’s an amusing juxtaposition with the song’s earlier appearances in German love films. The accompanying choreography of the zhizha rodents is Zhang’s way of paying tribute to the moments of life that are often overlooked. The joyful singing both celebrates and mourns the passing of life. It’s a ceremonious performance that commemorates the separation of flesh and soul. Room 004 – Si So Mi serves as a reminder that death doesn’t necessarily need to be associated with sadness, but rather, it should be acknowledged as just a changing of one state to another.

他把这样的回忆重现在作品里，像幻境，却又与现实紧密相连。老鼠带着派对帽子，唱的曲子是 Si So Mi（西索米），原型是一首常用在文艺爱情电影的德国诗歌《Ach, wie ist’s möglich dann》，传入台湾后却成了葬仪乐队用的送葬曲，其中意义的转变形成有趣的对比。这支编舞是张徐展用想像在回应这些总在发生、却没人发现的生活现场，牠们以欢快的姿态奏乐，用歌舞庆祝死亡的到来，带点哀愁与倔将的与逝去的生命对质。进行一场灵魂与肉身分离、亡者从人间登出的仪式。死亡有时也不必感伤，是换了个地方生活，是吧。

An image of other works from the recently concluded Si So Mi exhibition
An image of other works from the recently concluded Si So Mi exhibition
An image of other works from the recently concluded Si So Mi exhibition

Website: www.mores-zhan.com
Instagram: @zhangxu_zhan

 

Contributor: Yang Yixuan

网站: www.mores-zhan.com
Instagram: @zhangxu_zhan

 

供稿人: Yang Yixuan

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Confronting the Uncomfortable

March 13, 2018 2018年3月13日

Lkhagvadorj Enkhbat is a contemporary Mongolian artist who is best known for his hyper-realistic portraits that depict seemingly unconscious men on the streets of Ulaanbaatar. The men depicted are homeless alcoholics who resort to rummaging and salvaging garbage to survive. By displaying these men at the lowest point in their lives, his art is an uncomfortable confrontation with the rampant problems of alcoholism and poverty that have plagued Mongolia.

While he’s earned praise for his work outside of Mongolia, many people in the country don’t see any merit in his art, viewing his work as nothing more than unpleasant imagery. Despite the negative feedback, he isn’t deterred. Similar to Orkhontuul, a Mongolian artist we’ve featured in the past, Lkhagvadorj isn’t afraid to expose the ugly truths of society.

来自蒙古的当代艺术家 Lkhagvadorj Enkhbat 向来以超现实主义的肖像画著称，在他笔下，常常描绘着乌兰巴托街头一些不省人事的男性，他们往往都是无家可归的酒鬼，只能靠翻找垃圾维持生计。通过记录下这些处于低谷中的男人们的生活，Lkhagvadorj 试图直面充斥于蒙古社会的酗酒和贫穷问题。

虽然他的作品早已在国际社会上获得认可，但在蒙古国内，仍然有许多人不能理解他的作品，在他们看来，他的作品无非只是一些令人不愉快的画面。尽管有这些负面的反馈，Lkhagvadorj 也没有因此却步。和我们之前介绍过的蒙古艺术家 Orkhontuul 一样，Lkhagvadorj 并不畏惧揭露社会的丑恶现实。

Lkhagvadorj’s interest in these dark subjects stems from his past: his father and the environment he grew up in. When Mongolia became a democracy in 1990, many men and women not only lost their jobs but they also lost their sense of self. This led many people to turn to the bottle as a way of drowning out their loss and sorrow – this was especially true where Lkhagvadorj grew up.

He shares, “There were more men in my neighborhood who became addicted to alcohol than in any other neighborhoods in Ulaanbaatar.”

Lkhagvadorj’s father was no exception.

Lkhagvadorj 对黑暗题材的兴趣源自他的过去、他的父亲以及他长大的环境。1990 年，蒙古转型成为民主社会，许多人因此失去了工作，同时也失去了他们的自我意识。许多人因此选择用酒精来麻醉掉强烈的失落感与悲伤，在 Lkhagvadorj 长大的地区尤其如此。

“在我家附近，沉迷于酒精的人要比乌兰巴托其它地方多得多。” Lkhagvadorj 说。

他的父亲也不例外。

Supermarket (2014)
Dream of Having a Horse (2013)
All Needs Fulfilled (2013)

“My father’s addiction got so bad that he would also end up on the street passed out. My family has tried so many times to make him stop, but nothing really worked. Eventually, he moved away to the countryside when I was in high school.”

For over a decade, Lkhagvadorj didn’t interact with his father, but recently, Lkhagvadorj’s father moved back closer to him and found employment as a security guard. Unfortunately, his father still hasn’t stopped drinking – he’s even one of the men depicted in the painting titled Supermarket. While the two have rekindled their relationship, Lkhagvadorj’s father remains unaware of the exact kind of works that his son paints.

“我父亲的酗酒问题变得非常糟糕，有时他甚至会醉倒在街上。我的家人试过很多次劝他戒酒，但根本没用。最终，在我读高中的时候，他搬到了乡下住。”

十多年来，Lkhagvadorj 都没有和父亲联系，但最近他的父亲搬回到 Lkhagvadorj 家附近，并且找了一份保安的工作。但他仍然没有戒酒。Lkhagvadorj 在自己一幅名为《Supermarket》（《超市》）的画里描绘了自己的父亲。虽然他与父亲重拾了父子间的关系，但父亲依然不明白他画的是什么类型的作品。

Sweat of a Winning Horse (2016)
Me Above the Birds (2015)
Sheep Man (2015)

In the beginning, Lkhagvadorj ventured out into the streets to take candid photos of these homeless people, using the images as references for his paintings. It was a very detached approach. However, after completing a few paintings, Lkhagvadorj decided to rethink his methods and set out with the goal of getting to know these people, to understand who they were before they ended up on the streets.

“Most these people had very interesting and fruitful lives before the ended up on the streets,” Lkhagvadorj comments. “They had a family and a job, but the bottle was a stronger pull for them. And I would ask them, ‘Why can’t you just stop drinking?’ and their responses were, ‘I can’t stop, I just have to drink.’”

Lkhagvadorj made it his mission to converse with and get to know more of these people as he continued to create more paintings. His interactions reached a point where he realized many of these marginalized individuals had specializations and skills in their own communities. Lkhagvadorj started to understand that their self-worth wasn’t diminished in any way by their lifestyles. He tells us, “These people did not see themselves as we saw them.”

开始的时候，Lkhagvadorj 壮着胆子拍路人的照片，用来作为他绘画的参考。但他发现，这是一种置身事外的做法。在反思自己的创作过程后，他开始主动去了解这些人，了解他们在沦落街头之前的生活。

“这些人在变成无家可归之前，大多过着非常有趣和充实的生活。他们有家、有工作，但酒精对他们的诱惑更大。我问他们，‘为什么你就不能戒掉酒呢？’他们的回答是，‘我戒不了，只能一直喝。’”

Lkhagvadorj 为自己定下了这样的任务：和这些人交谈，去了解他们。通过与这些人的交流，Lkhagvadorj 意识到，他们在自己的世界里也是各有专长的。Lkhagvadorj 对这些人的认知渐渐深入，他也明白了，他们的自我价值并不会因为他们的生活标准而降低，“这些人对自己的认知与我们眼中的他们是不一样的。”

Holding on to Dear Life (2016)
I am with a Flock of Sheep in the Prairie (2010)
Wolf (2012)

At gallery showings, there were times when Mongolian art critics stormed out of his exhibition because they were outraged by his work. Similar to how Mongolian society has shunned their homeless population, Enkdhat’s art has yet to find a home in Mongolia and most of his work tend to end up in foreign art galleries.

当他画廊展出作品时，曾经有一段时间，一些蒙古艺术评论家会气急败坏地离开他的展览，因为他们接受不了眼前的画像。Enkdhat 的作品和这些无家可归的人口一样，在蒙古社会都遭到了冷遇，所以大部分作品都只能在国外美术馆展出。

Lkhagvadorj understands there is a dilemma to his craft in Mongolia. He understands that if he painted topics were more likely to be well-received by the masses, then more people would purchase his paintings. There were times when people tried to persuade him to paint things that were pleasant. However, no matter how many people would attempt to convince him to create art that’s more accessible to the public or art that can to garner more name recognition, he refuses to change his style. He insists that he paints what makes him feel like himself. “People will try to persuade me to paint something different, but I have stayed true to myself,” he states. “Just like these people who can’t stop drinking, I can’t stop painting these people. I just have to paint them and tell their stories.”

Lkhagvadorj 明白，他的作品在蒙古面临一种困境。他也明白，如果他画一些更令人赏心悦目的画，会有更多的人购买他的作品。有好几次，别人都劝他画一些更愉快的主题。但不管有多少人劝他去创作能带来更多知名度和吸引更多观众的艺术，他依然选择坚持自己的创作风格。他认为，他的画能让他坚持做真实的自己。他补充说，“很多人都劝我画别的主题，但是我其实只是要忠于真实的自己。就像这些戒不了酒的人，我也无法戒除要画他们的念头。我必须要画他们。”

Facebook: ~/LkhagvaArt
Instagram: @lkhagvadorj

 

Contributor & Photographer: Anand Tumurtogoo

脸书: ~/LkhagvaArt
Instagram: @lkhagvadorj

 

供稿人与摄影师: Anand Tumurtogoo

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Capturing Intimacy with No. 223 “私”的定义

March 12, 2018 2018年3月12日

Beijing-based photographer No. 223 documents the people and relationships in the world around him through a lens of intimacy. His work, self-described as “free, spontaneous, unconventional, and unreasonable,” offers viewers a deeply personal look into his views on sexuality, the human body, and life in general.

While best known for his photography, No. 223 is also an avid author and independent publisher. Despite his versatility in mediums, his overall creative aspirations are one in the same. He tells us, “Sex is an essential part of life, so I try to depict as such in my works. It’s just like eating, sleeping, going out, and socializing. I just choose to record it objectively, not for the purpose of voyeurism or exposing secrets. I like the human body, so naturally, that means a lot of my works will be related to the human form.”

编号223的相片中呈递的人和事，仿佛随处充满着亲密的体温。这正如他对自己作品的定义：“自由、即兴、放荡、悬疑”——契合了“私摄影”的概念，也契合了人们对私生活的好奇心。

编号223是来自北京的摄影艺术家、作家和独立出版人。他说：“于我的作品中，性是一个人成长必然的存在，等同于吃饭睡觉逛街聚会，我只是用一个客观的心态把它们记录下来，不为了窥探也不为了发掘什么私密。我喜欢身体，这决定了我会拍很多跟身体有关的作品。”

For personal projects, No. 223 often enlists friends as models. He’s found this approach to produce a much more organic and collaborative dynamic that allows everyone to be themselves. “The subjects in my photographs are often chosen subconsciously,” he shares of his intuitive approach. “For example, the first time that I meet somebody, I might have a strong desire to take their photo. On the other hand, when it comes to friends who I’ve known for a long time, I may not want to just casually take their photo. The action of photography comes instinctively. Some of my subjects will think that I’ve captured a sexier or more carefree version of their normal selves, while others will think that I made them look like a mess without proper styling, but to me, I feel like I’m just showing them in a natural state.”

这些身体呈现着自然、放松或紧张的模样，它们都来自编号223身边的朋友，因此在拍摄的时候，双方通常都不会有心坎和隔阂。“我拍摄对象的选择，往往由我潜意识的审美来决定，比如我看到某个人的第一眼，我可能就很想给Ta拍照；有的可能认识很久的朋友，我也没有轻易拿起相机拍摄Ta，这是我个人潜在的行为激发……有的人觉得我挖掘了Ta更性感、更放纵的状态，有的人觉得我拍摄的Ta太垮了，没有造型，其实我觉得是更自然的状态。”这一切，是由背后那个摄影师个人潜在的行为激发，一切都源于主观的“私”。

Being that No. 223’s photography is so closely interlinked with his own life and interpersonal relationships, there are certain topics that he’s continuously inspired by and hopes to further explore in his work going forward. “What moves me the most is observing people as they slowly change over time,” No. 223 tells us. “Their skin, their gaze, their hair, the wrinkles around their eyes, their body, and so on. I wish I had the chance to capture these changes that I notice every time I see them.”

既然是参杂着私人的感受，那么必然也会有想要一拍再拍的时刻，编号233说，“最让我心动的是一个人在岁月在时间的慢慢前进中所产生的细微的变化，Ta的发肤、眼神、头发、眼角、体型等等发生的变化，我想要每一次见面的时候都可以拍摄Ta的这些成长的变化。”

For No. 223, his creative objectives aren’t just about the superficial documentation of personal moments. The intimate nature of his work reflects his ambitions of understanding the notion of self. His photography is both passive observation and a form of self-expression. “Many of my works are about my personal journey and the things I’ve encountered in my daily life. My works that concern sexuality and the human form fall into the latter category, but it’s not that I’m focusing on sex or the human body, but rather, I see my work as being related to life and growth. Sex just happens to be a part of that.”

Ultimately, No. 223’s creativity is driven by a personal desire to better understand his own role in this world as well as the ever-changing relationship between humans and society.

但“私摄影”远不止亲密的镜头表达。所谓的“私”，更是一种“我”对外界的看法和表达。“其实我个人作品更多的关注在自身的成长和日常所见，而身体内容的摄影是归属在这些日常里面的，并非主要拍性和身体。我的作品里面有日常有成长，有人有物，自然也会有性……”编号223的作品，也正是通过自己的镜头，在试图一次次阐述自我、他人和社会之间的关系。

Website:  linzhipeng223.com
Instagram: @finger223


Contributor: Chen Yuan
Image Courtesy of No.223

网站: linzhipeng223.com
Instagram: @finger223


供稿人: Chen Yuan
图片由编号223提供

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10 Inspiring Chinese Photographers 在 IG 上 10 个不容错过的中国摄影师

March 9, 2018 2018年3月9日

Information overload in today’s media landscape is a real problem. The signal-to-noise ratio on all our social media feeds could be optimized. To help combat your “following” fatigue and filter through the noise, we’re releasing Neocha Roundups, a series of short-form articles with recommendations of Asia-based creatives whom we follow closely and think you should be keeping an eye on.

In the first installment of Neocha Roundups, we’ll be taking a look at the Instagram photography scene in our home turf of China. Instagram-savvy users might already be aware of several big-name Chinese photographers, such as Jennifer Bin, 5.12, hx1125, amongst others, who have all played a part in popularizing the app in the Middle Kingdom and amassed sizable followings in the process, but many more talented photographers still remain very much off the radar. To help introduce some of these hidden gems into your Instagram feeds, we’ve compiled a list of accounts that have inspired us lately.

“信息超载”是现代人在频繁接触媒体的生活中，常会面临到的困扰问题。社交媒体每天传递给我们大量信息，其中很多是不被需要的“噪音”。而这些“噪音”其实是可以被过滤、及优化的。为了帮助减少你成天接收这些“噪音”随之而来的疲劳，我们开启了新的企划单元――“Neocha 精选集”。这是一系列的短篇文章，向你推荐几位值得关注的亚洲创意人士 。

在 “Neocha 精选集”的第一篇，我们将目光放在 Instagram 上来自中国艺术家的摄影作品。常用 Instagram 的用户，可能已经注意到了好几位知名的中国摄影师，比如 Jennifer Bin、5.12、hx1125 等等。他们让 Instagram 普及到了更多中国用户，并在这个过程中获得了大量的粉丝关注。但还有更多有才华的摄影师，远在人们的视线之外。为了让你在 Instagram 上搜索到一些隐匿又有才的中国摄影师，我们列出了一批最近给我们以无数灵感启发 Instagram 摄影师账号。

 

@grinch0748

Capturing moments of hilarity and the subtle interplays between environment and people, photographer Liu Tao‘s (@grinch0748) account offers a unique and whimsical look at life in Hefei. While his humor-filled work has garnered him a devoted fanbase on Chinese social media, his Instagram is an underappreciated treasure trove of street photography.

摄影师刘涛（@grinch0748）的镜头往往会捕捉到欢闹的时刻，以及环境与人之间微妙的互动感，为观看合肥的日常生活提供了一个独特而又异想天开的角度。虽然他充满幽默的摄影作品，已经为他赢得了许多中国社交平台的忠实粉丝，但他的 Instagram 却是街头摄影的一个未被开发的宝库。

 

@luoyangphoto

Already a well-established name in the Chinese photography scene, Luo Yang‘s (@luoyangphoto) Instagram account offers a refreshing perspective of femininity in an evolving China.

摄影师罗洋（@luoyangphoto）的 Instagram 账号已经在中国摄影界名声显赫，它为发展中的中国提供了一个全新的女性视角。

 

@harry.lil

Using a subdued palette of colors, Shanghai-based photographer @harry.lil channels a sense of calm and tranquility throughout his work. Primarily focused on portrait photography, his Instagram portrays young Chinese females with equal parts attitude and equal parts grace.

上海摄影师 @harry.lil  的摄影作品色调柔和，呈现出平静和安宁的感觉。他的摄影以肖像作品为主，在他镜头下的中国年轻女性，兼备个性态度与优雅魅力。

 

@lesliezhang1992

Often blurring the line between conceptual photography and fashion photography, Leslie Zhang‘s (@lesliezhang1992) Instagram is home to a quirky collection of colorful images that, at times, feel like scenes straight out of a Wes Anderson film.

摄影师张家诚（@lesliezhang1992）的作品模糊了概念摄影和时尚摄影之间的界线，他的 Instagram 上展示了一系列独特的影像作品，色彩丰富又充满趣味。

 

@youknowcyc_

While his account has accumulated an impressive following, @youknowcyc_ only skyrocketed in popularity over the past year. Comprised of neon-lit cityscapes and vertigo-inducing vantages, the Shanghai-based photographer’s account shows off various Asian metropolises in their full grandeur.

@youknowcyc_ 是这几位摄影师中粉丝数量最多的其中一位，但其中有一大批粉丝都是在过去一年间暴涨的。他的作品多为亚洲大都市中霓虹灯闪烁或是令人眩晕的城市景象。如果你喜欢这样的摄影风格，这位来自上海的摄影师绝对不容错过。

 

@lvlvlcy

Cathy Liu’s (@lvlvlcy) Instagram account is a visual travel diary that takes viewers from the forests of Hokkaido to the alleyways of Morroco. Her account is a delightful recap of the beautiful architecture and stunning sights she’s stumbled across in her adventures across the world.

Cathy Liu (@lvlvlcy）的 Instagram 可说是一个视觉旅行日记，可以让关注者从北海道的森林一路“旅行”到摩洛哥的街头小巷。她的照片常常纪录下偶然发现的美丽建筑和绝妙景色，活泼轻巧地勾勒出她在环游世界的冒险之旅。

 

@xiaopeng_yuan

Photographer and co-founder of independent publishing studio Same Paper Xiaopeng Yuan (@xiaopeng_yuan) uses his Instagram to inject a healthy dose of surrealism into the mundanities of life in China.

摄影师兼独立出版工作室 Same Paper 的共同创办人袁小鹏（@xiaopeng_yuan），将他的 Instagram 作为中介，在中国平凡的世俗风景中注入了一剂超现实主义的新能量。

 

@aero.h

Coming from a videography background, He Xilin (@aero.h) offers his perspective of China via atmospheric, cinematic snaps that transports viewers into scenes reminiscent of director Wong Kar-wai’s work.

来自拍摄动态影像的背景，何西林 (@aero.h) 透过他独具氛围感、像电影一般的影像作品，透露了他对中国的看法。将观者直接带入画面中，让人联想到王家卫导演的作品。

@huiuh_

Radiating a sense of tenderness and delicacy, Hangzhou-based photographer Li Hui’s (@huiuh_) Instagram features a collection of beautiful analog snapshots that explore intimacy, relationships, and vulnerability.

来自杭州的摄影师李晖（@huiuh_）在 Instagram 收录了一系列作品，探索人与人之间亲密关系和脆弱性，展现了毫不掩饰的温柔美感 。

 

@by.harper

Based in Chongqing, photographer @by.harper takes to the skies to capture jaw-dropping aerial perspectives of the city. From crisscrossing highways to geometric building formations, his account shows off the many shapes and forms of China’s “mountain city.”

重庆摄影师 @by.harper 喜欢从高处捕捉城市中令人瞠目结舌的上空视角。从纵横交错的高速公路，到几何建筑形态，他的作品展示了中国“山城”的多种样貌。

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The Story of OAG OAG，马来摇滚的灵魂

March 8, 2018 2018年3月8日

 

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OAG, which stands for Old Automatic Garbage, was formed on Christmas Day in 1992 and was one of the first English-language alternative rock bands to enjoy mainstream success in Malaysia. They first came from the underground music scene and were initially influenced by seminal 60’s rock bands such as The Velvet Underground, The Beatles, and Pink Floyd.

OAG 全称 Old Automatic Garbage，是一支在 1992 年圣诞节成立的乐队，也是马来西亚第一批成功进入主流市场的英语另类摇滚乐队之一。他们一开始活跃于地下音乐界，而上世纪六十年代的摇滚乐队，比如地下丝绒乐队（The Velvet Underground）、披头士（The Beatles）和 Pink Floyd 这些乐队，则给予了他们音乐创作的最初影响。

The band’s big break came when they signed to Positive Tone and released their debut album, Old Automatic Garbage, in December 1994. The album went far beyond anyone’s expectation at the time, eventually going triple platinum and helping spark off the alternative music scene in Malaysia. Their hit, “60’s TV,” has become one of the most recognizable alternative rock songs in Malaysia, and the song’s accompanying music video also helped signal a new creative direction for music videos in the country. The band would become well known by Malaysian audiences for their exciting live performances and catchy tunes.

1994 年 12 月，乐队与 Positive Tone 音乐制作公司签约，并发行首张专辑《Old Automatic Garbage》，迎来乐队生涯的重大转折点。这张专辑获得了超乎所有人预期的成功，最终销量高达三百万，同时也让另类摇滚在马来西亚流行起来。他们的热门曲目《60’s TV》已经成为马来西亚国内最知名的另类摇滚歌曲，这首歌的 MV 也为马来西亚音乐 MV 创作开启了新的方向。凭借精彩的现场表演以及琅琅上口的音乐，OAG 成为了马来西亚家喻户晓的名字。

The success of their first album was followed up by a critically acclaimed, dance-inspired EP, Melody Mocker, and the band was also enlisted to write and perform the theme song for the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship. The two albums that later followed in 2002 and 2003 respectively, Opera Radhi-o Friendly and Satelit Ink, were recorded in their native Malay language as the band tried to attract a bigger Malay audience.

首张专辑大获成功后，乐队之后发行的舞曲风格 EP《Melody Mocker》也广受好评。随后，乐队获邀为 1997 年的国际足联世界青年足球锦标赛创作和演唱主题歌曲。在 2002 年和 2003 年，他们又分别发行了两张以母语马来语创作的专辑《Opera Radhi-o Friendly》和《Satelit Ink》，试图吸引更多马来西亚当地听众。

Since then, the band went through a few lineup changes and a couple hiatuses. Founder, lead vocalist, and guitarist Radhi Razali says that one of the challenges for rock music in Malaysia is that people still underrate rock bands at times. Radhi tells us, “The music industry in Malaysia is very diverse and [the music is] getting weirder, bigger, bolder, crazier. There’s a lot of new experimental stuff coming in by the young newcomers, but rock is still always here. Rock is tough. Rock will never die in Malaysia!”

此后，乐队又经历了一些成员变动和几次休整。乐队创始人、主唱和吉他手 Radhi Razali 认为，对于本土摇滚音乐来说，他们所面临的挑战，有时是源于摇滚乐队在马来西亚未曾受到重视的现实。Radhi 告诉我们：“我认为马来西亚的音乐产业非常多样化，并且变得越来越怪异、浩大、大胆……也变得更疯狂，现在的年轻人带来了很多全新的实验音乐，可摇滚乐还是屹立不倒。在马来西亚，摇滚乐是永垂不朽的！”

The band just celebrated their 25th anniversary last year and marked the occasion with a special concert in Kuala Lumpur at The Bee Publika, combining old and new members alike. The current generation of OAG is the fifth generation of the band, with Radhi Razali on vocals and guitar, Qi Razali on drums, Muhamad Nizam on guitar, Nazrin Zabidi on bass, and Izmer Khasbullah on keyboards. “I’m hoping it’s also gonna be the last generation of OAG because I’m getting old,” Radhi says, “I might look like a 16-year-old Jackie Chan, but I’m 39 years old already!”

在去年，乐队刚刚庆祝了他们成立 25 周年的纪念日，并在吉隆坡 The Bee Publika 举行了一场特别的音乐会，新老成员一起同台出演。目前 OAG 队员已经是乐队的第五代成员，包括主唱和吉他手 Radhi、鼓手 Qi Razali、吉他手Muhamad、贝斯手 Nazrin Zabidi 以及键盘手 Izmer Khasbullah 在内。“我希望我们这一代的 OAG 也是最后一代了，毕竟我年纪也大了。”Radhi 说，“我可能看起来还像 16 岁的成龙，但我已经 39 岁啦！”

 Facebook: ~/oag20

 

Contributor, Photographer & Videographer: Leon Yan

脸书: ~/oag20

 

供稿人，图片摄影师与视频摄影师: Leon Yan

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Vietnamese & Unapologetically Queer 越南、LGBT 和独立杂志

March 7, 2018 2018年3月7日

It started simple. Back in 2014, two Vietnamese-American artists, Aiden and Nu, came back to their hometown Saigon where they found the artistic and LGBTQ communities fragmented. Within but a few months of their summer holiday, Aiden, Nu, and Đăng Bùi (an old friend who became the third team member) attempted to connect with other underground queer artists with the purpose of collaborating on a zine. The result was a global publication that focused on literary and visual arts produced by LGBTQ Vietnamese creatives. Its quirky title, Vănguard, is a play on words that combines the Vietnamese word văn, which roughly translates into literature and culture, and the English word “vanguard,” which means the forefront of an action or movement. After four issues, Vănguard continues to shape the local and international queer Vietnamese art scene with its unconventional approach to the artistic process and to community organizing.

一切的开始很简单。2014 年，两名越南裔的美籍艺术家 Aiden 和 Nu 回到他们的家乡西贡，在那里，他们发现，当地的艺术和 LGBTQ 社群（男/女同性恋、双性恋、跨性别者构成的社群）就像一盘散沙。在暑假的几个月里，Aiden、Nu 和他们的老朋友 Dang（后来成为了第三位成员）四处联系其他地下同性艺术家，合作打造一本独立杂志（zine）。最终，他们成功推出一本专注越南 LGBTQ 创意者的文艺和视觉艺术杂志，并在全球范围内出版发行。

古怪的杂志名《Vănguard》其实是越南语“văn”（意为文学或文化）与英语的“vanguard”（前卫行动或运动）的结合。《Vănguard》至今已经改造了四期，并继续凭借其颠覆传统的艺术创作方式与社群组织，影响着越南乃至国际范围内的同性艺术界。

From Maika Elan’s The Pink Choice, a photo series that won the World Press Photo award in 2013 to the decriminalization of same-sex marriage in 2015, Vietnam is recognized as a pioneer within the LGBTQ rights movement in Southeast Asia. Yet, despite such hopeful progress in gained rights and visibility, it’s worth noting that the representation of this marginalized group in mainstream media is largely produced for the sake of driving awareness on LGBTQ issues to the general public, yet not directly advocating for social change or full acceptance. For the LGBTQ Vietnamese artists who seek an alternative space to explore their sexuality, to discover community, and to share their artwork, there lacked a platform free from judgment, external validation, and the boundaries of censorship. Seeking to fill in this gap, Vănguard quickly evolved from a personal venture into a community project that connects LGBTQ Vietnamese creatives across the globe and is now commonly regarded as a bastion where queer artistic expressions are rightly celebrated and concerns openly voiced.

从 2013 年越南摄影师 Maika Elan 的摄影系列《The Pink Choice》（《粉色选项》）获得了世界新闻摄影奖（World Press Photo award），再到越南 2015 年废除了同性婚姻禁令，这个国度一直被认为是东南亚 LGBTQ 权利运动中的先驱。然而，尽管在权利和社会能见度方面取得了令人鼓舞的进展，但这一边缘化群体在主流媒体中的代表性质，却主要是为了教育大众而产生的。对于寻求替代空间来探讨性取向、发现社区、分享作品的越南 LGBTQ 艺术家来说，还缺乏一个不带评判、无需受外界审视、能够避开审查制度的平台。

为了填补这一缺口，《Vănguard》迅速从原来的个人项目发展成为一个社区项目，连接起遍布全球的越南 LGBTQ 创意人才。如今，《Vănguard》被视为是一个同性艺术创作的堡垒，让他们得以自由表达，为各种问题发声。

Their choice to use the zine as a medium boils down to its low production cost, which in turn makes Vănguard more accessible for everyone to obtain and participate its making. Its self-published and decidedly underground status allows artists to dodge the painstaking process of seeking approval either from the Vietnamese government, from the publishing house, or even from the audience. Since there are no rules, the potential is unfettered.

之所以选择独立杂志这种媒介形式，归结到底在于较低的制作成本。毕竟只有保证低成本才能让更多人有机会看到《Vănguard》，并参与一起创作。通过独立出版、保持地下模式的运作，艺术家无须费尽力气来获得从越南政府、出版社到读者的认可。没有了条条框框的限制，意味着他们可以自由发挥。

Artworks featured in Vănguard are selected through an open call, which reflects the breadth of issues and approaches pursued by queer artists with Vietnamese heritage. While the four issues revel in diversity both in form and content, what ties the works together is the commonality of subversion. Such transgression comes not only from the subject matter (identities, sex, politics, to name a few), but also from an in-your-face rebuttal to the mainstream media, which, for better or worse, has always rendered the LGBTQ community in a family-friendly light. Rejecting the sympathetic trope of victims suffering from societal rejections and doomed romance, artists featured in Vănguard reclaim what it means to be queer through whimsical wordplay, unabashed imagery, and disarming recollections of personal experiences.

《Vănguard》通过公开征集、筛选杂志中的艺术作品，致力展现越南艺术家的艺术创作与各种各样的话题。虽然目前出版的四期杂志在形式和内容上都充满多样性，但无一例外，都是极具颠覆性的。《Vănguard》的颠覆不仅在于其主题（身份、性别、政治等），还在于其对主流媒体的直面反驳，这也为 LGBTQ 社群提供了一种像家和朋友一样安全、友好的环境。《Vănguard》艺术家拒绝那种不被社会认同的受害者姿态或是悲剧式的浪漫主义，相反，他们以异想天开的文字游戏，不加掩饰的影象和令人放下心防的个人经历，来重新定义同性恋群体。

Catering to their international audience, Vănguard’s first three issues were designed digitally and published through both physical and online forms. In 2017 however, with the surge in local handmade zines and self-published art books throughout Vietnam, Vănguard’s fourth issue pursued a more innovative approach by paying tribute to the fundamental practice of zine making: manual assemblage. The latest issue is separated into two sections for writing and artworks. Still grounded in the signature cut and paste aesthetic of past issues, every individual page comes to life and transports the audience to a different space and time through the use of various techniques, materials, and textures. The zine is a piece of art in itself that retains the DIY spirit without compromising complexity. For the construction, “[we] used old books, common art supplies, sandpaper, votive paper, tin foil, chalk, duct tape, acrylic paint, thread, decal, binder clips, and much more,” shares Aiden, the creative director of Vănguard. He points out the zine’s chaotic visuals, bursting with colors and textures, are influenced by his own sporadic and spontaneous personality.

为了照顾到全球各地的读者，《Vănguard》前三期都是通过电脑设计，同时在线上和线下发布。然而，在 2017 年，随着越南国内手工制作独立杂志和自出版艺术书籍的流行，第四期的《Vănguard》采取了一种更具创意的制作方式——手工装订，同时也是向最传统的杂志制作工艺致敬。

最新一期的杂志分为写作和艺术作品两部分。延续往期杂志的标志性剪切粘贴式美学风格，每一页的设计焕发蓬勃能量，并通过使用各种工艺、材料和纹理带领读者穿越到不同的空间和时间。独立杂志本身就是一种艺术，既秉承了 DIY 的精神，又保证了设计的精致性。 《Vănguard》创意总监 Aiden 这样描述杂志的创意设计：“（我们）用的材料包括旧书、普通美术用品、砂纸、祈愿信纸、锡纸、粉笔、胶带、丙烯酸涂料、绳线、贴花纸、装订夹等等。”他解释，看似杂乱无章的视觉效果，充满丰富的色彩和纹理，都是受到了他自己随性与自发的个性影响。

Behind this labor of love is not just the central team and the contributing artists, but also a motley gang of community members who spent countless hours putting it all together. After a prototype for each submission has been designed, an open call for volunteer assemblers was initiated. In 2017, for the entire month of June, Aiden’s apartment became an assembly line of queers with art tools in one hand and a can of beer in the other. As they bonded through this artistic process, the volunteers, organizers, and artists not only formed an intimate relationship with the final product, but they also forged lasting friendships with each other. Vănguard‘s fourth issue is a proud product of communal collaboration, created for the community by the community.

这本承载着爱与努力的杂志，是由团队和投稿艺术家，以及一群团结一致的社群成员，一起花了无数个日夜才制作出来的。在设计好每份投稿之后，他们会公开征集志愿者进行装订。整个六月里，Aiden 的公寓成了同性恋者的“装配线”，他们一手拿着艺术工具，另一只手里则拿着一罐啤酒。在这种艺术创作过程中，志愿者、组织者和艺术家接近着彼此的距离，他们不仅与最终的成品杂志有了更亲密的联系，同时还在互相间建立了持久的友谊。所以说，第四期《Vănguard》是令人骄傲的社群合作成果，也是为了“骄傲”社群本身。

Originating from radical movements like punk rock and third-wave feminism, zine culture has always been about challenging the status quo. For Vănguard, the point is less about creating a masterpiece and more about bringing people together and encouraging every artist to keep pushing their creative boundaries. While not intentionally political, its very concept of being self-published, uncensored, and unpolished is rebellious to the core. The form of activism Vănguard pursues is through community building, and as the community grows, it becomes irrelevant to categorize their activism.

While physical copies of Vanguard Issue #4 were only made available to those who participated in the workshop in Vietnam, all four issues of the zine are available digitally to be read for free on their website. Click here to check it out.

独立杂志的文化，起源于朋克摇滚（punk rock）和第三波女权主义的兴起，一直以来主题都会涉及到对现状的挑战。就像对《Vănguard》来说，关键不在于创作一部杰作，而在于将人们团结在一起，并鼓励每一位艺术家不断开拓他们的创作空间和界限。虽然不是出于政治目的，但其独立出版、未经审查、未经修饰的概念本身就极具叛逆性的核心意义。《Vănguard》所追求的活动形式本身就是通过社区建设实现的，随着社区的发展，再将这样的活动分门别类，就显得无关紧要了。

虽然第四期《Vănguard》只有参加工作坊的人能有机会拿到实体杂志，但好消息是现在在他们的网站上，公开了一到四期的电子版本可供免费阅读。想了解更多，请点这里。

Website: www.vanguardzine.com

 

Contributor & Photographer: Ha Dao
Additional Images Courtesy of RICE

网站: www.vanguardzine.com

 

供稿人与摄影师: Ha Dao
附加图片由 RICE 提供

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School Bullying 我们都曾亲身经历过的校园暴力

March 6, 2018 2018年3月6日

Bullying is an issue that affects individuals all over the world, whether it be physical, verbal, or emotional. It’s an imbalance of power where the strong leverages their physical strength or popularity to inflict harm on their peers. In recent times, school bullying has been a topic that’s attracted much discussion worldwide. However, despite media scrutiny and growing awareness on the full extent of the issue, bullying culture is something that remains tolerated in today’s society – bystanders are often apathetic and victims commonly choose to stay quiet.

Lean Lui, a 19-year-old photographer from Hong Kong, aims to cast a spotlight on the severity of the issue via her School Bullying photo series. “Being bullied in school is something that can happen to anyone,” she shares. “The subjects in my photos are meant to simply be symbolic. The bullies and victims could be you, maybe me, or anyone else.”

校园霸凌，指的是在校园环境里发生于学生间的侮辱和欺凌，拥有“恃强凌弱”的特性，常会导致语言和肢体上的冲突，如今已成为全球范围内舆论关注的公共话题。但即使霸凌现象逐渐步入了社会和媒体的视野，很多真正面临霸凌的人仍会以沉默相对，旁观、纵容或忍受这样的霸凌行为。

19 岁的女摄影师 Lean Lui 来自香港，她的摄影系列《校园霸凌》（School Bullying），正是想通过镜头展露这个尖锐的问题。“校园欺凌会发生在任何人身上。无论是霸凌者或者是被害者。照片中的女生可能是你、可能是我、也可以是任何人。她们只是一个喻体。”Lean 说。

The Blindfolded

 

Depicting empty classrooms and drab campus hallways, Lui’s photo series carries a sense of melancholy that’s amplified through her use of dark, subdued colors. Amidst the somber scenes, girls in school uniforms and eyes covered by white blindfolds populate the frames. Lui categorizes these blindfolded characters into two categories: passive bystanders and accomplices to the bullying.

蒙上眼睛的人

 

这个系列的相片色调非常阴沉晦涩，空无一人的教室、破旧的学校楼道，而照片里这些穿着制服的女学生，无一例外都用白布蒙上了眼睛。Lean 把她们的角色设定为两种帮凶，第一种是旁观者；第二种是同流合污者。

As such, the blindfolds are symbolic of two different concepts.

“First, it represents self-deception. Some bystanders act like just because they don’t see it, they’re unaware of what’s happening. They might even see themselves as being kindhearted since they’re not directly participating in the bullying. But in reality, their cowardice and selfishness equally perpetuate the bullying culture.”

“Secondly, many bullying accomplices simply want to conform and fit in with peers. They’re not interested in seeing the bigger picture, so they act with a mob mentality and target the outnumbered few. They often realize that they’re an accessory to the bullying, but are equally blinded by their weakness and cowardice, and will side with those in power. Being that eyes are windows to the soul, depicting them with blindfolds is meant to represent that these accomplices are nothing more than soulless creatures who are following the herd.”

所以 Lean 在作品中用纱布蒙上她们的眼睛，也代表着两重含义。

“第一，自欺欺人。有些人（旁观者）装做看不到，就当作自己不知道了，就当作自己还是很善良的，当作自己没有参与欺凌。但事实是，他们的懦弱与自私促成了校园欺凌。”

“第二，很多帮凶只是人云亦云地听从谣言，为了朋辈的认同、合群，完全没有用自己的眼睛去看清事情的真相，就随‘主流’去向‘少数’施暴；而且，很多时候‘他们’知道自己是帮凶，但被懦弱跟虚弱蒙蔽了双眼，还是会走到同党较多的一方，持强凌弱。因为眼睛是灵魂之窗，用纱布蒙上了他们的眼睛，想比喻出施暴者是一堆没有灵魂的羊群。”

“Your Past & Memories Are the Bedrocks of Life”

 

Currently a college sophomore, Lui admits to having been a victim herself in the past. The young photographer has experienced feelings of humiliation from emotional abuse first hand.

Lean shares, “Many people say my work carries a feeling of hopelessness and loneliness. I recognize that a lot of the themes I explore are more emotional in nature, and the way I express these emotions tend to be more abstract or reliant on symbolism. I suppose my preferred approach is in itself shaped by my past. Even though many of my past memories aren’t exactly happy ones, they’ve ultimately been beneficial to me. One phrase that a past teacher said to me especially resonates with me now. ‘Your past and memories are the bedrocks of life.’”

“过去和回忆都是养分”

 

很难想象，镜头背后的 Lean 才是刚刚读大二的女生，她也曾是个“受害者”，也经历过这样晦涩而羞辱的时期。

“很多人说我的作品总是有些苍凉、敏感跟孤独的感觉，我也留意到自己多数的题材都是比较情绪化的；而表达手法方面也会比较抽象，较多暗喻，这些都应该就是我的过去的那段经历塑造出来的吧。” Lean 说。“那段回忆虽然不快，但最后对我的影响暂时看起来也挺好。我很喜欢老师对我说过的一句话：‘过去跟回忆都是养分。’

One thing is clear, the issue of bullying isn’t as cut and dry as it might appear on the surface. It’s not only important for Lui to raise further attention to the issue of bullying, she seeks to understand the motivations behind it. She questions, “Is it just human nature?”

“People want to feel superior; this is probably the primary motivation of bullies. They feel accomplished and superior when they’re exerting control on their victims. Those who are accomplices to the bullying is an example of people being herd animals. Whether consciously or subconsciously, they’re aware that if they’re not participating in the bullying, then it could be them next. So there’s no reason to not join in.”

但显然，这一切暴力霸凌的现象，都并非表面上看到的这么简单。深思校园霸凌的诱因，Lean 有些不安地讲出她的答案：“可以说是‘人性’吗？”

“首先，人追求优越感，这是主欺凌者的心态，欺凌者在向弱势的一方施暴时会感受到一种优越感、成功感。其次，人是群体动物，这是帮凶的心态，对于那堆帮凶来说，害怕自己如果不合群跟著一起去欺负特定对象的话，自己也会被欺负，而且也觉得没理由不做大家都做的事。”

Those who are unfortunate enough to fall prey to bullies are generally individuals who are less conforming. Reasons for bullying could be something as simple as that the victim is less outspoken, more introverted, or even because they’re performing better academically.

Lui hypothesizes, “People like to push away the things they don’t understand, no matter what kind of cultural backgrounds they come from. When they don’t accept something, they’ll find ways to exclude them or hurt them. Bullying seems to occur more often in middle school or high school when the kids are still immature and don’t quite understand the full consequences of their actions.”

而那些不幸成为受害者的无辜对象，往往或多或少都有些与众不同。少言寡语、特立独行，甚至过于出众，都会成为被霸凌的理由。

Lean 认为，“人本质上喜欢排挤跟自己不一样的东西，无论在什么文化背景下，都会有‘主流’与‘少数’的存在。在包容度不足时，看到跟自己不一样的人就会选择去作出排挤或是伤害的行动。而校园欺凌较常发生在小、中学，那时候孩子们的思想通常较为不成熟，也不懂如何去控制自己的行为。”

Rebirth

 

As she grew older, Lui began to see both sides of the story, gaining a better understanding of both the bullies and the bullied. Her past experiences made her want to understand the psychology of humans. This is the ‘bedrock’ that she spoke of, learning from her experiences and wielding that knowledge in her creative works as a testament to her own personal growth. This series is a way for Lui to share her outlook and experiences with the issue, and in doing so, Lui hopes to invoke a sense of empathy in the viewers, and in turn, help them shed their own blindfolds.

“If people even feel the least bit uncomfortable when looking at the series, then I hope they can see how these similar feelings are amplified a thousandfold for the bullied. But bullies are human too – they have feelings and experience sadness. So I hope that the next time they’re about to bully someone, they can pause, consider the motivations behind their actions, and imagine how they themselves would feel if they were the victim.”

“重生”的力量

 

在漫长的成长过程中，Lean 渐渐学会了同那个曾被欺凌的自己和解，然后又一步步走向对社会、对人性更深层的理解。这是她所说的“养分”，亦是她成长和蜕变的见证。Lean 试图通过自己的摄影作品，以期在某种程度上唤起施暴者的同理心，剥下“蒙在他们眼前的纱布”。

“如果他们在看到这辑作品时，心里有感到一丝不安或者压抑的话，希望他们知道，被他们施暴的人，体验到的负面感受是他们看到作品时的千万倍；被他们欺负的人也跟他们一样，是个活生生的人，也是有感受的、也是会感到伤心难过的。希望他们下次再想欺负别人的时候，能考虑一下‘为什么’要这样做？如果今天自己是受害者的话，会有什么感受？”

Another goal of the series is for it to act as a voice for bullied individuals. “You’re not wrong. They’re just uninformed. You’re not alone. This is something that happens to many others all over the world. It is what it is. Even if you’re rejected by your peers because you’re different, you still don’t need to feel like you need to conform. That would be a shame. I think that being different is a good thing. You shouldn’t forgive them, but you also don’t need to harbor hatred, because when you feel angry, then they’ve won. It would be foolish to let them win. You can reexamine the situation from a different perspective and understand there’s value in learning from the experience.

Lui continues, “One of my teachers also told me something that really resonated with me: ‘I’m scared of you being different from others, but I’m even more terrified of you wanting to conform.’ This is the same message that I want to share with everyone.”

另外一个作用，Lean 想给予被害者一个出口跟勇气。“‘你’没有错，只是‘他们’还没长大；‘你’也不孤独，这件事情在世界各地都很常见，不用把这件事看得太重。因为与众不同而被孤立的话，不要想着将自己同化，那样太可惜了。而且，我觉得‘特别’是一件好事情呢。‘你’应该不会原谅他们，但是你也不要去憎恨他们了，因为生气就等于自己服毒却等别人死亡一样，很傻；可以尝试换个思维方式，从经验中获取或者学习一些东西，那样才有价值。”

Lean 传递出来的态度温柔而坚定：“老师曾对我说：‘我害怕你跟别人不同，但我更加害怕你跟别人太相同’。我也想将这句话转送给大家。”

Website: ~/leanlui
Instagram: @leanlui

 

Contributor: Chen Yuan

网站: ~/LeanLui
Instagram: @leanlui

 

供稿人: Chen Yuan

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