Existence Implies Relationships; Life Is a Network
Relatively rural Taitung not only has a rich natural ecosystem but also a varied ethnic structure, making it a place of both natural and cultural diversity. However, as the global ecosystem reels from a variety of sources of stress that further influence each other, the earth’s environment and biological diversity are being threatened. American philosopher Donna J. Haraway states in When Species Meet that we are animals that have always lived, died, and coexisted within a network. That is, humans by no means live independently; instead, they are part of a complex network including other species, non-living things, technology, and the environment.
Humans are not the center of the universe and should not view themselves as its master; we are merely one part of a multispecies network. In Taitung, where natural resources still abound, it seems we have the opportunity to reflect on the relationship between humanity and other species at this time when the environment is gradually being destroyed. This year’s Taitung Sound Art Festival continues the theme of last year “The Entanglement of Multispecies.” With the diversity of sound and its many features at different levels, we looked to promote dialogue and interwoven relationships between the local culture and natural ecosystem and to advance toward a future of coexistence as we encounter other species and see their responses. For this reason, we significantly lengthened the originally short-term residency of years past so that artists could go delve deeper into their work.
The residency was extended to a full year for five artists so that they could immerse themselves in Taitung’s different soundscapes and cultural contexts, exploring and interpreting through their crossover art. Yannick Dauby began at the Indigenous community of Lidao, which sits at an elevation of about 1,000 meters on the South Cross-island Highway. He went deep into the forest with local Bunun hunters to collect the sounds of nature and traditional Bunun culture. Wu Sih-Chin went to an Amis community on the east coast, following clues from mythology and legend and seeking traces of sound trajectories within the historical events of bamboo. Yujun Wang traversed the lanes and alleys of Taitung to record the sounds of people in all kinds of occupations, being inspired with creative energy and connections to the land from interviews with locals. Noel Yang went to Green Island and Orchid Island, beginning with the wind-washed shores where Thousand-Wind Island, it opens an evolving narrative between environment and human agency. Liao Yu-Hsuan traveled with the Ligalin Road Patrol of the Puyuma community, rethinking the audial relationship between humans and non-humans from the perspective of animals.
In addition to presenting the works of these five artists, Hong Kong artist Dorothy Wong Ka Chung and Swiss artist Benjamin Ryser will exhibit video-sound installation they made during the “Tree Tree Tree Person-Taroko Arts Residency” in the Skadang community of the Truku people in Hualien after earthquake. The exhibition is based on multiple domains, species, and regions to invite viewers to rethink the relationships between humanity, technology, and the natural environment. We believe that these three elements by no means need to be in opposition but are instead important nodes in the global network. With sound as the medium for perception and connection, the exhibition looks to initiate dialogue and experiences of jointly existing, perceiving, and creating with all other things in the world.
——— Curator Proton Chang