《寫字，在政大》Calligraphy Video Work : Characters, at NCCU

2020 政大駐校展覽 - 書法影像創作計畫｜展出於達賢圖書館｜Video Installation｜B&W｜7m 40s Loop

作品簡介（中英文簡介轉載自政大藝文中心活動網站）

Introduction

書法醞釀為作品的當下，是書寫者與作品私密的對話，而當這私密交流場域被置放在公共空間、書寫的瞬間被放大後，書寫者與作品、作品與觀者之間的交錯關係會如何變化。〈寫字，在政大〉創作計畫以「書法」的概念創作，在影像中呈現書法與我們日常似近亦遠的連結，討論作品和書寫者「觀看」與「被觀看」的關係。此作品由一百一十個人參與完成，邀請在政大的參與者使用筆墨，寫下當時心中即時想寫的字。創作者運用所蒐集到的字，將之反白後以並置、環繞的方式再現。以實體空間當作背景任由字漂浮其上，讓觀者透過仰望的方式，游移觀看每個字的個性與差異之美。

Calligraphy is filled with the presentness of the work and is an intimate dialogue with the calligrapher. When the intimate exchange is placed within public spaces and the moment of writing is enlarged, it creates changes in the intertwined relationship between the calligrapher and work, also between the work and the viewer. The creative project Characters, at NCCU invites video artist WEI Ho-Ting to start with the concept of "calligraphy" and portray the ambiguous connection between calligraphy and our daily lives through images, exploring the relationship between "seeing" and "being seen," the artwork and the calligrapher. This work is completed by 110 people and invited NCCU participants to write down whatever word comes to mind using ink and brush. The artist then reverses these words and arranges them side by side or in a circular setting. The physical space becomes the background with words floating freely on top, allowing the viewer to look up and observe the beauty of discrepancy between each word.

創作自述（文字轉載自政大藝文中心活動網站）

對我而言，能欣賞書法藝術之美，就像是一種私密的特權（privilege）。它涵蓋了文化背景的養成，甚至可以回推至「我是誰？」或「我從哪裡來？」這樣的大哉問。全球、科技化時代下，書法和現代人之間的連結漸趨淡薄，一般普羅大眾能碰觸到筆墨的機會更是少之又少。而如果沒有親身學習使用、將之成為日常，書法甚至是書寫，就好比語言，將不可免的走上凋零之路。換句話說，看與被看的兩者皆在遠離與消失中，而書法藝術後方的珍貴美感體驗與價值，也隨著心理上的距離而走上日漸疏遠的兩端。

於是我想做個實驗。我想創造某個時刻讓「書法」和「自己」產生連結，使這兩者的交會產生某種超越日常的精神性體驗。這個體驗會讓參與者產生屬於自己的連結，並從不同的角度觀看自己如何書寫、如何去建立自己與書法間的關係。

這個作品分為兩個創作階段。第一階段我想強調書法的儀式感與當下性，並邀請民眾走上從此岸到彼岸的路徑。我們設置了備妥文房四寶的寫字桌與即時投影裝置，邀請一百一十位民眾用毛筆寫下一個字，同時將書寫的過程放大投影至天花板，書寫者成了看與被看的表演關係。第二部分是將收集下來的「字」並置於同個影像時空中另外展示，強調每個「字」的個性，獨立、彼此相異，卻又同時悠遊於這個世界，一個正在失去「連結」的世界。

Artist statement

It is a privilege to be able to appreciate the beauty and magic of calligraphy. In this age of typing and tapping on to the screens, the opportunities for people to hold a pen and use paper and ink are fewer and far in between. Without using calligraphy as part of everyday life, there is a danger that it's importance and value will diminish and possibly even disappear.

For me personally, it links back to the cultivation of culture, an awareness of the aesthetic values as well existential questions such as "Who am I?" and "Where do I come from?"

As a result, I wanted to experiment and create a moment to bring together "calligraphy" and "self" in a way to produce a spiritual experience that puts the writer/person at the center of the ritual and awareness of calligraphy, of creating words and characters.

First, 110 participants were invited to this creative performance exercise. A writing desk and an instant projection device were set up. The writers wrote and watched their writing simultaneously projected around them. This exercise allowed the participants to create their own connections, and watch from different angles their manner of writing and establish a new relationship between themselves and calligraphy.

Seconly, the word and characters were collected and projected separately to emphasize the personality of each character as it differs from the others and yet they also formed part of a repeated sequence of words wandering in a world of weakening connections.