時間───2015年3月24日
受訪人───何佳興（何）
參訪人───陳莘（陳）、羅文岑（羅）、林雅雯（林）、龔卓軍、陳冠彰
地點───總爺藝文中心辦公室
整理───陳冠彰 翻譯───王莉雰

從身體甩出來的線條

何───我主修書法、篆刻，同時也修當代藝術，所以希望把當代藝術帶到傳統書法、篆刻的領域，雖然我很喜歡寫字，但在傳統書藝幽靈的縈繞下，好像也抑制了創造的精神。傳統有很多典範是很精彩的，可是在這個時代反而形成某種限制，譬如說小時候練顏真卿或是歐陽詢的《九成宮醴泉銘》。
我覺得那是書法家的尖峰之作，他們寫了一輩子才寫出那樣的字帖，書法家成熟的風格大都是在五十歲以後，那樣的字體是淬鍊過的精華，但在習字過程中很難達到那種程度，導致大部分的人不太敢拿毛筆寫字。拿毛筆寫字應該是很自然的，但因為那高門檻令我們不太敢拿筆寫字。我試著把當代藝術的觀念與傳統融合為一，在大三時我把《心經》刻在一枚印章上，花了一個禮拜，整天都在刻這個印章，刻印的字很小，且又需要一直重複調整其中的間架與布白，所以在刻一陣子之後，便拿著筆在旁邊甩手活動關節。
甩的線條我一開始沒有注意，後來那個線條便發展成我現在的字形。轉變的關鍵就是「當代藝術」，那時陳志誠老師剛從法國回來二、三年，他對我主修的書法、篆刻蠻有興趣，曾聊起他理解的傳統線條所具備的各種特質，他覺得在傳統的書法裡充滿很多細節，可以被專注地凝視與欣賞。我記得他曾提到在一個無期徒刑的牢房裡，囚犯每天畫一直線，牆上滿滿的正字線條，那樣的線條對他而言也很有力量。他是從「身體」這件事去看線條，每個人的身體就是自己的歷史，回頭想，我雖然在旁邊隨手撇，但是這線條是屬於我身體的線條。
照理說，書法應該是從早期的古文、甲骨文，甚至是陶文那樣遊戲的線條，一路全部寫過後每個人會找到相應的線條，像我的線條，再回去看書法史，其實它類似篆字。李斯制定小篆為秦朝官方的字，演變到漢朝成為隸書，但從李斯制定小篆到隸書的過程，過渡的字體是類似我目前寫成的字體。
陳───你在歷史上有找到類似你現在書寫的字體？
何───有點類似「帛書」。官方文書會寫得很工整，可是寫藥方、記錄瑣事或寫借據什麼，就會把小篆寫成更流線，後來出土的帛書就類似這一類的字，它的朝代有點是界於秦與漢之間，這種以隸書筆意寫篆書的字體寫法很個人，每個帛書所寫出的風格都不太一樣。總之我把書寫這件事用當代藝術來實踐，每次的發表會以文字或與影像之類來搭家鄭宗龍逛街看到這一張，就循線找到我，然後邀請我去看《在路上》的預演。
表演結束之後，他問我有什麼感覺？我說我平常不太看表演，可是這場表演我覺得滿好的，後來他就邀請我設計《在路上》的海報，我那時選了一個肢體動作，他說這個動作藏有陰陽的觀念，這樣的身體是東方人的身體，不是西方的，之後我跟他就一路合作到現在滿契合的，現在都會聊這些。
林───主視覺的舞蹈照片是他本人嗎？
何───我用他的舞者去畫的。
陳───這個設計風格的顯現似乎正是因為你偷渡的這些元素。
何───某種程度是，雖然不甘願，可是現在回過頭看，這決定是對的，透過設計回過頭來寫字，透過這設計平台，接觸臺灣這塊土地發生的事。
陳───所以你反而是因為從事設計而無法封鎖在個人的理想國，必須走出來觸碰並理解他人的創作歷程，如陳明章、鄭宗龍這些不同類型的人。
何───我覺得，如果我今天的角色還是與一群藝術家合作，也沒有辦法看到這些面向，因為那會是一種各自專注於作品的合作，但設計是平行或是下對上，我得要服膺於委託者，在服膺的過程能真正有機會看到他們背後的脈絡。
陳───它逼得你不能太過自我膨脹。
何───對，就是在過程中不能只專注於我自己的範圍，我得去跟這個團隊互動，互動過程的這些經驗也讓我客觀地看待自己的創作，設計者位於團隊的位置和藝術家是不太一樣。
另外可以代表的例子是，入圍前後兩屆台新獎的《寂靜時刻》與《在路上》，那時碧斯蔚．梓佑找我設計《寂靜時刻》，但是她不知道我會怎麼呈現族人的東西，害怕都市人用都市人的角度看他們。第一天開會我們沿著河堤邊走、邊聊了一個下午，讓我走到腿軟。那天跟她聊完後，她說感覺是對的，我很納悶，為什麼有人開會是這樣子開？
她長期在採集聲音，不只是記錄下來還學會唱這些歌曲，她雖是泰雅族但她不分族群去採集，但這樣子很容易會去觸犯各族的規範或是禁忌，所以她有比較多顧忌，過程中我也去理解族人對事情的感受。以他們的文化背景來看他們的生活與信仰，全部就是圍繞著祖靈這件事，他們一輩子的目的就是回去（祖靈的居所），但日本人來後，把他們的信仰切掉，讓他們的生活處於一個沒有根的狀態。我現在比較能夠理解，他們為何會有悲傷的情緒，還有為什麼一直要訴說他們的傷口，反覆看我才能理解，他們在面對什麼事情。

其實，我之前有接到要畫「家將」的冊子，那時候怎麼做都做不來。

陳───有所謂做不來的時候？
何───無論是畫原住民或是家將，靈（感）不順你就做不來，就是要拜碼頭的。所以這次接這個案子時，我很謹慎地來這邊走一圈，也趁機帶小孩、太太出來走走。

設計：夢幻組合的助產士

陳───書本設計也是你很重要的另外 一塊。
何───關曉榮老師的書《八尺門》，與他合作的關係很密切，聊天溝通能讓我較自然地去瞭解關老師在想什麼，不是只看照片去理解他的攝影，透過藝術溝通和透過設計溝通，兩者有細微的差異，理解的是不同的面向。另外一個媒合創作和設計的例子，是大江健三郎的書《沖繩札記》和《優美的安娜貝爾李．寒澈顫慄早逝去》。
羅───對啊！你把奇怪的字藏進一般的印刷字體中。
何───這個時候是稍微偷渡。每個圈子都有它的限制，書的設計有它的傳統與限制，出版是個理想的事業，當然會有經費上的考量，可是若沒有兼顧到創造性，越做會越萎縮，不管哪個領域都是如此，把當代藝術的思維運用在各領域有其必要，只是要怎麼去轉化、怎麼與社會對話。
另一方面我自己試著去出版一些小書。《二色心經》是我三十歲前的總結。《和歌山歌劇》是攝影師高倩怡的作品，她的照片蠻好的，當時跟她聊出一本概念攝影集的可能性，聊的過程ok就邊做，閱讀這本書的影像有直覺的感受，她的照片是吸引人的，她把七年級的樣子透過照片記錄。
陳───但這就很小眾。是你跟她提議出版計畫的？
何───對，我提議的，可是這種出版很獨立，也不打算放ISBN，只印六、七百本，賣完就沒有了。
再來我近期內比較完整的展覽是在「小路上」藝文空間，它的負責人是一位戲劇治療師陳巍方，上課對象大多是亞斯伯格症的小孩，這個空間二樓是教室，展場在三樓，她希望那些小孩子上樓就可以看到很多社會上的大人和他們一樣在做創作，讓亞斯伯格症小孩能學習理解到能用自己的方式和社會溝通。這空間開幕的第一檔「青春暫度」，有六場表演，第一場是林強，然後是鍾成達（交工樂隊的鼓手）、黃培育。緊接著碧斯蔚．梓佑、十九兩、拷秋勤、陳明章。陳明章老師則請黃建宏擔任與談人，我和他們大部分都有設計上的合作，這關係再衍生至展覽。
其中我跟林強的表演是，他做了一首四十分鐘的〈今心〉電子樂「實驗噪音」，等同用音樂轉譯《心經》，而我寫一次《心經》的時間長度大概就是四十分鐘，我們現場就做了一個這樣的結合，他用DJ的音效編曲，我在牆上抄寫《心經》，並把這個實驗做成專輯，將募所得收入捐給臺北市自閉兒社會福利基金會。
後來我又一直遇到類似的事，想說把這些累積轉換成出版類型好了。再來是攝影師楊雅淳，她從日本回來，都拍一些奇奇怪怪的角度，我把她同樣概念的部分集合編成一本攝影集，編輯過程從溝通到凝聚共識前後通常都是一年多以上。有點像是策展人跟藝術家的關係，跟她聊到對我產生信任，才把這本書一步一步做出來。
陳───為什麼出版形式會這麼吸引你？
何───對我來說這是藝術行為。這些出版的東西密度都很紮實，雖然是不同的領域，可是它們都是漸漸的匯聚出某些能量，這些人的職業或許不是藝術家，但是他們累積的東西都有一定的美感，當我看到它們被累積出一個厚度時，我都會試著跟他們談要不要做這件事情。出版這件事是要在互相認同的狀態下才能一步步進行。對我來說書的出版是我把創作這件事情、設計這件事情、跟人互動這件事情，三者融合起來。
陳───原本我認為設計師的天職主要就是美化視覺，但是當你用這樣的心態在面對與經營時，我覺得它又超出我原本對設計工作的認知，你與設計的關係很特別，你們正在相互形塑對方的生命。
何───新樂園有一檔陳香君老師策畫的「燕子之城」，那檔展覽對我產生很大的影響。我為那檔展覽從事設計的部分，跟著他們也接觸到每個環節，比較能理解在策展過程所遇到的狀況，體會到所謂「跨領域」的交流是什麼模式。我們看到很多文字論述試圖闡述這概念，可是策展怎麼製造平台讓人跟人去互相了解，作者又如何透過自己的核心創作去交換生命經驗，交流過程還是蠻直覺的。
陳───這些設計工作很像在產房幫別人助產，有些人好像還沒找到把作品生出來的形式，而你的工作剛好可讓一個人的理想具現化。
何───這就是合作啊！人各有所長，譬如他就是拍了那麼大量吸引人的照片，而我剛好可透過設計將圖像編輯起來，幫他找出概念，我想藝術家應該都有這種能力，把他的視覺串成一個概念來呈現，當然中間需要許多溝通，這一塊就是我持續做的。當我這麼做時它會帶來許多回饋的經驗，我也因此可以較客觀地看待創作這件事情。我每次跟對方合作完一個案子後，彼此就會成為朋友，雖不是很緊密，但關係是長久延續的。

Oscillating Lines:
Art and Design Deriving from Body Swing
─────── Timonium Lake

Time: March 24, 2015
Interviewee: Timonium Lake (TL)
Interviewers and Guests: Hsin Chen (Chen), Mirr Lo (Tsen), Juliet Lin (Lin),
Jow-jiun Gong, Guan-jhang Chen
Location: Office at Tsung-Yeh Arts and Cultural Center
Compiled by Guan-jhang Chen Translated by Li-fen Wang

Lines Created from Body Swing

TL───I am a calligraphy and seal carving major, but I also study contemporary art, so my idea is to bring contemporary renditions into the two traditional fields. Even if I love writing, I find the two are haunted by conventions which lead to the loss of creativity. While traditional models are good, they can be a restriction in modern days, such as Zhen-qing Yan’s style or Xun Ouyang’s style as in Nine Chequers.
I think those models are the cream of the masters. They might spend their lifetime to come up with the styles as these masters tend to develop a rather mature style after their fifties. With characters bearing such maturity and essence, it is hard for most people to imitate well, and some may thus lose confidence in writing with a brush. It should be natural to write this way. It is a pity that we dare not pick up brushes simply because we are overwhelmed by the difficulty at the onset. I have been trying to integrate conception in contemporary art with the traditions, so I carved the Heart Sutra on a seal when I was a junior. I spent a whole week on it. The characters should be in tiny size and you can imagine they underwent lots of structural adjustment within and among themselves, that’s why I often had to throw my hands with a pen to relax my joints.
At first, I did not care much about the bodylines which were later integrated into my writing style. The key of the integration is “contemporary art.” It was in the second or the third year when Chih-cheng Chen returned from France, and he was interested in me for my majors, so he shared with me his understanding of the qualities inherent in traditional lines. He said there are many details in calligraphy and seal carving that deserve people’s attention and appreciation. He also mentioned that he ever saw the cell of an inmate serving life sentence. There were numerous lines on the wall as the prisoner drew one line daily, and those lines were so powerful. He sees lines from the perspective of the body as it reveals a man’s history. While I was throwing my hands mindlessly, I created a bodyline exclusive to me.
Calligraphy learners should start with imitating ancient writings, such as the inscriptions on bones or turquoise shells and those on pottery for the lines are playful. After going through each of the styles, they should be able to find the right one to imitate. Take mine for example, it looks like the seal script. Si Li ruled that the small seal script should be the official character style in the Qin dynasty, and it was later replaced by the clerical script in the Han dynasty. While the transition took place, an alternative style was created and mine is similar to that.
Chen───So you have found a similar style in the history of calligraphy?
TL───Yes, it is a bit like the script written on silk books. Official documents tended to be written neatly, but for prescriptions, notes or loan acknowledgement, people wrote less rigidly. Those unearthed silk manuscripts are closer to this alternative style developed in between the Qin and the Han dynasties. It keeps the form of the seal script but the rendition has been personalized in the transition to the cleric script, so the silk script is diversified. Anyway, I treat lettering in the context of contemporary art, and it has always played an important role in my presentations. For instance, I would highlight characters or have them go with videos. Now, I still keep my writing habit, because it has been the root of my design or creation.
Lettering has certain impact on my design. For example, my arrangement of fonts is slightly different from the mainstream, and that difference comes from my experiences in calligraphy and seal carving. In seal carving in particular, you have to mind the basic lines of the characters and the detailed compromise made among the lines. You literally make adjustment and arrangement in a micro space. Also in calligraphy, you structure the space with strokes. Actually I wanted to study western painting, but my scores were not high enough to go for that pathway, so it never struck me that I might apply what I have learned from my majors to my work one day. I mean, seal carving and design are so much alike.
Lo───You also do portraits, right? Is On the Road your first portrait design?
TL───My very first portrait was for Chen-nan Cai’s concert, but On the Road is a more complete presentation of portrait design. Like this one is for Nanhai Gallery’s exhibition Real Park. The organization was diverse in that I had a portrait along with edgy characters to break the squareness inherent in Chinese characters. I wanted the characters to resemble those in calligraphy and that the arrangement of lines and space created a sense of motion. I have some of my works here. This is both the advantage and the disadvantage, because I have to figure out how to make the characters look lively within that square confinement.
Lo───You started with seal carving but then changed to design. Is this your idea or did your seal carving teachers inspire you in any way?
TL───The teachers focused on teaching us seal carving techniques, though they might find my experimental creations interesting, they also frowned upon them. Generally speaking, they were open to my creations.
Lo───Did they teach traditional stuff, such as temple painting? Did any temple painting piece ever go into your life when you were a student?
TL───The academy was not as open as it is now. For example, the teacher talked about everything west in my contemporary art course for the first two years. Not many local issues had been brought up, almost none. But I tried to do both. I still carved conventional seals just that I brought in some differences without telling others. Most of the time I worked on the basic (showing pieces of yellowing and mould-specked paper on which there are red stamps of various sizes).
Chen───You did carve a lot (The amount of time spent on the work has piled up an immense sense of quantity on these fragile pieces of paper).
TL───These are the manuscripts at that time. When I was immersed in seal carving, my then roommate used to say, “Are you building a house?” because I just made the sound all day along, “kiang kiang kiang.”
Chen───Other people may also have experiences in seal carving and design, but seldom mix the two as you do.
TL───I think the medium bringing the two together is contemporary art. Chih-cheng Chen has enlightened me on the possibilities of lines, so I have been thinking about making breakthroughs. There is no limit in contemporary art, but it still takes various experiments to break through the established. It is only when I am in the design process that I can make connections between these two seemly unrelated fields.
Lo───With such a unique kind of creations, have you encountered any difficulties in contemporary art?
TL───I have not been able to strike a balance between living and creation until recent years. I worked as an in-house designer at Eslite ten years ago. At that time, creation was my priority and I saw design as nothing but a job. But I realized that no matter how hard I create, I could never make money out
of it.
Once I was talking with Chien-hung Huang. He said my work was not quite pleasing in the sense that it could not be placed in the western context for discussion nor did it belong to the orthodox east. It was almost impossible to communicate with those contemporary art people then. Moreover, curators at that time were not capable of developing discussions from both the western and the eastern perspectives. Particularly, calligraphy and seal carving demand personal experiences, and it is only with that that one may evaluate the work with reference to aesthetics.
Chen───Even if your work is placed in the context of traditional calligraphy and seal carving, people will not give credit to it.
TL───Exactly, it was difficult to communicate with them. Therefore, I had to prioritize design to creation and make a living by taking design cases. I was not willing to change the priority, but I had to, yet little did I know that my creation would be made possible because of design.

Resonating: Melody of Local Designs

TL───My first design case was to work with Ming-chang Chen. I learned to understand his music during the process. He told me that his music was grass-rooted. I once followed his team to Pingdong and proved the things they had described. Then I found it easy to get the messages he wanted to convey simply by listening to his music which was very straightforward. For example, he mentioned he had spent ten years learning how to play the moon lute and the nanguan and beiguan music, so he could apply the fingering to playing the moon-lute-guitar. Whenever he strikes the strings of the guitar, the air vibrates to form the music that is so Taiwanese. People in the west also wonder about why no one but he can use the same instrument to play such distinct music.
That experience was a solid proof that you can use what you have extracted from home culture to mix with the western culture and create something that is yours. I also realized then that creation and design could both be very local, and the key is the way to transform.
Lo───Did this picture later become the cover of the book?
TL───Yes, it did. What is special about this is that I used a charcoal pencil to create the texture particular in ink and wash painting.
Chen───So you started to sneak in your ideas since then?
TL───I have been trying to sneak in personal imprints whenever I design, like I tried to show the eastern logic with a different way of drawing. One of my friends had the poster of my 2009 solo exhibition Book design and sketch posted in his clothing store. One day, the choreographer, Tsung-lung Cheng, noticed it when he was shopping and then he invited me to watch the rehearsal of On the Road.
He asked me what I thought about the performance after the rehearsal. I told him that I was not a performance goer, but that was unexpectedly good. Then he invited me to design for the poster of On the Road. At that time, I chose a pose which they regarded as one combining yin (陰) and yang (陽), making the body an east one, not the west. We have had this understanding of each other since On the Road and have been collaborating since then.
Lin───Is this him in the picture?
TL───That was his dancer.
Chen───The personal imprints you sneak in your work help shape your style.
TL───To a certain extent, yes. Although I am not willing to admit this, I think the decision was right looking back now. Through the design cases, I give a second thought on writing, and get to know what takes place in Taiwan.
Chen───So because of design you have to step out of your small world, understand other people’s creation, and get to know people in different fields like Ming-chang Chen or Tsung-lung Cheng.
TL───If I see myself as an artist working with other artists, I may not have such understanding. That cooperation would be in a segmental manner, because each artist focuses on his own work. On the contrary, design requires everyone to work in a parallel manner or even in a hierarchical manner. In other words, I, the designer, have to submit to the consignors’ capability. By doing so, I then am able to see the context behind their work.
Chen───It suppresses your arrogance.
TL───Right. I cannot only focus on my work. I have to interact with the whole team, which allows me to treat my creation more objectively. Being a designer means that I am part of a team and it is different from being an artist.
Inllungan na Kneril and On the Road were nominated for the Taishin Arts Award in different years. They were two perfect examples. Pisui Ciyo watched On the Road and came to me for design. She was cautious about the result because she did not want me to design from a city guy’s perspective. In our first meeting, we walked along the river bank and talked for the whole afternoon. My legs were painful afterwards, but she had the right feeling after meeting with me. I was just puzzled about why would someone hold a meeting this way.
She has been collecting indigenous music for a long time. Not only does she record it, but she learns to sing those songs. Although she is Atayal, her collection covers all tribes which may sometimes be regarded as violation of some tribes’ codes, and this makes her subject to critiques. Because of so, she is sensitive. When I worked with her team, I tried to understand the indigenous people and came to realize that their life and belief revolt around their ancestral spirits. The ultimate goal for them had been to return to the ancestors’ residence until the Japanese cut off their belief and left them rootless. Now I am more understandable about why they are so sad and why they reiterate their wounded life. Knowing them more enables me to understand what confronts them.

Design as a Midwife in Work Creation

TL───I actually got a case to draw a pamphlet about “the infernal generals,” but I could not make it then.
Chen───There are times when you cannot make it?
TL───Whether it is about the indigenous people or the infernal generals, you just cannot make it without inspiration. You have to get to know the people and do research first, so before taking this case, I visited here with a discreet mindset. It was also an opportunity to take my wife and children out.
Chen───We want to know more about your book design.
TL───Hsiao-jung Kuan and I developed a close friendship when we worked on his book Bachihmen. We chatted and communicated so I know naturally what he was concerned about, not just tried to know him from the photos. There is a nuance between communicating from the perspective of art and communicating from that of design, that is, they lead us to reach mutual understanding in different aspects. Another good example of bringing creation and design together is Kenzaburō Ōe’s book, Okinawa Notes and The Beautiful Annabel Lee was Chilled and Killed.
Lo───Yes, you sneaked in some strange fonts and mixed them with general fonts.
TL───Not much was sneaked in. Each field has its conventions and limitations, and so does book design. Although publishing is a career for ideals, it has budget limitation. If people in this field do not think creation is important, then limited budget will inevitably restrain its development. It applies to all fields. It is imperative for the essence of contemporary art to be applied widely in all fields, but the key point is how to transform the concepts and how to communicate with the society.
I also published some small books, such as Heart Sutra twice, it is a book summarizing my life before thirty. Wakayama Opera is the book of the photographer, Jojo Kao. Her works are quite nice, so we talked about publishing a concept photography book. Before we knew it, the book was in the making while we were talking. The photos collected in Wakayama Opera touch the reader directly, they are attractive. She recorded life of people born between 1981 to 1991 in her photos.
Chen───But it targets only a small number of people. Did you propose to publish for her?
TL───Yes, I suggested to publish for her, but it was quite indie, meaning the book does not even have an ISBN number and there are only six to seven hundred copies. I told her there would be no reprints.
One of my complete exhibitions recently is the one held at Dear Deer Café. The person in charge of the exhibition was a drama therapist (Hug Chen) whose clients were mostly children diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome. There was a classroom on the second floor and the exhibition space was on the third floor. She hoped that when the children went upstairs, they could see many adults engage in creations just like what they did on the second floor, and that they might learn to communicate with the society in their own ways. The first part of this exhibition was named Tshing-tshun Tsiām-tōo (青春暫度) consisting of six performances. First, Lim Giong, then Chen-da Chung (drummer for the Labor Exchange band), Pei-yu Huang, and then Pisui, the Nineteen Tael band, the Kou Chou Ching band, and Ming-chang Chen. Later, Ming-chang Chen invited Chien-hung Huang to be the discussant. I collaborated with them because of my design cases, and I took a step further to bring them together and made this exhibition possible.
Lim Giong and I did a performance together. He made a forty-minute electronic song in “experimental noises” to translate the Heart Sutra into music. For me, writing the heart sutra took me an average of forty minutes. So he was playing his DJ mix with the song while I was writing down the heart sutra on the wall, and the performance was then made an album with all the money going to the Taipei Autism Children Social Welfare Foundation.
I had similar experiences like this afterwards, so I thought I might publish something out of them. Like the photographer Yo Yang coming back from Japan. Her photos always had funny perspectives, so I collected her photos with similar concepts and published a book. Editing and the negotiation process took us more than a year, and our relationship was more like that between a curator and an artist. To make it possible, I had to persuade her, step by step, until she had trust in me.
Chen───Why are you so attracted by publishing?
TL───Because it is an act of art to me. Publications are rich in content even if they are about different fields. They are the result of certain collection and there is power in them. The people may not be artists, but the things they collect and accumulate form a sense of beauty. Whenever I see that density in their work, I try to talk them into publishing. But both sides have to acknowledge each other’s talent to proceed, so I think publishing a book is an act to combine creation, design and interpersonal interaction.
Chen───I used to think the work of a designer was to make beautification, but when I see how you deal with design cases, I now think that being a designer is more than what I expected. A designer seems to have a special relationship with his work, that is, both define and shape each other.
TL───I once designed for Elsa Hsiang-chun Chen’s project, City of Swallows—Migration, Post/Colonial Memory and New Taiwan Color at Shin Len Yuan Art Space. I was heavily influenced by that exhibition. I went over each detail with the team members to figure out possible scenarios occurring in an exhibition, then I realized what it was like to have a cross-disciplinary cooperation. Many writings have elaborated on this concept which touches upon how to create a platform for people to know one another and how the author exchanges life experiences with others via important creations. But I was there in the process, and that interaction was instinctive.
Chen───A designer is like a midwife in a deliver room, she assists the mother in the birth-giving process. Some people may not yet find the way to present their work, and you are there to embody what is in their mind.
TL───This is what cooperation is all about. We all have our own strengths, so he is able to take so many stunning photos, and I can edit the photos with my design and help him identify the main concept of his work. I think an artist should have this ability to visually present work based on one single idea. Of course, you need frequent negotiations which are something I never stop doing. It actually leads to a lot of feedback allowing me to see my design more objectively. My consignors become my good friends after working with me, and that may not be an intimate friendship but it is definitely an enduring one.