時間眾像：給每個人的歲月景觀　Aging: A Life Montage

「時間眾像：給每個人的歲月景觀」

Aging: A Life Montage

　　在無法度量的宇宙中，「時間」因為人的存在而有了可以度量的刻痕；人類在世，亦必會經過由時間鋪墊而成的「生、老、病、死」階段。人經歷其中，有時有伴相陪，有時獨自面對；種種過程之後，生命裡所有的回憶與經驗，在高齡者身上，形塑成豐富多樣的歲月景觀。

　　1993年即已邁入高齡化社會的臺灣，被國家發展委員會推估將於2025年進入超高齡社會，這代表著除了社會結構改變外，也揭示了未來的生活，在年輕輩可能無法陪伴與扶養高齡者之下，絕大多數人都要好好思考該如何回應「時間」這件事情。

　　以「高齡」為核心議題所策劃的「時間衆像：給每個人的歲月景觀」展覽，透過藝術家對「時間」與「生命」細膩的觀察、感觸和回望所創作出的作品，嘗試牽引觀眾至不同的角度觀看「高齡者的風景」與「時間留下的面貌」，藉此思考現今或未來可能要面對的生活：自身或親友衰老的身體、利用美好的回憶帶來的青春感、退化的生理狀態影響情緒的反應。甚至，在展覽最後，透過藝術家對於時間的探討，再次叩問經歷生理老化後，「時間」對於每個人心理上的意義。

　　臺南市美術館自2019年與國立成功大學老年學研究所簽署合作備忘錄後，以辦理推廣活動及共享學術資源等方式，期盼能對高年長者與失智症患者帶來良好效益。本次策展，除了持續本館希望讓藝術更能面向全民大眾的使命外，也嘗試在展覽方式上能讓高齡者感受到較友善的觀展體驗，以利後續以此作為友善觀展體驗的場域，盼美術館的未來成為高齡者願意造訪的活動空間。

In the immeasurable universe, “time” is given measuring marks via human existence.  Throughout a human life, “time” is divided into different phases from birth, aging, illness, to death.  Sometimes we are accompanied, while sometimes we have to travel alone.   With these experiences, all the memories and life stories are transformed into a myriad of sceneries for the elderly.  

Taiwan became the so-called aging society in 1993 and is projected to become a super-aging one according to the studies of the National Development Council, signifying not only the change of its social structure but also a different future.  Since the younger generation might not be able to fully physically, mentally, emotionally, and financially support the elderly, we should really give some thoughts on how we deal with “time.” 

With “aging” as its main theme, the exhibition Aging: A Life Montage presents artworks inspired by artists’ spontaneous and sophisticated experiences of “time” and “life,” providing different perspectives for viewers to take a look at the life montage of the Erdely and how “time” leaves the traces.  It further reflects on an aging life (sooner or later, if not now), concerning the aging body of our own or the closed one, the sense of rejuvenation evoked by memories, biological degeneration and its impact on human emotions, etc.  Through the artists’ exploration of “time,” the exhibition eventually touches upon the psychological meaning of “time” when people are biologically aging.   

The exhibition is part of the collaboration between Tainan Art Museum and the Institute of Gerontology at National Cheng Kung University based on a memorandum of understanding which started in 2019 with an attempt to improve the lives of the elderly and patients with dementia by promoting and organizing events and sharing academic resources.  With the museum’s continuous effort to bring arts to the general public, Aging: A Life Montage also provides viewing experiences more accessible to the elderly and makes the museum a more inclusive space to encourage their visits.

子題一：名為回春的河

　　青春與衰老永遠站在相對的兩邊，身體隨著時間的推移，機能自然會逐漸趨向衰敗與凋零，在一切生命萬物運行「成、住、壞、空」的過程中，可以藉由各式藥理、物理治療來延緩身體衰老的速度，但老化現象始終是不可逆轉的事實。

　　從生理的角度來看，老年時身體雖已老去，但屬於個人的記憶在腦海裡仍可以片段地投射出來，這代表著無論在人生中任何階段，皆可以召喚出屬於自己愉悅或是悲傷的回憶。本子題取「回春」這一名詞來召喚腦內屬於自身回憶裡的故事，用藝術整合成一場專屬於觀者的回春治療術。

　　「記憶」與「回春」如同脣齒相依般疊合彼此，透過作品的呈現，期望關於老年的既定模式被重置或轉換，一方面也希望觀眾產生強烈的自我投射，也讓這條波浪起伏不斷的回春之河來喚醒觀者的生命記憶。

Youth and senility are two polarized conditions, while the body gradually moves from one to the other throughout the passage of time, until it declines and decays.  In the natural cycle of “formation, existence, disintegration, and emptiness,” various medical and physical treatments can be applied to delay the aging process, but it is still irreversible.    

However, it is the body which gets old, but we can still project our memories, to summon the moments of happiness or sadness we have once experienced no matter what phase of life we stand.  The term “rejuvenation” from the subtopic is to evoke our memories and to integrate them as a rejuvenating treatment for viewers. 

The interrelated “memory” and “rejuvenation” are explored in the artworks to challenge or reverse the conventional mode of being old, while it also expects to create a strong self-reflection within the viewers, allowing the torrents of the Rejuvenation River to revitalize the past memories. 

子題二：在時間裡交會

　　時至今日，歷史神話中出現的永生術或長生不老仙丹的提煉，已由眾多的醫學與科學研究取代，科學更進一步探索人類長壽的方法，並將延緩細胞老化、治療疾病的希望寄託於遺傳基因研究，這是屬於當代社會追尋的續命神話。

　　每一個人、每一次的老去都是屬於自己的私密經驗，但那些身體的與心理的老去狀態如皮膚皺褶、肢體逐漸難以使喚、雙眼及聽力的退化、情緒反應的變動以及記憶功能減緩等；這一切的老去將以放射狀的方式呈現多種面貌，猶如樹梢與枝葉般延伸出各種共同感知。

　　就當代藝術的觀點，本子題藉由多面向的角度出發，重新思考藝術詮釋老年光譜；在此，藝術家環繞著年老衰老的情緒感知進而轉化成視覺經驗，並連結眾多世代參與對於高齡經驗的交流。

The Encounter in “Time”

Nowadays, the Elixir of life in ancient myths has been replaced by medical and scientific studies, which searches for ways to increase the human lifespan as it places the hope on genetics to cure different diseases and to slow down aging in cells.  It is the new quest for immortality in the contemporary society.

Everyone has their own aging experiences, and each experience is private and unique.  Meanwhile, the multiple signs of biological and psychological aging – such as wrinkles, losing control of one’s body, degeneration in vision and hearing, changes of emotional reactions, and memory decline – form a collective perception pluralizing like radiating branches.  

This section takes on diverse perspectives of contemporary art to reexplore the spectrum of an artistic visualization of senility.   In The Encounter in “Time,” artists transform the emotional and sensory perceptions related to aging into visual experiences which can connect to and be shared by different generations.  

子題三：誰的時間?

　　現今文明的社會化程度驅使大多數人經歷了類似的時間經驗，讓日常生活展現高度社會化的群體一致性，本展區透過「時間」做為美學經驗的表現型式之一，揭示了藝術家在媒材上所表現的時間長度與藝術家的人生軌跡與歷程，標記了藝術勞動、時間壓縮與解放的討論，試圖誘發觀眾產生情緒與情感的共鳴，審視自身的生命經驗。

Time in Its Plural Form

The modernized society we inhabit imposes similar experiences of “time” on the general public, unifying the everyday life of a highly socialized community.  This section thus features “time” as its artistic subject to reveal the life journey of the exhibiting artists and the span of time expressed on the materials.  With remarks on art-related labour, compressed time and liberation, we hope to encourage an emotional and affective identification from viewers to reexamine their life experiences.