藝術作為一種語言---牛鈴專訪 ● 你好藝術 Nulling Interview

藝術作為一種語言 

文字/育萱

攝影/牛鈴、陳奕揚

第一次見到牛鈴，是在駐村藝術家審查的面試會議。慈恩和書煌一前一後，仔細準備簡報的資料，設定器材，為我們說明這次他們集結裝置和音樂的創作。

牛鈴(nulling) 由詹慈恩、陳書煌兩位組成；慈恩擅長文字，書煌專注音樂。兩個人打算一起合作的理由很簡單：因為在彼此身上，他們看到了自己沒有的部分，同時也看到了可能。「除了文字之外，慈恩其實也累積了幾件裝置作品，而我雖然一直在電子音樂這塊耕耘，但也保留往美術館、展覽空間尺度的創作方式。」

I met Nulling for the first time at the artist residency’s preliminary auditioning. Ci’en and Shu-Huang went through their carefully prepared bullet-points and props, one after another, so that we could discuss about their creation which combined music with installations.

Nulling consists of the two: Zhan Ci’en, a proficient writer, and Chen Shu-Huang, a devotee to music. The rationale for working together is simple: they each see in other what the self lacks, and that presents an opportunity. “In addition to writing, Ci’en has created many installation works, and though I always come up with electronic music, I have adhered to the criteria and creative style fit for art galleries and exhibition spaces”.

「派對文化」是理解牛鈴的一個關鍵，「派對場域」也是慈恩、書煌相遇的起點。「我從派對文化裡，漸漸理解並學習到取樣、分享、去權力中心等概念和價值。」對牛鈴而言，DJ在派對現場既不是明星，也不是高高在上的創作者，而是提供「語言環境」的人；現場的大家，因為擁有共通的語言，可以更自在地接觸、認識彼此；牛鈴也嘗試成為提供「語言環境」的人。

「我們自己在創作的過程中，並沒有太過侷限。通常是先有個框架，再去尋找題材，因此可以說是用蠻開放的方式在執行創作。同時，我們也想讓大家理解很多事情不一定是藝術家才能夠創作，不一定是音樂家才能製作音樂。」牛鈴的創作取材，源自於撿拾採集：路上騎車亂繞，看到適合的素材就撿拾；在生活中聽到感興趣的聲音就錄下，也經常在網路上直接下載合適的素材，再拆解、重組(re-mix)這些聲音，去建構甚至間接再植入議題，並嘗試讓聲音（與裝置）本身，能讓大眾有親近感、參與感。

 

Parties and party culture was a starting point to the collaboration between Ci’en and Shu-Huang, and it is the key to understanding Nulling. “I have slowly begun to learn concepts and values from party culture, like sampling, sharing and the centralization of power”. For Nulling, having a DJ on site is not about stardom or creative snobbery, as it is about providing the venue audience with a language environment where there exists a lingua franca for connecting people with themselves and getting them to know each other.

“We are not very limited when it comes to the creative process. It usually starts with a framework followed by a search for theme – it is a relatively open style of creativity. We want to introduce matters, which the artists are not necessarily capable of coming up, and music, which the musicians are not capable of making.”

Nulling gathers its material from bits and pieces: driving aimlessly in the traffic and picking up interesting cues, hearing an interesting sound and recording it, or often just straightforward downloading suitable material from the internet. After dissecting and remixing these sounds comes the restructuring phase and the thematic resurgence, which will hopefully lead to a corpus of sound (and installation) that will make the audience feel intimate and present.

因為學業，牛鈴移居新竹。換了環境生活，同時也開啟牛鈴對於「水川田 (The river from above feed the land )」這系列與土地相關的議題探索。「剛到新竹生活時，洗完澡後我的皮膚就經常性過敏；洗臉完後，嘴唇也會很腫。本來以為是水土不服導致，但時間拉長，症狀沒有消減，才逐步意識到新竹在地的水質問題。」身體後來就習慣、適應有問題的水質；意識上如何透過相對中性的角度，面對並切入這個議題，牛鈴把藝術作為一種語言，讓議題浮現。

水川田說的是三個新竹在地的土地議題--頭前溪水污染、竹科三期土地徵收、關西鎮亞泥玉山礦場現況，透過議題現場的廢棄物及聲音集採，再結合影像、聲譜等後製，嚴肅生硬的議題變成立體，可以親身參與，甚至碰觸、參與作品。

把藝術作為一種語言，牛鈴嘗試用創作和大家一起梳理正在發生中的事件。

《水川田》局部，頭前溪—竹東圳意象

Nulling moved to Hsinchu for studies, and with a change in the scenery, the duo started “The river from above feed the land” series which touches the issues concerning land. “Right after moving to Hsinchu, my skin would often suffer from allergic reactions after bathing, and my lips would swell. First, I thought it was caused by the elements, but as time went on, the symptoms persisted, and I started to become aware of the water quality problem in the city.” Although the body became accustomed to the troublesome water, Nulling – now aware – faced and tackled the relatively focal issue with adopting art as its language.

“The river from above feed the land” talks about the three issues related to land in Hsinchu: contamination of water, the land acquisitions of Hsinchu Science Park and the mining of Yushan in Guanxi Township. By picking up litter and sounds from these locations, combined with images and music, the harsh and grim issues are morphed into tangible and participatory works of art.

Adopting art as their language, Nulling tends to creativity and the audience in hectoring the accidents waiting to happen.

牛鈴Nulling (1990-/ 1986-)

取樣的、聲響的、分享的、去權力中心——是牛鈴創作的核心價值。

「牛鈴」源於英文單字Nulling，是理工上表示「零值」的意思，中性表達出「沒有」的含義，是自然、萬相的本貌。兩位團員詹慈恩、陳書煌長年來分別致力於文字、廢棄物裝置與電子音樂、聲響及數位影像創作，這些元素對我們而言，也帶有這樣「因集結了眾相」，而自然產生「無」之特質。