Too fast, too slow, too many, too few
A few days before I left Busan, Seo talked to me, “fung, don’t leave, one more week, too short.” At that moment, I really wanted to stay. However, when I was reminded of the loads of work that I had to finish as soon as possible after I returned to HK, I had no choice of whether to extend my air ticket or not…when I was on the plane, I looked at the night view of Busan and saw the full moon. Suddenly I realized that it was the same full moon again that I had seen when I came to BAE. Afterall, it was just a very short month I stayed in BAE.
I didn’t expect BAE to be in the rural area before I came here. This was a surprise for me and, thus, my biggest impression to BAE. Green forest, quiet starry night, such atmosphere provided me with a chance to get away from the state of “busying for nothing” and the “hustle and bustle” of city life. I still remembered that I was dashing off my tasks in the morning of the day I travelled to BAE. I rushed to the airport after then.
Sometimes, I think city life is often a oscillation between extremes. Everything are either too fast or too slow, too many or too few. It is difficult for us to focus on a particular job because other jobs interrupt. We all understand the importance of “ leisure”. However, we can by no means get a pause in the city.
Sometimes, I think city life is often a oscillation between extremes. Everything are either too fast or too slow, too many or too few. It is difficult for us to focus on a particular job because other jobs interrupt. We all understand the importance of “ leisure”. However, we can by no means get a pause in the city.
In my opinion, BAE has exemplified a new way of connecting art and daily life in response to this pressurized state. I was like provided with a chance to breathe. I didn’t have to worry about the mundanes in my city. I was able to take some time to read, to concentrate on my reflections. Whenever I was available, I walked to the beach myself, time flowed slowly and was always in adequate supply in BAE. It was the best place to reflect on the tempo of life: Is the city's hustle a necessity? Or is leisure an extravagance?
After I returned to HK, I changed some of my habits. I learnt from Shu Yang and started drinking tea. Everyday we brewed a cup of Chinese tea after breakfast and enjoyed the landscape outside our studio before we started our work. Also I learnt the Mongolian style from Amarna. He always wore a smile on his face, so that all of our pressure was eased by his optimism.
In BAE, we cooked our dinner together. We picked chillies and baby tomatoes in the field. Sometimes, we drove to the supermarket. We feel like we are a family. All these experience is treasurable to me. In this short month, artists took care of each other and built up close linkages. I still remembered that I was drunk for the first time after the opening of “East Asia Collection”. That evening, each artist sang a song from his/her city. Ching Yao, Shu Yang and I, Chinese artists with political concerns from 3 different cities and under 3 different political situations, sang the song “Internationale” (song of revolution) together. To me, such experience was very impressive and touching.
Lastly, I do really appreciate the activities arranged by BAE and Thanks Seo for looking after us in every possible way as if he is our big brother. And I would like to express my greatest gratitude to Dae Hong for his kindest care, he is the best artist I met in Korea.
(thx for the translation of Lee Soen Long)離開bae前數天，Seo告訴我 “fung, don’t leave, one more week, too short.” 那刻心裡其實是萬分希望留下，可是一想到在香港好像有些什麼必須要儘快完成，無奈地最後都是沒有把機票延長。在機上我看到釜山上空的滿月，想起來釜山的時候，Bae的上空也是滿月的，原來一轉眼只是來了很短很短的一個月時間。
來之前我不知道Bae是位於郊外，這可算是意外收獲。綠油油的樹林，平靜的夜空，這是一個難得的機會抽離一下在城市生活中的“無事忙”的狀態，很多時候，記得我離開香港到釜山的早上，我還在趕趕急急的完成香港的工作，又趕趕急急的到機場。因此城市生活就像什麼都處於“太過” 的狀態，不是太快／太慢，便是太多／太少，心中想著一件事，又做了其他，大家都知道“悠閒”的重要，心卻不能真正的停下來。
對應這種壓迫的狀態，Bae正示範了藝術創作與生活的另一可能，情況像是讓我喘喘氣，靜靜地看看書，集中的想一想創作的事，不用去想煩碎事，不用想時間不夠用的問題。在BAE，一有空我便獨個兒散步到海邊，時間好像過得很慢，這狀態最適合反省一下域市生活的趕急狀態是否真的必要，還是悠閒真是屬於奢侈？
回港後，最少改變我好些生活習慣，如喝茶，是從舒陽那裡學回來的，每天早餐過後就是先泡一杯茶，對着工作室外的風景慢慢的待一回，然後才工作。還有Amarna的蒙古風格，遇到什麼事都樂觀地微笑，叫身邊的人壓力全消。
Bae的生活，大部份時間是大夥兒做飯，在田裡摘些辣椒和車厘茄，而且知怎的，總是有點一家人的感覺。藝術家們互相照顧，短短一個月，建立的感情其實也蠻深刻，在East Asia Collection的展覽開幕那夜，我第一次醉倒了，但那次不同城市的藝術家各自唱歌，我，Chingyao, Shu Yang，分別來自三個不同地方的中國人而又在藝術上帶有政治關注的藝術家，還一同唱起國際歌，那是十分難忙的一夜。
最後，我特別感謝Dae Hong的悉心照料，打理bae的工作真不容易，我真衷心感謝。
