展覽介紹 | About the Exhibition

文／藝術家李明學

「食/物＿譜」此展覽針對可食之物的凝視與想像，當「食」作為動詞：吃。一個基本的生物慾望狀態，作為基本趨力，「吃」這動作串起了生物、植物、礦物等間的交互作用。在這跨類的交流裡，以人為中心的世界，食物與人的關係與存在條件，更早已超越果腹的考量。當「食」作為形容詞：可食之物。可食用的意義轉向美味、視覺、趣味等面向發展，甚至往階級、科學等各種象徵的層次延伸。然而，食物無論來自大自然的採集或捕抓，抑或是人工種植與養殖，在人生產食物的同時，食物也相當程度的反作用地控制了人，譬如為了 小麥、稻米的耕種區域與適應，人類因此而定居。咖啡、酒精、甜食等從「食物」細分與轉化出的「食品」，更是以複雜的姿態展開觸角，不只與人的肉體交互作用，更發生在精神上與意識中，滲透、擴散於人們的細胞之裡，各式可見與不可見的狀態形成了異質性的記憶、歷史、信仰、價值觀。

「食/物」作為個人創作脈絡上的一條支線，藉由生活現象和形象作為感受的基礎，透過轉化日常景象，重新閱讀和定位物件與感受的潛在意義，並透過抽換、位移和改造現有元素，創造一種幽默或荒謬的觸動，呈現了對社會感知沈澱物的一種探索。作品包含：《皮鞋與沙堡》從香料戰爭得到啟示，悲觀推斷未來的某種想像。《光譜》則是對中華文茶文化市場的系譜考查與想像。《信手舔來》是對小時記憶扭曲的故事。《法國朋友》以食品的名稱切入生產形式與地緣文化的拼貼。《幻化為日夜，看不見自己》與《星塵》以色素作為顏料，探討物自身與其之外的邊界。《甜甜圈》探討對甜食同時需要也不需要的沈溺與擔憂。《葡萄》對真實與幻覺兩者對話的後設想像。《草莓》則是呈現夢裡閃過的詭異圖像。九件作品。切入找尋觀看與認識食/物不同面向的可能與意義藉由雕塑、裝置、繪畫等多種媒介的運用，以多種方式述說獨特的生活的觀察，而創作形式相互交織成「譜」，共構一個多元而豐富的創作風景。

整體而言，「食/物＿譜」，以藝術作為思考的方式，試圖在食/物與人之間通過感性作為節點的連結，以此作為一條路徑，追尋「超出」我們可以感知、表達與預期的邊界，讓「食/物」自身獲得超出其自身的其他意義，以此推進對於「未能窮盡」對象的想像，尋找特殊存在的體驗，並以一個重新詮釋與感受生產的基調平台之姿，開放觀眾與之連結和對話，擴展對「食/物」獨特性的認識可能。

The exhibition "Food/ Object_Matrix" features gazes and imaginations of edible substances. Here, eating, a primal desire, is viewed as a force that entails interactions between biology, plants, and minerals. In this series of interactions, human beings are placed at the center, and the connections and conditions for the relationship between food and human beings have long surpassed the need for mere bodily fulfillment. When eating transitions from an act to an adjective, it describes things that are edible and includes ideas such as being delicious, visuals, and novelty, even expanding to include symbolic concepts such as social class and science. However, regardless of whether food is sourced or captured from nature, or planted and cultivated through human effort, to some extent, food also gains control over human beings in its production; for example, humans adopted a more settled lifestyle for the cultivation and domestication of wheat and rice. Coffee, alcohol, and desserts are "food products," subdivisions of food, and they interact with the human body, even the human psyche, in more intricate ways, permeating and expanding into our cells and forming heterogeneous memories, histories, beliefs, and values in visible and invisible manners.

"Food/Object" is a branch line in the personal creative context, and by setting everyday phenomena and images as the foundation for the senses, everyday scenes are transformed to reinterpret and position the underlying meanings of sentiments and objects., everyday scenes are transformed to reinterpret and position the underlying meanings of sentiments and objects. In addition, by replacing, relocating, and transforming existing elements, a touch of humor or absurdity is created, representing a kind of exploration into the societal perceptual sediment. Works include Shoes and Sand Castle, which draws inspiration from the Spice Wars and pessimistically envisioning the future. Spectrum portrays investigations and imaginations of the Chinese Tea culture market. Lick is a story of distorted childhood memory. French Friends pieces together the production form and geopolitics from the name of a food product. I transform into day and night and cannot find myself and Star Dust use food coloring to explore the peripheries of the self and others. Sugar Ring Doughnut explores indulgence and worries about the simultaneous need and non-need for sweets. Grape is a meta-imagination toward the interaction between reality and illusion. Strawberry reveals eerie images surfacing from dreams. The nine works delve into the possibilities and meaning of gazing at and getting to know the different aspects of food/object through different mediums, such as sculpture, installation, and painting, narrating unique observations of life through different methods. These creative expressions intertwine into a "matrix," offering a rich artistic tapestry.

Overall, by applying art as a form of reflection, "Food/ Object_Matrix" views the sentiments between food/objects and human beings as connections and views it as a passageway to "surpass" the peripheries of what we can sense, express, and foresee, allowing "food/object" to generate meanings that exceed itself. Through the form of a platform that encourages the generation of re-interpretations and sensations, it pushes the boundaries of "that which cannot be exhausted" in search of unique experiences, and expands unique understandings and possibilities of "food/object" by allowing connections and dialogues with the audience.