Peeling–Technical Experiments with Everyday Marks
Introduction
On the street, paint peeling from rusting metal has patterns on its back similar to those of the lingzhi mushroom, and the crystalized rust conforms to the contours of time, documenting almost stratigraphic records of different periods. Before such inferior materials, so commonly seen in our daily lives, are disposed of as useless waste and incinerated into ash, they also serve as an everyday spectacle, marking a sort of micro history. From this history, witnessed by the peeled paint and rediscovered on the street.
The Lak Tshat Greenhouse: “Lak tshat” is the Taiwanese term for “peeling paint”. It is designed to accelerate the production and “incubate” mottled marks on painted metal products in a laboratory setting. In addition to artificial “cultivation”, it aims to cogitate upon the elimination and continuation as well as the existence and demise of substance in comparison with the decay of “natural materials”.
Creative＆Scientific Collaborator - SONG Chia Yun
靜態攝影：顏楷倫
． Lak Tshat
2019-2022， rust, paint, digital print
Lee once stumbled upon a piece of the peeling paint on the corroded metal that appeared like patterns seen on lingzhi mushrooms. Surprised by it, Lee then embarked on a series of actions collecting “Lak Tshat” (or literally “peeling paint”). Rust marks come to form a contour map of time, seemingly documenting the geologic structures of various periods. Placing the “Lak Tshat” which Lee have collected from different places on the floor, Lee uses an instinctive and improvisational approach to collage them together to form a new kind of map. At the same time, the pieces are kept separated and free, seemingly having an autonomous life of their own.
． Collecting of Rust Liquid
2022， white glue, rust, table salt
As its level of moisture changes, white glue would go from white to clear, which allows it to acquire a “concealed” quality, and after it has dried, it would take on a skin-like consistency. Often applied as an intermediary medium adhered to something that is used and then thrown away, it is utilized in this project to collect the leftover rusty liquid in the “Lak Tshat Greenhouse”. First of all, the rusty liquid is the result of running a salt misting system continuously for hundreds of hours, with the process transformed into a work of art to be exhibited and “imprints” of specific points in time justifiably showcased. Secondly, the rusty liquid oozing out of the metal part of the misting system is collected on-site, and in addition to being a dynamic way of capturing the continuous accrual of time, it also serves as a form of “guarantee” to the C-LAB management, promising to “restore” the venue back to its original conditions at the end of the exhibition, which happens to be exactly what this artwork is doing.
．Counter of Time
2022，LED electronic scroll、video installation
The corrosion rate of metal objects in the salt spray test is about 360 times that of the natural environment. Attempts are made to turn the years accrued on the “Lak Tshat” collected through efforts of artificial “cultivation” into tangible numbers, with each passing second treated as a fleeting sense of synchronicity. We remain hopeful that a “Rust Lingzhi” will be born in the greenhouse; however, even if this “cultivation” experiment would ultimately be declared a failure, we’ve already realized that what we really care about is using an imaginative way to mimic nature and the point is even just about the process, even if the practice is deemed ineffective.
Workshop – The Collection of “Urban Lingzhi”- Wandering , Investigating and Technical Experiments
Closing Talk – Science X Art
Speakers
LEE Yung-Chih、SONG ChJia-Yun / (Artist)
Yi-Cheng Sun / (Independent Curator)
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As an art exhibit of a scientific experimental project, it is bound to show a process and results that are drifting and ambiguous. Moreover, it may also point towards its origin – Nature. Compared to artificially-inflicted acceleration or changes prompted by intentional intervention, rather than seeing it as being too eager to come up with the ultimate artwork and feeling anxious about the passing of time, it is perhaps better to say that everything is still up in the air and undecidedly fluctuating.
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