Date: 2014/2/24-4/3

Place::Digital Art Center, Taipei, Taiwan

Chimeras’ World continues the discussion from Chimeras Sing a Song (2012) regarding the moving, living, perceptive, and receptive conditions of the human race in the digital era. Through the message transfer link between a mobile handheld device and a matrix, Chimeras Sing a Song invoked the song of a siren from Greek mythology as a metaphor for the contradictory sense existing between humankind and digital communication. With the interaction between “real” and “virtual” space occurring within a spatial installation, the work attempted to construct a roaming theatrical-style body that enables participants to perceive and immerse themselves within a fantasy.  There, they could explore a technologically-built system amidst visual representations and conversions of information, space, time, and imagery as it becomes digitally encoded and reconstructed into a state of existence and method for perceiving the world.

“Chimera” symbolizes how existence in the digital age is reliant on digital carriers.  Physical and spiritual immersion in a digital environment serves as a metaphor for how humankind has evolved to become a race of cyborgs – hybrids of man and machine – and have merged with digital genomes to become digital hybrids.  Originally meaning “she-goat”, a chimera is a fire-breathing creature from Greek mythology that is typically featured with the head of a lion, the body of a goat, and the tail of a snake.  Today, it represents a creation of genetics and reproductive technology, and refers to a “mosaic” body composed of cells from two different species.  Humankind has already become chimeras that integrate organic and inorganic materials as it fuses with digital coding.  In a digital environment, humankind undergoes a mental evolution.  With the appearance of digital carrier messages in virtual worlds, perception and memories are created in the intersection between virtual and real.  Real and virtual memories merge within intertwined real and virtual spaces.  Through digital signals, people have evolved to become hybrid bodies that have the ability to breed and multiply. 

Chimeras’ World serves as the empty field in which chimeras inhabit, and kicks off as the 2013 evolved version of Chimeras Sing a Song (v3).  Living within a mobile petri dish and singing the song of sirens, chimeras call to people with their mesmerizing voices to lure them into returning to their world and become part of a collective body, before magically transforming into beings of existence.  The chimeras of the world live within “virtual” and “real” fields: two worlds are constructed with the concepts of “positive and negative” and “yin and yang” through the media of mobile devices and interactive installation.  Physical light, virtual creatures, text messages, and projected images expose the existence of a living room, bedroom, dining room, kitchen, and study room.  Exhibiting the atmosphere of a performance stage for viewers to roam, the exploration, reflection, and perception of individual entities in a digital existence are conducted within this “real” and “virtual” field. 

Featuring “virtual” empty fields, the two works, Absent Fields and Diffusing, discuss visual and non-visual elements, the flow and infusion of information, and the meanings and signifiers of symbols within a fantasy world.  Using physical light similar to 3D stereoscopic works, Absent Fields composes the space of a “home” that fills the exhibition space, and features a floating and drifting chimera that can be viewed with the use of a mobile device (iPad).  Diffusing represents a programming code for space.  Hanging on a wall, viewers can observe the program code via a mobile device (iPad).  Looking at symbolic messages, they are able to sense the meaning behind corresponding messages.  

The world of “real” empty fields acts as field in which “real” and “virtual” intersect.  A space installed with real objects provides viewers with a living room sofa to sit on and relax as they watch the television on the wall.  The mirror reflects the figures of viewers, while books are available to read on the desk in the study room.  The jars in the kitchen offer gourmet materials and the dining room table is filled with plates of food.  This space features a concept of “home”, using physical installations to provide an experience of real life.  However, all that is seen and experienced is still just a response to an illusion. Chimeras move and drift Infiltrating the living room couch.  When a viewer sits on the sofa, the chimera possesses them, and their body becomes a subject composed by the chimera.  The television programs playing across the wall are chimeras.  Reflected in the mirror of Non-Site, a viewer’s body is just the representation of an illusion.  Their body is actually recomposed by the chimera.  Even after they leave, their bodies remain stuck there, gradually being incorporated into the mirror.  The text in Illusory Book is actually the result of Internet keyword searches about “love”.  As viewers flip through the book, they re-compose the meanings of the text.  The plates on dining room table are full of chimeras. It is the Illusory Food.When viewers shake the plates, they force the chimeras to dynamically take the composition of food, the text from the top of  google trends.  In the kitchen,  Xandora Spring invites viewers to come and cook with illusory gourmet. It is an unrecognizable and singular image for memory composed by the images from the google trending search.

Living amidst the compilation and restructuring of signals, people from the e-generation switch between real and virtual to perceive life.  In a wireless environment, people are interconnected via a digital signal.  Signal transmissions hide areas that lie beyond the Internet, while imaginations appear at the other end in a symbiotic coexistence with people.  Chimeras’ World explores technology and life, specifically the impact of information technology on people’s lifestyles, ecologies, environments, and lives amidst the visual representation and conversion of data, space, time, and images.  In a virtual world that gathers technologically built systems, people’s lifestyles, life, and existence, the condition of life and existence shaped by a digital consciousness becomes a reconstructed, digitally encoded “chimera”.

《奇米拉的世界》承續2012年《奇米拉之歌》討論人類在數位時代中，在真實與虛擬幻境中的移動、生活、感知與接收的狀態。《奇米拉之歌》以一個移動手提裝置，透過裝置與母體之間連結與否的訊息傳輸，以希臘神話海妖之聲為本，暗喻人類與數位傳訊之間的矛盾感。《奇米拉的世界》則透過「實」空場與「虛」空場的互動空間裝置，企圖建構一個具劇場式的身體游移空間，讓參觀者在互動參與中，感知與沉浸於空間虛幻裡，探討在資料、空間、時間與影像的視覺再現與轉換當中，科技構築的系統，在數位編碼的狀態中，成為被重新建構的生命存在狀態與世界感知的方式。

奇米拉（Chimera）象徵生存於數位時代需要依賴數位載具，以身心靈滲入數位環境的人們，暗喻人類已經進化成為人機合體的賽博格(Cyborg)，並且與數位基因體混種演化成為數位混種(Hybrid)。Chimera一詞，在希臘神話中的典型意象為具獅頭、山羊身與蛇尾的噴火怪獸，原意為she-goat（女山羊），今又代表基因生殖技術中的嵌合體，意指由兩個不同物種的細胞組成的“馬賽克”機體。人類已經成為有機與無機混合的Chimeras，與數位編碼融合成為一體，在數位環境中進行心智演化，藉由數位載具傳訊現身於虛擬世界當中，在虛擬與真實交會中，建構知覺記憶，真實記憶與數位記憶，在虛擬與實體空間互滲交融，人們成為透過數位訊號，進行演化繁衍能力的混種機體。

《奇米拉的世界》是奇米拉存在的空場，以2013年進化版《奇米拉之歌(v3)》揭開序幕。生存於移動培養皿中，唱著海妖之歌的奇米拉，以迷幻聲音召喚人們回到奇米拉母體的世界，成為集合體中的一分子，再進而幻變成為存在者。世界中的奇米拉，存在於「虛」空場與「實」空場：以「正與負」、「陰與陽」概念建構的兩個世界，以移動裝置與互動裝置為介質，使用實體光線、虛擬生物、文字訊息、投影影像，揭露客廳、臥室、餐廳、廚房、書房的存在。營造一個觀者漫遊展演舞台氛圍，在此「實」與「虛」空場中，進行數位存在個體的探索反思與感知。

「虛」空場的《空場》、《瀰漫》兩件作品，討論虛幻世界中的可視與不可視，訊息的流動與滲入，符號的意指與意符。《空場》以線稿構成「家」的空間，充斥於展場，並透過移動裝置(iPad)，觀看浮動的奇米拉，於空間中飄移。《瀰漫》則將代表空間的英文符號，懸掛於牆面，觀者透過移動裝置(iPad)觀看英文程式碼，觀看對應的象徵訊息，感受訊息所對應的訊息意義。

「實」空場的世界，是真實與虛擬交錯的場，以真實物件所裝置的空間，提供觀者坐着休息的客廳沙發，觀看牆上的電視節目，房間浴室鏡子照映出觀者身影，書房書桌上的書籍隨時提供翻閱，廚房的調味罐提供觀者調配美食，餐廳中的餐桌上準備着裝盛有食物的餐盤。此空間提出一個「家」的概念，以實體裝置提供真實地生活體驗，然而，所觀看與體驗的，仍是虛幻的回應。客廳的沙發中，《沁》移動漂浮着奇米拉，當觀者坐下沙發時，奇米拉朝向觀者侵入，觀者身體成為以奇米拉構成的主體，而牆上的電視節目，混雜的訊息重複的播放不可視的訊息影像。《非相》鏡中的觀者身影，是虛幻的再現，以奇米拉重新組構身體，觀者離開後，身體仍停留其中，漸漸滲入鏡中。《幻訊書》書籍中的文字訊息是來自網路關鍵字所組構的詩句，觀者在翻閱間，重新組構詩句意義。《幻食》餐桌上的餐盤中的食物是奇米拉，觀者搖晃餐盤時，迫使奇米拉動態組成象徵食物的文字訊息。《仙度拉之泉》邀請觀者煮食虛幻美食，以瓶罐啟動構成奇異的記憶影像。

生存於訊號編譯與重組的e世代，人們在真實與虛擬之間切換感知生活的狀態，人類在無線的環境中，通過數位訊號互相連結，藉著訊號傳送，隱身於網路的彼端，想像現身於他端，與眾人共生共存。《奇米拉的世界》探討科技與生命，在資料、空間、時間與影像的視覺再現與轉換當中，訊息科技對人類生活、生態、環境與生命的影響，在由科技構築的系統，眾人生活、生命與生存集合於虛擬世界中，以數位意識所形塑的生命存在狀態，在數位編碼的狀態中，成為被重新建構的「奇米拉」。