flame gazing

Flame Gazing 觀火

16mm transferred to digital 16毫米轉數位, digital sound 數位聲音, 8mins

Flame Gazing re-composes scenes from two funerals held by a big family in Taipei, based on the home videos recorded in 1993 and 2001. The re-editing principle of the film threads together clues to the passage of time: the elder who had attended the funeral of the young lady passed away eight years later. In selecting and transforming a huge amount of video footage into hand-processed 16mm film, I searched for both the affective loads and documentary evidences in these images. With both accidental and non-accidental solarization, the reassemblage of materials becomes a time-traveling experience through local rituals, gestures, faces, and remembrance of family members. Such process of rediscovery offers something to contemplate upon, or to“guan huo” (Taiwanese Mandarin), literally staring at the fire. Coincidentally, fire is a recurring element in these funerals.

Drawings by Chin Meng-Hsuan.

《觀火》組構兩場喪事的場景，喪禮由臺北地區的一個大家庭舉行，分別在1993和2001年留下許多家庭錄影帶。再剪輯的原則在於編織時間流逝的線索：家裡的大家長出席第一場喪事，八年之後，她成為儀式的主角。選取、轉化大量錄影素材的同時，我在影像中來回找尋情感的重量以及具體的記錄。經由時而意外時而得以掌控的中途曝光法，素材的重新組合化為時間旅行的經驗，穿梭在地方儀式、人們的姿態、面孔，以及集體弔祭之間。這個再發現的過程，彷彿要求我耐心思量偶然的影音遺留，在重返他人影像時，盡可能明若觀火。火焰也正是這些喪事中首先吸引我的視覺母題。

素描：秦孟萱。