Odyssey of the Boat Ritualized/digitalized
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Transforming within Generative
Vehicle
Yan
chung-hsien , Associate professor
Department
of Architecture Design, Shih-Chien University, Taiwan
1.
Boat odyssey to identify the
Transforming generative codes
The project
conceal image of the boat that depict the odyssey of exile, intellectual and existential, with the forced nomadism and
lived homelessness of the destiny of the world. The boat as such generative code
readily offer itself to be a perfect vehicle of ”de-security”, ”de-certainty”,
“de-familiarization”, ”de-localization”. Thus, the ritualized/digitalized
vehicle nevertheless look for transformation from attached something or somewhere to
identify itself. Furthermore, the project tries to explore such
floating-as-exiling voyage from the ritualized/digitalized vehicle which is self-identified from the odyssey towards nowhere.
This “boat”
project is thus understood as a program in search of designing the species, their identity
in progress, the recognizability of each possible generated event, the
complexity of contemporary waterfront art festival. Therefore, the representation of this wooden boat will be recognized
from three regenerative levels: from
idea (vehicle) to material (wrapped boat), from historical entity (old wooden
boat) to updating practice (aged wharf being ritualized), from the presence of
a metaphysical paradigm (vehicle identify
its transformation through
space-time odyssey) to its digital/video representation (event of boat choreographies as non-linear images odyssey performance)
2. The
site: A wharf to witness the geographical and historical Transforming
The chosen site
of the event is a historical place in Taipei. The site emerged as a transit
port on the site of Keelung River in its heyday of 18th century. It developed
into one of the important wharf not only for the river it locates but also for
this city. When the transit function of the site lost, the place became a city
fragment Consequentially, the wharf transform its fragile character form a
geographical site to a historical site, only through the celebration like this
event, its past can be reopen to the present. The “boat” project is thus
ritualized from a real performance to a fictional/digital odyssey where
audience can explore the nostalgic condition of the modern homelessness as well
as unique regenerative sequence of possible final results.
3. The
strategy: Nomadic voyage to ritualize/digitalize
the transforming boat
and its vicissitude
Odyssey has it.
The adventurous boat will perform its nomadic voyage in this project. The regenerative vehicle restores the relation between the boat,
the temple, and the wharf to insure this odyssey performance can be properly
conducted. First, the reshaped wooden boat is located in the fabric field from
the road and local temple to the river. The fabric-installed site accommodates
events and audience to ritualize the vehicle image of boat and its geography.
Second, a series of floating choreography/digital video reveal different fragile conditions of boat are erected to redefine the
fictional odyssey into real performance. Both will portray the vicissitude of
the boat with its three levels of transforming generative codes being identified.
1. Boat/wharf Transforming
1-1
Wrapping
the boat with fabric and bamboo as monumental ruin site of the wharf reshaped
into aesthetical focus of the whole site river history.
1-2Bamboo structure and calligraphy on the fabric as image of generative code elements.
2. Event/ritual Transforming
2-1 Floating on the road: parade across
trees, streets, slopes… as experiencing the fragility to face the waterless
land.
2-2 Floating in the air: as the illusive
aspect to face impossibility against the gravity.
2-3 Floating in the river: to face the
roaring wave and its surviving difficulty.
3. Digital/video Transforming
3-1Floating in the moving image: parade across landscapes as experiencing in the digital video
3-2Floating in the non-linear digital editing: 7 mins DVD as the illusive narrative vehicle to
regenerate the event
To incarnate the generative codes of
vehicle, we reshape the
boat and its ritual/digital odyssey. Transformation acquires in the ritual, and by identifying itself in
the performance which people experience the identity
and uniqueness of their own exile destiny.