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Click here to listen to the installation piece, either streaming or as a free download. 

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「百年製餅家」由新一代傳承

「百年製餅家」由新一代傳承： 李佳陽先生是李亭香的副總經理。做傳統甜點的李亭香是1895成立的。小的時候李佳陽都在店裡幫忙，長大了讀大學就離開了去在新竹的摸一個大科技公司上班。近幾年他離職了回大稻埕繼續「李家」的工作。 來URS127的裝置可以聽到他的聲音！

John Lee, assistant manager of Lee's Cakes, quit his job at a major technology firm to help continue the family business, which was formed in Dadaocheng in 1895. Here John is explaining to us the manual labor process that goes into the shop's traditional, handmade desserts. You can hear some of his story in the installation at URS 127, until the end of Oct 31.

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台北霞海城隍廟有一位很優秀的導覽及文宣的人員

台北霞海城隍廟有一位很優秀的導覽及文宣的人員，他就是吳孟寰先生。來URS127在裝置裏可以聽到他的聲音。

At the installation at URS 127, you can hear the voice of Titan Wu, a knowledgable tour guide and public relations staff member at the Xia Hai City God Temple. The 35-year-old started working at the temple nearly a decade ago as an English guide, and is part of a new generation of staff and volunteers that hosts tourists today.

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Mazu procession in Dadaocheng

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今天是裝置的開幕！ 歡迎大家來來聽聽大稻埕的些聲音場景及人聲，2017.10.9-2017.10.31在URS127 （免費入館）地址：台北市大同區迪化街一段127號

The installation went live today! Visit URS127 from Oct. 9 to Oct 31 to listen to "Weave/Rob/Sound/Process/Roam"  No. 127, Section 1, Dihua St, Datong District, Taipei City

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縫盜聲程遊: 稻埕發聲 / 策展人筆記

一、 聽、聽見、聆聽

今日，當我們提到大稻埕時，我們多半視她為過去、充滿歷史和傳統的地方。我們想到的是日本殖民時期的建築、清朝時期霞海城隍廟的人潮洶湧、永樂市場的布販、或是迪化街上的乾貨及雜貨店家。

這些豐富與視覺的圖象，時常被用來形塑大稻埕的靈魂，但身為一個沉迷於各種聲音的音樂家，我覺得可用其他方式，來述說大稻埕自身的故事。

由於Nigel Brown、張惠笙和澎葉生可以「聽到」一般人聽不到的事物，我邀請他們三位在大稻埕創作此項計畫。當藝術家致力於運用聲音這個媒介時，他們特別擅長專注於描繪並掌握和操縱這種能量的形式，並將之轉變成新的事物。他們的作品或許不被視為常規的「音樂」，卻是同樣扣人心弦：尋找與聆聽者之間的連結。

在〈縫盜聲程遊：稻埕發聲〉這個結合了錄音裝置和個別現場表演的計畫之中，你會聽到一些熟悉的、來自大稻埕日常���「共響」 ，但你也應期待那些意料之外的聲音。

二、遊、聲、盜、縫

2017年九月，三位藝術家重返大稻埕，雙腳漫步在這個區域時，他們再次錄下街道、人群、場域的聲音。張惠笙和Nigel亦有「現地即興」表演的創作，呈現出其聲音現場的創作，與在地和所遇見的物件之間如何「互動」。

被無人空間吸引的張惠笙，在迪化街的四處尋找「人類生活的缺口」，例如樓梯井和空店家。除了在房間裡歌唱、大喊、低語和尖叫，她也朝類似空信箱的物件裡發出聲音。這種實驗性的音樂方式，不單單是製造聲音，更是關於互動。在聆聽之中，她得知她的聲音如何成為週遭環境的一部份。透過聲音化，張惠笙說她在尋找「跨越時間、文化、實體空間─所有非實體空間層面」之間的連結。

有興趣於也對大自然的聲音與空間之間關係感到興趣的Nigel，使用自製的電子樂器及原聲樂器來進行探索。在這趟大稻埕的旅行中，他使用「解構」的手風琴內部零件製造嗡嗡聲的音調和少量的旋律，同時拿著一支自製的麥克風和喇叭，製造出如收音機般吱喳的雜音，來回應實體的物件。觀看Nigel在迪化街上用麥克風指著各樣的物件，伴隨著張惠笙的說話聲，讓我想起聲納和回聲定位。這感覺像是藝術家透過回聲和回授迴路（feedback loop），描繪出大稻埕裡的生活跡象。

在此同時，澎葉生記錄所有張惠笙和Nigel的即興創作，並錄下了街道上的場景。在他們各自的旅行中，他亦與大稻埕居民進行了口述歷史的訪問，談論他們的生活與工作。身為一位對於聲音的「歡愉性」具有敏銳感知的田野紀錄者，他特別專注於可以抓住聆聽者注意力的細節。在這個計畫的裝置作品中，你會聽到這些來自大稻埕的錄音，是包含從人類的到機械性的、從奇怪的到美麗的、伴隨「縫入」個人故事的種種聲音。當你聆聽之時，毋需試圖充份理解這些聲音或對話背後的即時性。而澎葉生錄製的聲音地景作品，則是意欲避開線性的敘事，企圖讓聽者迷失在每個聆聽的時刻之中。

三、程、歷史、縫

在進行這項計畫時，我受困於一件事，那就是來自澎葉生的一項觀察。在過去的十年裡，他在臺灣各地錄下了幾千個小時的聲音地景，而大稻埕的聲音，根據他的說法，與臺灣任何一個都會地區並無不同：被汽車聲和機車聲佔據。從一位田野紀錄者的觀點來看，要找出大稻埕戶外環境聲音的獨特之處，實際上是有困難的。

近幾年的大稻埕被視為一個社群，有地區發展目標化和快速的文青化的現象，我們或許視這個關於聲音的發現，做為一個對大稻埕建康的「警示」。

從高級餐廳到精品店這類的新興商機，不斷在鄰近地區出現，抓住觀光客的胃口和注意力之餘，也結合在地的歷史。

當年為了躲避海盜，從福建逃難並遷徙至大稻埕的商人林藍田，若是知道他在1800年間所建的房屋存留至今日，或許會感到歡欣鼓舞。現由他的子孫維護翻修後的房子，一樓裝修成販賣高級臺灣茶葉的店面，亦開放參觀。深色的木質地板、工作室燈，使這個地方看起來像是一間乾淨、美麗、優雅的博物館。

然而不可避免地，有些事物尚未提及。我想起當我們在迪化街尾收集錄音時，我們路經的批發米商家。它們又暗又髒，只靠日光燈管照明燈條的光照明，店家前方基本上就是一個開放的倉庫，擺著一台老舊又生鏽、用來分裝米的大型機器。

張惠笙與一位溫和善良、看來目測年約七十歲的店主，開啟了一段對話。店主正流著汗、疲倦地完成他日常的工作，但他展現出那種所有記者和口述歷史學家都該學習的、與人產生連結的本能，立刻讓張惠笙喜歡上他。他告訴她，他的家族在大稻埕販賣米的時間，已至少有三個世代的歲月。生意，他說，只會隨著世代，越來越難做。

這些故事和情感，並無直接在裝置作品或表演中被陳述出來，但我覺得它們「被縫入」在這個計畫之中，就如同每個聲音被靜默的缺口給連接起來。

四、回授迴路

在這個計畫逐漸完成時，我曾從兩個層面來思索大稻埕：實體面（建築、街道、人們）和抽象面（歷史、文化意涵、都市議題）。

我在這些藝術家的作品中，看到相同的二元性。他們投身在田野紀錄和現地即興表演（實體面），並且濃縮這些素材以構想並創作出這件作品（抽象面）。

在兩種情況之下，實體面和抽象面互相拚搏，創造出一個無止盡的調製迴路。

以上所有皆意在講述：這項計畫身為藝術作品─更是一場人類活動─可被視為一場永無止盡的循環裡的一部份。

在這個縫、盜、聲、程、遊的循環之中，一個聆聽的行動為成為回應覆的行動為，也構變成紀錄的行動錄音的行為，最終而後成為創作的行動變成創作的行為……

和你一起，所謂的聆聽者，循環正在持續。

─陳思銘，2017年10月。

我們想特別感謝大稻埕國際藝術節對此計畫的支持、URS 127提供展覽空間、思劇場林珣甄、高翊愷和陳羽哲的慷慨相助。

特別感謝：施正文先生、李佳陽先生、吳孟寰先生及廖紅葉小姐慷慨撥冗分享他們的故事；王幸慈、鍾適芳、孫嘉蓉的中文譯稿建議。

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Weave-Rob-Sound-Process-Roam: Curator’s Notes

I. HEAR, HEAR, LISTEN

When we think of the Dadaocheng today, many of us see it in terms of the past, as a place of history and tradition. We think of Japanese-built colonial architecture, the bustle of tourists at the Qing-Dynasty era Xia Hai City God Temple, the fabric vendors at Yongle Market or shopkeepers selling dried foods and goods on Dihua Street.       These iconic images and scenes are often invoked to portray the soul of Dadaocheng. But as a musician fascinated with all aspects of sound, I feel there are other ways to tell its story.     I asked Nigel Brown, Alice Hui-Sheng Chang and Yannick Dauby to do this project in Dadaocheng because they “hear” things we normally don’t. As artists devoted to the medium of sound, they specialize in capturing and manipulating this form of energy, and then transforming it into something new. Their work may not be “music” in a conventional sense, but it’s compelling in a similar way: It seeks to connect with a listener.       In “Weave-Rob-Sound-Process-Roam,” a project that consists of this recorded installation piece (at URS 127 from Oct. 9 to 31) and a separate live performance (at Thinker’s Theater on Oct 15), you’ll hear familiar bits from the “orchestra” of life in Dadaocheng. But you should also expect the unexpected.

II. ROAM, SOUND, WEAVE

During September 2017, the trio made repeated trips to Dadaocheng, recording its streets, people and places while roaming the area on foot. Alice and Nigel also performed “in-site improvisations,” in which they created sounds to interact with places and objects they encountered.     On Dihua Street, Alice gravitated towards empty spaces, such as stairwells and empty shops, looking for “gaps of human life.” She sings, yells, whispers and shrieks in rooms and even into objects such as an empty mailbox. This experimental music approach is not only about uttering sound – it’s also about interaction. She’s listening to how her voice becomes part of her surroundings. With these vocalizations, Alice says she seeks to connect “across time, culture, physical space – all the layers of space that are not physical.”     Nigel is also interested in the nature of sound in relation to space, which he explores by using electronic and acoustic instruments that he either modifies or builds himself. On their excursions in Dadaocheng, he used the internal parts of a “de-constructed” accordion to create droning tones and hints of melodies. He also carried a DIY speaker and microphone that responded to physical objects by creating radio-like chirping noises.     Watching Nigel point the mic at various objects on Dihua Street, accompanied by Alice’s vocalizations, made me think of sonar and echolocation. It felt as if they were mapping out signs of life in Dadaocheng through echoes and feedback loops.       Meanwhile, Yannick documented all of Alice and Nigel’s improvisations and recorded scenes in Dadaocheng’s outdoors. On separate trips, he conducted oral history-style interviews with local residents, who talked about their lives and work. As a field recordist with a keen ear for the “pleasures” of sound, Yannick is sharply focused on details that capture a listener’s attention.     In this project’s installation piece, you’ll hear sounds recorded in Dadaocheng that range from human to mechanical and strange to beautiful, intermingled with personal stories told by residents. When listening, there’s no need to try to comprehend what you hear beyond the immediacy of sounds or dialogue presented. Yannick’s studio-produced soundscape pieces tend to avoid linear narratives, for he wants us to lose ourselves in the moment of listening.

III. PROCESS, ROB, WEAVE

One thing that stuck with me during the production of this project is an observation made by Yannick, who has recorded thousands of hours of soundscapes across Taiwan over the past decade. The sound of Dadaocheng, he said, is like every other urban place in Taiwan: it’s dominated by cars and motorcycles. From a field recordist’s perspective, this makes it difficult to find unique sounds in Dadaocheng’s outdoor environment.     We might heed this as a “warning” for the health of Dadaocheng as a community today, given its renewed developmental aspirations in recent years, which has echoes of gentrification in many cities across the world.     New businesses, from high-end restaurants to boutique shops, have been popping up throughout the neighborhood, with many appealing to tourists’ appetites to connect with the area’s history.     One of Dadaocheng’s first settlers, Lin Lan-tian, a Fujianese immigrant who fled there to hide from pirates (in Chinese, lit. “sea robbers”), would probably be happy to know that the home he built in the mid-1800s lives on today. The renovated house is maintained by his descendants and open for tours, with the first floor serving as a shop selling high-end Taiwanese teas. With its dark-stained wood floors and studio lighting, the place feels like a museum. It’s immaculate, beautiful, refined.     Inevitably, though, some are left behind. I think of a wholesale rice distributor we passed by while collecting recordings on the north end of Dihua street. Dark and dingy, and lit only by a single florescent light strip, the shop front was basically an open garage, with a large, old rusted machine used for processing and packaging rice.       Alice struck up a conversation with the owner, a gentle, kind man who looked to be in his 70s. Sweaty and tired, he was finishing work for the day. But he immediately took a liking to Alice, who displayed an instinct for connecting with people that any journalist or oral historian could learn from. He told her that his family has been selling rice in Dadaocheng for at least three generations. Business, he said, has only gotten worse with every generation.     These sentiments and stories are not directly told in the installation piece or performance, but I feel they are woven into the fabric of the project, just as every sound is connected by gaps of silence.

IV. FEEDBACK LOOP

In watching “Weave-Rob-Sound-Process-Roam” come to fruition, I’ve come to think about Dadaocheng from two vantage points: the physical (buildings, streets, people) and the abstract (history, cultural significance, urban issues).     I see the same duality in the work of these artists. They engaged in field recording and in-site improvisation (the physical) and then condensed those materials to conceive and create this work (the abstract).         In both cases, the physical and abstract play off each other, creating an endless series of modulating loops.       All of this is to say: this project, as a work of art – and more fundamentally a human activity – can be viewed as part of a never-ending cycle.     In the cycle of weave, rob, sound, process and roam, an act of listening becomes an act of responding, which also becomes an act of recording, which becomes an act of creation…     With you, the listener, the cycle continues. -David Chen, Curator Taipei, Oct. 2017

*** We’d like to thank the Tua-Tiu-Tiann International Festival of the Arts for their support of this project, URS 127 for providing exhibition space, and Lin Hsun-chen, Kao Yi-kai and Chen Yu-tse of Thinker’s Theater for their generous production assistance.

And we are especially grateful to Mr Shih Cheng-wen, Mr John Lee, Mr Titan Wu, and Ms Liao Hong-ye for generously taking the time to share their stories with us.

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Yannick, Alice and Nigel talk a bit about this project and their work at this free event on Oct. 13, 2017, at Ama Museum.  

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FB link for the performance

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Push ‘play’

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Yongle Market / 永樂市場

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10/15現場演出-線上買票   TICKETS for this project’s live performance on 10/15/2017 at Thinker’s Theater

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