Dear Yours Mine,
The very first idea for this project comes from the curiosity of different individuals in 2015 when I was surrounded by varied people/nationalities/cultures in Amsterdam, with a few words, quizzes, then voilà: the project with 4 different results. However, there were numerous people did try this project. Even though not all of them achieve the final step, I still deeply appreciate all of them.
Individuality is the keyword of my work in the past few years. It has been 7 years and I found a clear reason to close this topic.
這作品最初的想法源於2015年，對於每個個體獨特的好奇心，當時居住於阿姆斯特丹，一個被各式各樣的人種、國籍、文化包圍的城市，藉由一些文字、問答…等想法，然後這作品就產生了四個不同的結果。然而，在過程中有無數的參與者曾嘗試執行這個作品，我深深感謝所有的參與者。
爾後，個體獨特性便成為我這些年創作的關鍵詞。經過了7年，我找到了清楚的理由來結束這計畫。
We artists/performers may search for our own and others' Individuality in our whole life, but in the end, we have to confront ourselves individually, others only could be mirrors to reflect our thoughts objectively. However, there is no way to understand others even ourselves because we are all complex individuals, which makes the world abundant but chaotic. (Super contradictive, isn't it?)
After many tries, nice meets, experiences, and challenges, I decided to do the last try– my own version. However, It was much harder than I thought, this project reflects my vulnerability, weaknesses, and how to make the decisions to "be now". That's exactly the original idea: Becoming “you” and “me”.
身為藝術家/表演者，我們也許窮盡一生發掘自己或他人的獨特性，但最終我們面對的還是自己，他人只能作為一面鏡子客觀反射出我們的想法。然而，完全了解其他人幾乎是不可能的事，因為我們都是複雜的個體，也因此讓這世界變得豐富也混亂。
經過了許多試驗、面談、經驗和挑戰，我決定執行最後一個–我的版本。既使一切比我想像中的困難，這計畫完全顯現出了我的弱點，如何依自我判斷”在當下”決定。這正是此計畫原始的想法，成為”你”和”我”。
Reflection
My wrist pain from playing piano has existed since I was a kid, and it becomes a regular pain even without playing. Muscle memory is always accompanying me, at some point, I tried to be more aware of my muscles situation. When I do feel not comfortable while playing piano, I will stop and examine what's happening to my muscles. Slowly, I realize all comes from bad habits, it takes a long time to release the pain, and it’s a difficult process.
彈鋼琴所造成的手腕疼痛從小就伴隨著我，這疼痛甚至沒彈琴後也變成了一種習慣。這肌肉記憶總是伴隨著我，在某個時間點，我嘗試著了解更多自己的肌肉運動狀態。當我在彈奏過程感到不適時，我便會停下檢視我的肌肉的狀態。漸漸地，我理解這一切均來自於不好的演奏習慣，要調整這一切去釋放疼痛是一個艱辛的過程。
This piece requires a lot of “decisions” which could be diverse depending on the situation, time, and place. For playing, we need to put those materials together and might find out the original idea would conflict with the music idea, then change the decisions back and forth.
這個作品的執行需要大量的”決定”，而這些決定可能因情況、時間、地點而有所不同。對於演奏執行，我們需要依指示決定演奏的內容，然而第一時間意念下所做的決定不一定會與整體的音樂概念契合，因此這些決定必須要多層面來來回回修正。
For the two texts part, I choose English and French rather than my native language. The original idea of the project is to find a performer who speaks a different language from me, to challenge them to an unfamiliar language, and give us inspired input. In the end, the reflections were more than I expected.
關於第二部分的文字選擇，我選擇了英文與法文，而非我的母語中文。這計劃最初的設定是要尋找與我母語不同的的表演者，去挑戰他們不熟悉的語言，讓彼此有更多驚喜。結果，這個嘗試所獲得的迴響比我期待得更多。
I had difficulty choosing/creating the soundscape files especially. First, I found that I hate the soundscape of my current living place- Taipei so much, it's even impossible to find a sound I like. I tried to catch some bird or insect singing, however, it was all with traffic noise. When I came back to Taiwan a few years ago, I couldn’t walk on the main street in the beginning, because the traffic noise was terrifying for me. It seems I was used to the quieter environment in Europe already. This made me realize why I'm so depressed/nervous all the time in Taipei, and always feel like running to the quiet mountainside.
對於選擇聲景的部分，我特別有選擇困難。首先，在作答過程中發現我極度討厭現在居住地-台北的聲景，在生活中我幾乎找不到我喜歡的聲音。雖然試著採集一些鳥或昆蟲的錄音，然而所有個錄音都混合著交通噪音。幾年前剛回到台灣時，我發現我無法在大馬路上行走，因為交通流量的噪音實在太吵雜，我似乎在歐洲生活時安靜習慣了。這個情形也讓我察覺到為何在台北時總是感到壓抑與焦慮，且時常想往安靜些的山上跑。
Regarding Melody 2, I chose Scales as the material which was an odd decision. I play scales every time for warming up since I was a child. Maybe It’s an important technical exercise at first, but after a long time, I find that when I play scales, the clear piano keys touch make me feel at ease and stable.
關於Melody 2，我做了個奇怪的決定，選擇了音階。音階是我練琴從小到大每次熱身都會彈，它的功能一開始也許是在磨練技巧，然而日久卻發現彈音階的時候，觸鍵顆粒分明讓人有種安心、熟悉踏實感。
In this piece, the collage set-up makes playing extremely challenging. We play instruments with clear continuity, music line/expectation usually. However, the collage form keeps cutting continuity and regular muscle memory, which is not a normal performance way. Besides, not only playing the instrument but also speaking words, and triggering samples(soundscape recordings) are challenging. To control 3 different layers at the same time is a heavy mission, I am surprised by how virtuoso and precise the other involved performers are, playing the whole piece in one take without missing any elements/cues, so grateful could find these performers.
P.S. Although I accept that this work can be done in the form of recording or editing. However, in the end, each participant chose to perform it live and do the recording without any cuts.
在此計劃，拼貼式的設定讓演奏變得極具挑戰性。通常我們演奏樂器時是帶著一個明確的音樂與動作延續性。然而，拼貼設定讓延續的演奏肌肉記憶不斷要被中斷，這不是一個尋常的演奏型態。此外，極具挑戰的原因不只於演奏樂器，同時還需兼顧唸字、踏板驅動聲景錄音。在演奏過程中要同時控制樂器、文字、聲景這三個層次是個艱辛的任務，我非常驚訝其他參與的表演者都如此成熟和精確，能一刀未剪地現場演奏完全曲，感激能夠遇到這些高度專業的表演者。
P.S.雖然我表示可接受這首作品能以錄音或剪輯的方式完成，但最終每位參與者都選擇以表演形式，一刀未剪的方式執行。
Text 1 (from personal diary, 9 May 2019)
這些年在外，搬了好多次家，相遇了來自世界各處的人，緣分來來去去。我不太說再見，因為說了好像再見不到，世界那麼小，飛機、網路那麼方便。這是我第一次這麼後悔沒保握時間，沒關心到曾關心我的人。不喜歡拍照的我，連一張跟Kimiko合照的照片都沒有，我的感恩也不知如何再傳遞給已經不在的她。
I haven't had such a great regret in my life. A respectful person, warm elder, and lovely friend, Kimiko Kawabata, passed away these days. I know writing these words is useless now, but I'm extremely grieving for her death, I wish I would know her situation earlier.
Kimiko was my life mentor, my holland grandma. She was always there to encourage me and support me.
If you would be alive, I would say thank you many times to you, take at least a photo with you, write you more words, send the photo of me wearing the dress you gave to me, and visit you when I transfer my flight in Holland this year, let you know I'm hanging your calligraphies in my rooms, and much much more…However, I haven’t contacted you for a while, and I couldn’t do those things anymore. I have a card never can send it to you anymore...
Text 2 (from a French essay)
Une jeune femme mariée, délaissée par son mari trop pris par son metier, se laisse seduire et va passer la nuit chez son amant dans une maison située de l'autre côté de la rivière. Pour rentrer chez elle, le lendemain au petit matin avant le retour de son mari qui rentre de voyage, elle doit traverser le pont.
Mais un fou lui interdit le passage. Elle court alors trouver un passeur qui lui demande le prix du passage. Elle n'a pas d'argent. Elle explique et supplie. Il refuse de travailler sans être payé d'avance. Elle va alors trouver son amant et lui demande de l'argent. Il refuse sans explication.
Elle va trouver un ami célibataire qui habite du même côté et qui lui voue depuis toujours un amour idéal mais à qui elle n'a jamais cédé. Elle lui raconte tout et lui demande de l'argent. Il refuse; elle l'a déçu en se conduisant si mal. Elle décide alors de passer sur le pont après une dernière tentative vaine auprès du passeur. Le fou la tue.