奈鳩.布朗 |《家庭工廠》 “Jiātíng gōngchǎng” by Nigel Brown

蕭楷競 Hsiao, Kai-Ching
2 min readJun 15, 2021
Nigel Brown|2018|家庭工廠|12分鐘聲音裝置(畫面右側耳機部分)

奈鳩.布朗(Nigel Brown)長期關注臺灣地方巷弄間的聲響,又特別以臺南為基地進行街訪探查。藝術家藉由聆聽與收錄,建立周圍世界的理解與地方認同,透過剪輯與播放的過程重新詮釋人們的時代記憶。1950至1980年代間,經歷第二次世界大戰後的產業全球化,跨國公司紛紛尋找低成本的生產地,當時臺灣藉著低廉的勞工與密集的生產線,以代工出口業帶動大幅經濟成長,俗稱「臺灣經濟奇蹟」。以臺南市來說,自中西區為核心發散,家庭式的小型工廠逐步成立,以自家作為工作場所,進駐輕型車床機具進行模組代工,然隨著後期中國市場開放後,當地政府招商引資,在土地、廠房、勞工成本相對低廉,高效率的大型機具也相繼設立的情況下,使臺灣本地的小型代工產業逐漸外移與沒落。

《家庭工廠》除了收錄周而復始的、富有節奏韻律的機械運作聲之外,也邀請執業近半世紀的資深從業人員們口述此「夕陽產業」的生態與歷史進程,背景音保留了別具地方特色的環境聲響,如街頭鄰里的交談、機車行駛的回響,以及做工必備的收音機放送聲。操作員重複性的動作經過長時間磨練,與機器建立深厚的情感與默契。機器聲響與受訪人的談話時而獨立發聲,時而彼此交疊,語談中能聽見老師傅們對於美好時代的嚮往與悸動,並同時感受到他們依然懷抱使命感,樂觀堅守於各自崗位之中的生活著。

Artist Nigel Brown has long paid attention to the sounds of local streets and allies in Taiwan. He especially conducted a field study in Tainan. Through listening and field recordings, the artist establishes an understanding of the surrounding world and a kind of local identity. Then, through sound editing and broadcasting, the artist reinterprets people’s memories of a particular era. From the 1950s to the 1980s, we witnessed the trends of industrial globalization after the World War ll. Multinational companies were in search of low-cost production sites, so Taiwan’s low-cost, labor-intensive manufacturing lines met that demand. This export-driven industrial growth led to the commonly-known “economic miracle” of Taiwan. Take Tainan City for example. The city developed from the core Central and Western District, where many family-style small factories were gradually established. People set up production lines in their own homes and brought in light-duty lathes and machines to perform contract manufacturing works. When the Chinese market later opened up and the local governments attracted investment with their relatively low costs of land, factories, and labor, much of this manufacturing demand moved to China. Orders in Taiwan dwindled. There were also more factories with high-efficiency large-scale machinery and tools. This marked the decline of Taiwan’s local small-scale contract manufacturing industry.

In Jiātíng gōngchǎng, Brown not only included the repeated, rhythmic sound of the operating machines but also invited experienced practitioners who have been working in this sector for almost half a century to orally describe the nature and evolution of this “sunset industry”. The background of the interview retains sounds with unique local characteristics, such as the chit-chat among neighbors, the reverberation of motorcycles, and the radio broadcasting sound, a must of a living room factory. The machine operators performed these repetitive movements over years, and thus developed some sort of deep emotional bond and understanding of the machines. Sometimes the machine sound and the interviewee’s conversation are distinctly heard, and at times they overlap. The undertone implies the workers’ feeling of nostalgia toward the past, as well as their sense of purpose at work — though times have changed, they are still committed to fulfilling their duties in life with optimism.

展覽:永聲花 — — 無盡的聲音風景

展期:2021.04.01–2021.10.17

地點:臺南市美術館2館三樓 藝術走廊

參展藝術家 | Nigel Brown / 吳修銘 / 吳燦政 / 郭佩奇 / 莊普 / 蔡坤霖 (依筆畫順序排列)

策展團隊|蕭楷競 / 林睿洋 / 陳琪涵

Artists | Nigel Brown / WU Siou-Ming / WU Tsan-Cheng / KUO Pei-Chi / TSONG Pu / TSAI Kuen-Lin (names in alphabetical order)

Curatorial Team|Kai Ching HSIAO / Rui Yang LIN / Chi Han CHEN

TNAM Web| https://www.tnam.museum/exhibition/detail/228

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蕭楷競 Hsiao, Kai-Ching

嗨!我在美術館擔任展覽策劃的工作將近6年,身兼藝術史評論博士生、四隻蛋龜寶寶的飼養員,平時以繪畫、書寫、攝影、旅行作為認識世界的方式,也深獲國內外藝術家們所創造的驚奇事物所啟發,從中汲取生活靈感,轉化為概念、文字、展覽,生成你我都能共享的視覺、聽覺與體感空間。 📩歡迎聊聊:k.c.artspace@gmail.com