台北當代藝術館 官方網站 Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei

陳哲偉近年持續關注人的處境，試圖以不同角度切入探討精神病友的主體性。本展邀請位於花蓮的臺北榮民總醫院玉里分院的學員們一同參與創作，這裡收容其他醫療機構所放棄治療或不被家庭與社會接納者，於是數以千計的慢性精神病友寄身於花東縱谷之間，孤立於台灣地理與社會的邊緣。

「時光之舟」以船為喻發展為四個篇章：《成舟》透過繪畫工作坊的形式讓學員們搭建屬於自己的方舟；《乘舟》探訪玉里鎮上居民與其共處的狀況，誰同在船舶上而我們又將航向何處；《沉舟》記錄學員個體過往載沉載浮之生命敘事，從中映現時代下潛藏的權力與政治；《船上的人》詮釋檔案中精神病友的肖像，重新顯現於現實缺席的面孔。展覽作品透過多重結構的影像與敘事，開啟精神疾病所對應的各層面感知與現實，反映壓抑下的集體潛意識，並對社會結構、歷史書寫與其中不公正的排拒提出詰問。

「時光之舟」延續《養神院》系列的創作脈絡，藝術家不拘於單一的方法論、以不同面向切入探討的創作手法，讓作品之間相互構成，試圖讓藝術成為一種對話的工具，探索關係實踐與重新架構的可能性。觀者得以在其中跨越幻想與現實、夢境與清醒，並重新認識與記憶這個世界。 In recent years, Che-Wei Chen has focused on the human condition, attempting to explore the subjectivity of those with mental disorders from varying aspects and interpret its state of being abandoned amid the management system of modern nations. This exhibition collaborates with Taipei Veterans General Hospital Yuli Branch in Hualien and invites participants accommodated by the hospital to participate in the creative process. The individuals accommodated by Yuli Branch are mostly either patients who have been given up by other medical institutions for treatment or those who are rejected by family and society. These individuals, up to one thousand people, are left to wander in the East Rift Valley, cast to the borders of the geography and society of Taiwan.

The Vessel of Time uses the raft as a metaphor for four different sections of the display: The Vessel Of Time (I) allows participants to build their own “vessel” through painting workshops, The Vessel Of Time (II) visits the residents of Yuli Township and their living condition: who is also on the boat and where are we all headed? The Vessel Of Time (III) documents the participants’ past encounters and the narrative of their lives, reflecting the hidden powers and political dynamics, while The Vessel Of Time (The Passengers) interprets the archival images of the psychiatric state of participants, reproducing the faces of those who are lost in reality. These works open different corresponding perceptions and realities of psychological illnesses through multi-structured images and narratives, reflecting the suppressed collective unconsciousness all the while questioning social structures, historical writings, and the unjust isolations within.

The Vessel of Time is an extension of the creative context of Yang-Shen-Yuan series, a project about the psychiatric hospital built in the 1930s during the period of Japanese rule in Taiwan. The artist adopts methodology and creative tactics that probe into topics from different points of view, allowing complements and responses between works, transforming art into a chance for dialogue that investigates possibilities of relationship practice and reconstruction. Viewers are given a chance to cross the boundaries of imagination and reality, dream and clarity, acquainting and memorizing the world from a new viewpoint.