P016 → When Life Gives You Avocados
Chen Hsiang-Jung was selected through the AIR Taipei-International Exchange Program and undertook a three-month residency at the Fremantle Arts Centre in Western Australia in 2018. The hundred-year-old public market in Fremantle was the prototype of his creation, a lively trading place. The market was full of agricultural produce, snacks and souvenirs. Outside the market was the blue sky and the atmosphere of leisurely coastal resort town. It looked like a peaceful and prosperous world. With each passing day, through personal experience, TV news, the Internet and chats with locals, His flat and rough imagination of this strange place gradually became stereoscopic and profound/deep. He amplified the concept of "trade" in the marketplace, and set out to explore the impact of Capitalism and commercial activities, which might be hard to distinguish at first sight but have a omnipresent influence. Here, he would like to pose some questions: What can be commercialized? How do we value and price things? How do people become obedient to or defiant towards Capitalism?
An Australian real estate mogul used his "successful" experience to advice young people that they should stop buying avocado toast in order to save money for purchasing real estate. (An Australian real estate mogul advised young people to solve their housing woes by putting their “$22 a pop” avocado toast toward a deposit instead.) The ship from the port of Fremantle was over loaded with livestock and exported to the Middle East. Thousands of sheep died during the journey due to overcrowding and heat stress. Fremantle’s South Beach is known for its all wide sand dunes and Mediterranean vegetation. Decades ago, the locals opposed the invasion of real estate projects in the area. However, today, modern housing has become a part of the once-pristine scenery. Many farms in WA are facing labor shortages and stagnation. Many of them are sold to Chinese investors and Chinese human resources are introduced into production. The agricultural produce advertised in Western Australia are actually from Chinese enterprise groups... The above news that Chen received during his stay in Australia made him seem to see cracks in the dream bubble, even with a sense of déjà vu. He responds to the news and anecdotes he heard in his works, which look colorful but hidden inside are anxiety and insecurity.
陳向榮於 2018 年透過台北國際藝術村之台北藝術進駐國外出訪計畫前往西澳費里曼圖藝術中心 (Fremantle Arts Centre) 駐村三個月。費里曼圖當地具百年歷史的公共市場是他創作的原型，一個熱鬧的交易場域，市場裡盡是豐富的農產、小吃、紀念品，市場外是湛藍的天與悠閒的濱海度假小鎮氛圍，一幅休明盛世之景。隨著時間推移，經由生活體驗、電視新聞、網路資訊以及與當地人的交談，對一個陌生之地扁平且粗淺的想像漸漸變得立體而深刻起來。他將市集的「交易」概念放大，試圖去窺看不易察覺，卻影響無所不至的資本主義與商業行為。他思索著：什麼東西可以被商品化? 市場價值如何被衡量? 人在資本主義下如何被馴服或抵抗?
澳洲一位房產大亨以自身「成功」經驗告誡年輕人應停止消費酪梨吐司，好把錢省下來置產；從費里曼圖港出發的船滿載牲畜出口至中東地區，數以千計的羊於旅程中因擁擠及溫度過高而死亡；費里曼圖的南灣 (South Beach) 擁有沙丘與地中海氣候特有的植披景觀，數十年前當地居民反對房產建案的入侵，如今面海的摩登美寓已成為再自然不過的風景；西澳諸多農場勞動力短缺、發展停滯，許多土地出售給中國投資客，引進中國人力投入生產，標榜西澳出產的農產品實則來自中國的經營者...。以上種種在駐村期間接觸到的資訊，讓陳向榮彷彿看見夢幻泡泡上的裂縫，甚至帶有一種即視感。他將駐村期間聽聞的新聞及軼事放進作品裡，看似繽紛，裏頭埋著隱隱的焦慮和不安。
Open studio, work in progress, and life at Fremantle Arts Centre, 2018
“Dawn and Dusk at GMT+8” Artists Exchange Group Exhibition, installation view and opening, Taipei Artist Village, 2020
「GMT+8 的清晨黃昏」 出訪藝術家聯展，台北國際藝術村，2020