2022-23 / 6'03" / single channel video, poetry, mask, essay
"つぎはぎの言語 / Space-in-translation" is a patchwork of translations through three languages; Japanese, Chinese and English. My Chinese friend TsingYun and I tackled the translation not precisely but more "in-trans" ly. There is one word that attracts me, "Exophony." It means a state of being outside of the mother tongue. Whether a person is an immigrant or native, we could call it exophony when the person uses a different language from its original.
To embody the actual defnition of exophony, TsingYun and I interviewed Liao Yiwu (廖亦武), a Chinese poet exiled to Berlin. The interview was all conducted in Chinese. I can't understand Chinese, but as a Japanese, I can try to grasp the essence of it. Firstly, the editing software automatically translated the footage into Chinese and English. Then, I picked up some sentences I could empathize with. Thirdly, TsingYun and I discussed and rewrote these auto-generated scripts for a better interpretation. Finally, I translate the final scripts into Japanese through my body and present them as poetry.
On March 2022, I interviewed Sichuan-to-Berlin-exiled poet Liao Yiwu with my Hunan-to-Berlin friend. I remember his intent gaze at me who can’t understand his original words, and his rhythmical Chinese accent with his harsh experiences. And his reply when asked about his identity as “Sichuaner(四川人)” not Berliner.
Slowly he stood up and put his singing of his poet, “黄河的水乾了(The water of the Yellow River is dry)” which was dedicated to the people in the Tiananmen Square Incident. His singing sounded like a scream – which melted into the room we were in. He says this was the first song he sang when he arrived in the Western world.
《Space-in-translation》 Single channel video / 2023 / 6’03”
《Space-in-translation》 Video installation / Size variable / 2024
at Solo Exhibition “Polyparole”, Art Center BUG, Tokyo
Photo: Eiri Motoyoshi
Special thanks: Liao Yiwu, Tsingyun Zhang, UdK Berlin
