还归何处2 There They Return Again 2 (2021), Two-Channel Video (color, sound), 37'09"
献给莫大爹和他的老屋
For Grandpa Mo and his old house
百余年前,西山上的一些松木被砍伐,被拖到水边,用船运过滇池,换成牛车,穿过滇池东岸的平原,成为一所新建房屋的柱与椽。时光流逝,四代人一度在此居住。新房变为旧屋,旧屋变为瓦砾与陈土。2021年10月31日,艺术家在西山上寻找到一株倒伏的树,截取其中一段,在另一个时空中重演了百年前的旅程。
Over a hundred years ago, some pine trees were cut down and transported through the Dianchi lake by boat, and then to the Xiao'er village by bullock carts. These trees became Grandpa Mo's house. Four generations passed, while the new building became old house, and then became ruin and earth. On 31 August 2021, the artist cut down a tree and carried it 30 km to the ruin of the house.
这部双频道录像的右屏呈现了一栋百年老屋在4小时内被拆除的过程;而在左屏中,艺术家重演了百年前老屋建设的情景:他在西山采集木材,并扛着这根十几公斤重的木头步行绕过滇池、骑行穿过滇池东岸的田野和新建设的城郊,穿行三十余公里,最终到达被拆毁的老屋中,将之树立于残存的柱础上。一座房屋的毁灭与新生在此同框。录像的最后,老屋的主人莫大爹出现,讲述了这栋老屋曾经的故事。
The right screen of this two-channel video shows the demolition of a century-old house in four hours, while in the left screen, the artist re-enacts the construction of the house a century ago: he harvests timber from the West Hill and carries the dozen kilograms wood log on foot around Dianchi Lake, and then riding through the fields on the eastern shore of Dianchi Lake and the newly built suburbs, traversing more than thirty kilometres to reach the demolished house. Here, he erects the wood log on the remaining pillar base. The destruction and renewal of a house are thus framed together here. At the end of the video, the owner of the house, Grandpa Mo, appears and tells the story of the house.