Three Suns | 三個太陽出版計劃

(Lenticular printing mounted on hardcover responds to the illusion of a continuous image whilst viewing the analog film)

In 2017, a few days before I departed for the Arctic Circle Residency, I watched Olafur Eliasson’s talk at the New York Public Library. Toward the end of the lecture, he took out the newly launched Little Sun Diamond, a portable solar-powered lamp, from his pocket and lit up the dimmed lecture hall with sunlight he had stored from Berlin a week ago.

This act of metaphorically holding sunlight from a distant place ignited my own sun-collecting endeavor. In the span of three years and in three different places, I collected three sets of sunlight: the dwindling daylight from an absurd adventure out on the Arctic Sea; the final gentle melancholic sunset before bidding farewell to my childhood home in Taiwan; and the twilight-summoning midnight sun in Iceland’s white nights.

The three slices of sunlight emitted from solar energy-converted electricity were then captured on 16mm film, and with the images projected, the dissipated sun slowly rose again, and nine stories then emerged under its reflection, where they also constructed rooms that echo the dialogues with three talented artists/writers.

By utilizing the book as a form, I intended to transform these projects into sequential stories that interweave the subjects of human desire against the backdrop of the delicate northern landscape, the fertile act against the natural flow of forgetting, and the internal freedom summoned during the midnight sun.

The 24 frames of the sun on a 16mm film strip artwork presented on the last page equates to one second in movies, giving a snippet of the past that can be held in hand by the readers, and seeing the film against light, an ambiguous outline of the next journey might emerge.

▲“Three Suns” won the Best of Golden Pin Award 2023

▲“Three Suns” is part of the 2022 Taipei Art Book Fair and the 2023 Edinburgh Artists’ BookMarket,  the “The Origins and Publishing Horizons of the Circle” exhibition at the New Taipei Museum of Arts, and the 2024Singapore Art Book Fair.

▲”Three Suns” is part of the library collection at Franklin Furnace Archive, Jan Van Eyck Academie, The Jerome Foundation, MONO NO AWARE, Lightbox, and the Taoyuan Museum of Fine Arts.

▲”Three Suns” is also available at Printed Matter, Inc., 朋丁 Pon Ding Space, Limestone Books, and ss space.

300 Limited Editions |12×5 Inch |140 Pages |Hardcover |Swiss Binding |English & Chinese

Each publication includes a 24-frame film strip providing an intimate moment for the readers to reflect, touch, and unfold.

The three different lengths of pages were designed according to the average daylight length where the sun was collected in three different locations.

《三個太陽》出版計畫——是時間沖刷出關於遠方、遺憾、和自由的沈積物

2017年,出發前往北極圈駐村的幾天前,在紐約市立圖書館的一場演講裡,看見了藝術家奧拉維爾・埃利亞松,從口袋裡拿出新設計的「小鑽石太陽能板燈」,並在幽暗的演講廳向現場的觀眾,點亮了他一個禮拜前,在柏林所儲存的日光。

這樣將異地的天光握在手中的動作,觸發了我展開蒐集太陽的計畫。跨越了三年的時程,在三個不同場域裡,蒐集了三道日光。保存了北極海上逐天遞減的日照下那場荒誕的冒險(2017)、搬離台灣老家時最後一道夕陽的淺淺嘆息(2018)、和冰島永晝期間午夜陽光裡被招喚出來的黑夜(2019)。

隨後將太陽能轉換成的電力所發出的光,用16毫米膠卷拍攝成影像,經過投影放映,逝去的太陽在黑暗中冉冉再現,反射映照出了九個故事章節。把「遙遠他方」和「家」的意象並置,透過膠卷、錄像、雕塑、聲音、和文字,交織呈現「到達夢想遠方後的疑惑」、「對抗遺忘的徒勞」、和「藍曬曝光出的自由刻度」等主題。

作品經由書的形式再次陳封裝載,幻化成裝載日光的容器,將遙遠他方的轉瞬即逝在眼前展開重現,如同太陽能量透過各種生命形式轉換不滅,並與三位文字創作者在冊頁裡相遇對話。

安插在書頁最後的24格太陽膠卷作品,是電影播放時1秒鐘的長度,也是一段可以被握在手中的昔日,將膠卷拾起透著光觀看,遠方的風景裡層疊著過去的影子,彷彿可以預見未來的模糊輪廓。

 

▲《三個太陽》獲得2023金點設計獎 年度最佳設計獎

▲《三個太陽》參與2022草率季、2023愛丁堡藝術書展、2023「圓的起源及其出版視域」新北市立美術館、2024新加坡藝術書展。

▲《三個太陽》可於以下書店購買: Printed Matter, Inc.朋丁 Pon DingLimestone Books 、和 ss space space

▲《三個太陽》包含於以下機構的圖書館藏:富蘭克林熔爐藝術家創作書典藏 (Franklin Furnace Archive) 、荷蘭揚凡艾克學院(Jan Van Eyck Academie), 美國傑羅姆基金會 (The Jerome Foundation)、Lightbox和桃園市立美術館。

限量300本 |30.5×12.5 cm| 140 頁| 精裝|瑞士裝訂|中英文對照

每一本出版品頁末,安插入24格太陽膠卷作品提供蒐藏。(照片裡為台灣太陽膠卷)

依據蒐集太陽時,三個地點不同的平均日照長度,而設計出三種長度的頁面

CHAPTERS 章節名稱

Arctic Circle 北極
The Land Without Return | 一去不復返的地方

(1)Why North?| 為什麼去北方?
(2)Touching the Rumble of Melting | 觸摸融化的喧囂
(3)Encountering the Absurd Guests | 遇見荒謬的訪客

Taiwan 台灣
Incurable Nostalgia | 不癒之境

(4)Who is Still Wandering Between the Atrium and Corridor? | 是誰還徘徊在天井和走廊之間?
(5)Hidden Medicine Buddha Sutra Within the Termite Nest | 藏著藥師經的白蟻窩
(6)Ferment the Remaining Time | 企圖醃漬剩餘的時間

Iceland 冰島
Midnight Sun | 午夜夕陽

(7)How to Summon the Night to Return? | 如何召喚黑夜降臨?
(8)The Clocks are Not in Unison | 兩個時鐘
(9)At the End of Route One | 一號公路的盡頭

Sponsor 贊助單位

National Culture and Arts Foundation of Taiwan

Credits

  • Text: Debbie Lee, I-Hua Lee, Nung-Hsin Hu, Alex Nichols
  • Design: Happ Design
  • Photo: Brandon Holmes, Nung-Hsin Hu, Sheng-Wen Lo
  • Translators: Hui-Fen Anna Liao, Nung-Hsin Hu
  • Editor & Proofreader: Huei-Cian Gao
  • English Editor: Emily Brandt
  • Printer: Jih-Tung Art Printing Co.Ltd
  • Paper: Cherry Paper, Auspic Paaper, Jinn Yang Paper, Inter States Paper
  • 撰文:Debbie Lee、李依樺、胡農欣、Alex Nichols
  • 設計:和圃數位文創有限公司
  • 影像:Brandon Holmes、胡農欣、羅晟文
  • 翻譯:廖蕙芬、胡農欣
  • 潤稿&校正:高慧倩
  • 英文編輯:Emily Brandt
  • 印刷:日動藝術印刷
  • 紙材:采憶紙業、恆成紙業、竣揚紙業、聯美紙業
  • 2022年10月初版
  • First Edition October 2022
  • ISBN: 978-626-01-0414-6
  • Printed in Taiwan

致謝 Acknowledgements

  • 北極圈駐村計畫──2017年秋季工作人員和團員The Arctic Circle Residency Program (2017 Autumn Expedition Staff & Cohort)、伊莉莎白基金會SHIFT駐村計畫──2018-19工作人員和參與藝術家EFA Project Space: SHIFT Residency (2018-19 Staff & Cohort)、SÍM駐村計畫──2019年6月工作人員和參與藝術家SÍM Residency (2019 JUNE Staff & Cohort)、奧拉維爾.埃利亞松工作室Studio Olafur Eliasson、MONO NO AWARE、cacao 可口雜誌、傑羅姆基金會The Jerome Foundation、紐約皇后區文藝協會Queens Council on the Arts (New York)、桃園市政府文化局Cultural Affairs Bureau of Taoyuan City Government

特別感謝 Special Thanks

  • 陳韋晴Chen Wei-ching Joanne、郭心芯Sin Sin Kuo、大衛.莫非David Murphy、徐璐Erica Sheu、曹良賓Liang-Pin Tsao、吳梓安 Tzuan Wu

書籍影像 Documentation Images

  • 張國耀Chong Kok Yew