The B-Side of Yueh-Tao
2021, May. 17th-Sep. 15th
“2021 Green Island Human Rights Art Festival”, Green Island White Terror Memorial Park, Green Island
The “B-Side of Yueh-Tao” is composed of three family members of the artist, Tai-Chin, Ying-Wu and Yueh-Tao, who are connected with each other in a story line. When Tai-Chin was at the New Life Correction Center, sometimes he would use a rope woven from a plant with the same name as his sister. When Ying-Wu was in Oasis Villa, he never saw the outside of the building where the land was covered with plants with the same name as his future wife. The stems and leaves of the shellflower plant (also known as “yueh tao” in Mandarin) on Green Island have always been used daily by local residents. Yue-Tao, who is not on Green Island, has become a switch that is absent yet still has an influence.
-The B-Side of Yueh-Tao, 2021 Green Island Human Rights Art Festival
2021 Green Island Human Rights Art Festival : Artist Interview | Imprisonment
“The B-Side of Yueh-Tao” was presented in the visiting room at Oasis Villa in the Green Island White Terror Memorial Park. The “visiting room” is actually composed of two sides divided by glass partitions, one side for the political prisoners, and the other for the visiting guests. “The B-Side of Yueh-Tao” contains two sections: A-side and B-side. The A-side part was installed in the prisoners’ side, and the B-side was installed in the guests’ side. The audience will enter the A-side first, and then progress to the B-side (Please check the following layout plan).
There are 5 window-like partitions in the visiting room, through which guests and prisoners can view each other. My intention was to set up a comic-strip-like narrative structure that fits in these 5 partitions.
A-Side
The B-side of Yueh-Tao | A-side Venue
There are three stories printed on transparent screens and adhered to partitions 1, 3, and 5 to be viewed from the A-side. There is a different main character in each, these three characters arrived on Green Island at different periods of time. A-SIDE / The Stories on the Partitions
When the audience enters the A-side, they will hear the whistle of “Green Island Serenade”, from the video displayed at partition 5.
There are two monitors installed in front of partition 2 and 4, both of them are facing toward the B-side visiting room. The audience will only see the videos playing on them through the partitions when they enter the B-side visiting room.
Partition 1
Partition 1: The Story of Tai-Chin Partition 2: The Back of the Monitor
Yellow area
The Story of Tai-Chin and His Sister
Partition 1: The Story of Tai-Chin Partition 2: The Back of the Monitor
The main character in the story on partition 1 is my uncle from my mom’s side, Tai-Chin. The following is the story.
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When Tai-Chin arrived at Green Island, there was nothing there. Like the other people there, he paved the stone roads and built the houses.
His family couldn't come to visit him, so Tai-Chin wrote letters to them.
One day Tai-Chin received a letter from one of his sisters. All of Tai-Chin 's sisters, like many other peasant girls, were either given to another family as child brides or as adopted daughters. Therefore Tai-Chin had no memory of his sisters.
Tai-Chin’s sister, who was already an adopted daughter of another family, wrote him a letter with the following sentence: "What kind of society is this?" Tai-Chin was interrogated and tortured for that. The torturer asked him who this person was and why he / she wrote such a statement. Because of that, this younger sister left a deep impression on Tai-Chin. He asked his friend who had left Green Island to take a message to this younger sister, telling her not to write those kind of words again.
Tai-Chin's sister stopped writing to him for a while, but Tai-Chin still thought of her from time to time. Green Island is overgrown with a plant sharing the same name as Tai-Chin 's sister. Tai-Chin saw the plants when he was doing outdoor service with others, using them as materials to make ropes or weaving bags. When Tai-Chin was at Green Island, Tai-Chin and his friends had no money. Occasionally, Tai-Chin would mail “shell-collage paintings” made by his friends to this sister, asking her to sell the paintings for them and send the money back.
Tai-Chin used to be a tenant farmer before he came to Green Island. An older friend, who shared a room with Tai-Chin at Green Island, thought that Tai-Chin needed other skills to make a living after leaving Green Island. So he began to teach Tai-Chin structural mechanics.
After Tai-Chin left Green Island, he met this sister for the first time, she was 19 years old then. Tai-Chin found his sister work in a maltose factory opened by a friend that he knew because of Green Island, and Tai-chin himself went to work at an architect firm run by a friend that he knew because of Green Island. Tai-Chin started teaching structural mechanics to the sister, and later on they ran a construction company together.
Tai-Chin 's friend Lu Zhao-Lin knew that Tai-Chin 's sister had not married yet, so he mentioned to Tai-Chin a mutual friend of theirs who had also stayed at Green Island. Suggesting that if there was a chance, he should introduce this friend to his sister.
Partition 3
Yellow area
The Story of Ying-Wu and His Wife
The main character in the story on the partition 3 is my father, Ying-Wu. The following is the story.
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When Ying-Wu arrived at Green Island, he couldn't go anywhere. Except for walking in circles in a constrained area within a constrained duration, he stayed in a room every day.
There was a window in the room through which he could see the hill nearby, he could also see if it was raining outside.
Ying-Wu met his wife after leaving Green Island. Ying-Wu’s friend, Lu Zhao-Lin, mentioned that a mutual friend of theirs, who also had stayed at Green Island, had a younger sister who was not yet married. The friend that Lu Zhao-Lin mentioned had already left Green Island before Ying-Wu arrived there, Ying-Wu respected the friend a lot after getting to know him, and thought his sister might be a good person as well.
Ying-Wu had two daughters with his wife, they had a five-member family living together, him and his wife, his kids, and the older brother of Ying-Wu’s wife who also once stayed at Green Island. The year that the eldest daughter turned 4 and the youngest one turned 1, Ying-Wu 's wife suggested a family trip to Green Island. Ying-Wu and his wife's older brother had not been back to Green Island since they left that place, so the family decided to go to Green Island together. Considering this rare opportunity plus the inconvenience of transportation to get that far, they also decided to stop by the nearby Orchid Island on the way.
They arrived at Green Island. For the first time, Ying-Wu saw clearly what it looked like outside of the room. During the four years he was on Green Island, except for arriving and departing from the island, Ying-Wu had barely seen the views from the other side of the walls. Therefore during that period, he never had a chance to find out that the plants with the same name as his future wife grew everywhere outside. The family went to the place where Ying-Wu and his wife's brother had stayed before, but it was not open to the public. They looked around the outer wall and a short section of the road that the brother of Ying-Wu's wife might have paved previously.
Ying-Wu remembered that they met a Japanese doctor during this trip, and the doctor was amused by the eldest daughter's singing and dancing along the way. Ying-Wu took a photo of his wife, his wife's brother, his two daughters, and the Japanese doctor, to commemorate this trip.
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The family photo mentioned in the story is displayed on the tabletop in front of partition 3.
A-side Partition 3 | The Family Photo
Partition 5
Yellow area
The Story of Li-Hui and Her Mom
The main character in the story on the partition 5 is me, Li-Hui. The following is the story.
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When Li-Hui arrived at Green Island, she traveled around the island by bicycling and walking. Li-Hui reflected that all of the views that her dad hadn't seen in those four years, she saw within two to three hours.
The last time Li-Hui visited Green Island, she was 4 and was left with no impression at all. That family trip was the only time that all of the members of the family were on Green Island together.
Li-Hui 's dad often whistles “Green Island serenade”. Li-Hui made a work about her dad called "The Daughter of Time", which was exhibited at the Hai-ton Art Center. At the opening, after Li-Hui and her dad had finished giving their speeches, Li-Hui 's mom invited herself onto the stage and had a talk.
Li-Hui was 41 when she revisited Green Island to view the exhibition site. Li-Hui was invited to participate in the exhibition because of her identity. The place where her uncle and her dad used to stay had become a place for display. The names of her uncle and her dad are somewhere on the wall. The plants with the same name as her mom grow along the way outside of the wall. Because of the plants growing along the way, her name also “appears” on the wall.
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Below the story, there is a monitor showing a video “Li-Hui's Mother is Going to Talk”, which is the recording of Li-Hui 's mom inviting herself to talk at the "The Daughter of Time" opening.
In this video I did some adjustments to the soundtrack. The background sound is Li-Hui 's father whistling “Green Island Serenade”, then Li-Hui's mother starts speaking. At first her voice is overwhelmed by the whistle, but as the video progresses, her voice gradually grows louder, eventually equaling (or even surpassing) the volume of the whistle.
Li-Hui's Mother is Going to Talk
The Inquiry room
at A-side
"The Daughter of Time", miniature of the seesaw+ photo
"The Daughter of Time", photo
Orange frame
"The Daughter of Time", miniature of the seesaw+ photo
There is a small room inside of the A-side space, which is an inquiry room (Please check the above layout plan ).
In the partition 5 story, I mentioned my previous project "The Daughter of Time." In order to recap this work, I arranged a setting in the inquiry room, which included a miniature of the seesaw that appeared in the work, a photo of my dad and I in "The Daughter of Time", and the webpage link of this work.
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On the outer wall of the inquiry room, I hung three photos (Please check the below layout plan).
If the audience looks outside from the A-side visiting room, they will see an outdoor courtyard surrounded by a mural. Trees are painted on the mural, and real trees are planted in front of it. I took some photos of the scene (the real trees in front of the mural trees), and chose three of them to hang on the outer wall of the inquiry room. At first glance, it is difficult to separate the real trees from the painted ones. It takes a while to figure out which are the “real trees” and which are the mural.
The photo on the outer wall of the inquiry room at A-side
Orange frame
The photo on the outer wall of the inquiry room at A-side
After viewing A-side, go to B-side.
The Inquiry room
at B-side
"The Daughter of Time", photo
"The Daughter of Time" family photo
Orange frame
"The Daughter of Time", photo
On the way from the A-side visiting room to the B-side visiting room, the audience will walk through the outdoor courtyard and then run into the B-side inquiry room first. The B-side inquiry room and the A-side inquiry room face and mirror with each other, divided by a transparent upper partition (Please check the above layout plan).
In the B-side inquiry room, I arranged another photo of "The Daughter of Time" on the back of the one in the A-side inquiry room. Both of them are adhered to each side of the partition, back to back at the same position. Unlike the one presented at the A-side inquiry room which only showed my dad and I playing on the seesaw, the photo in the B-side inquiry room shows the whole family (myself, my parents, and my sister) in the same scene.
B-Side
The B-side of Yueh-Tao | B-side Venue
When the audience is in the B-side visiting room, they will see the words (Chinese characters) of the stories displayed on the partitions 1, 3, and 5 in the A-side are reversed on this side. In front of each of these three partitions (1/3/5), there is a black rotary phone installed on the tabletop. When the audience picks up the phone, they will hear recorded conversations of my mom and I talking on the phone.
B-SIDE / The Dialogues on the Phones
Through partitions 2 and 4, the audience will see a video playing behind each partition. The two videos are the same duration and are sychronized and played in a loop. The order of the sound-recordings and the videos shown at the B-side partitions, echo the order of the stories/narratives presented at the A-side partitions.
On the wall of the B-side visiting room, I hung three photos that I took in the New Life Correction Center (which is also located in Green Island White Terror Memorial Park). There are also several Yueh-tao / shellflower potted plants placed on the floor, with one of them on a pedestal.
The audience will hear the sound of wind as soon as they enter the room. The wind sound is a mix of two sources, one is the sound caused by the on-site electric fans set under the partition tables to blow the potted plants, and the other is a recorded outdoor wind sound from outside the prison on Green Island.
The Recorded outdoor wind sound on Green Island
Partition 1
Partition 1 :the reversed text of Tai-Chin’s story＋Yueh-Tao answer Li-Hui 1 Partition 2：Yueh-Tao is Not at Green Island
Pink circle:Yueh-Tao answer Li-Hui 1
Partition 1 :the reversed text of Tai-Chin’s story＋Yueh-Tao answer Li-Hui 1 Partition 2：Yueh-Tao is Not at Green Island
Partition 1 shows the reversed text of Tai-Chin’s story. There is a black rotary phone in front of partition 1, when the audience picks up the phone, it will automatically play a recorded phone conversation between my mom (Yueh-Tao) and I, talking about what happened between her and her brother Tai-Chin (my uncle).
The Transcript of
"Yueh-Tao answer Li-Hui 1"
Partition 2
Yueh-Tao is Not at Green Island
Pink frame: Yueh-Tao is Not at Green Island
Yueh-Tao is Not at Green Island
Through partition 2, the audience will see the video “Yueh-Tao is Not at Green Island”.
Other than the first scene at the seacoast, every scene shows the Yueh-tao / shellflowers growing at different spots on Green Island. Every scene in the video is a still photo, it is only when my mom’s figure is passing through the scene that movement in the landscape will show inside her body's outline (I Had my mom wear a green chroma suit so that her body could be replaced with a video image). Every time the scene changes the Yueh-tao / shellflowers in the image will be a little bigger than the ones in the previous scene and my mom's outline passing through will also be larger. When the human Yueh-Tao encounters the plant Yueh-tao, her figure will pause for a bit.
Yueh-Tao is Not at Green Island
Partition 3
Partition 3 :the reversed text of Ying-Wu’s story＋Yueh-Tao answer Li-Hui 2 Partition 2：Yueh-Tao is at Green Island
Pink circle: Yueh-Tao answer Li-Hui 2
Partition 3 :the reversed text of Ying-Wu’s story＋Yueh-Tao answer Li-Hui 2 Partition 2：Yueh-Tao is at Green Island
Partition 3 shows the reversed text of Ying-Wu’s story. There is a black rotary phone in front of partition 3, when the audience picks up the phone, it will automatically play a recorded phone conversation between my mom (Yueh-Tao) and I, talking about how she met her husband Ying-Wu (my father), and why she proposed to have a family trip to Green Island.
The Transcript of
"Yueh-Tao answer Li-Hui 2"
Partition 4
Partition 4: Yueh-Tao is at Green Island Partition 5:the reversed text of Li-Hui’s story＋Yueh-Tao answer Li-Hui 3 + the small drawer
Pink frame: Yueh-Tao is at Green Island
Partition 4: Yueh-Tao is at Green Island Partition 5:the reversed text of Li-Hui’s story＋Yueh-Tao answer Li-Hui 3 + the small drawer
Through the partition 4, the audience will see the video “Yueh-Tao is at Green Island”.
As in the other video “Yueh-Tao is Not at Green Island”, my mom’s figure works as a moving filter in “Yueh-Tao is at Green Island”, but her body size always stays the same as she moves along the paths/roads with the Yueh-tao / shellflowers growing on the side. In the scenes where her figure is passing by traffic mirrors, an image of me walking through the mirror will flash in the area contained by her outline. Later in the video, my mother appears in a green screen body suit walking across a white screen and then over the family trip photo, stopping in front of the young version of herself. She takes off her hood, so only her face appears, and her body turns transparent again. Then she moves toward the direction where the video “Li-Hui's Mother is Going to Talk” is (A-side/partition 5, the opening talk in Hai-ton Art Center), until she walks out of the frame.
Yueh-Tao is at Green Island
Partition 5
Partition 5:the reversed text of Li-Hui’s story＋Yueh-Tao answer Li-Hui 3 + the small drawer
Pink circle: Yueh-Tao answer Li-Hui 3
Partition 5:the reversed text of Li-Hui’s story＋Yueh-Tao answer Li-Hui 3 + the small drawer
Partition 5 shows the reversed text of Li-Hui’s story. There is a black rotary phone in front of partition 5, when the audience picks up the phone, it will automatically play a recorded phone conversation between my mom (Yueh-Tao) and I, talking about how I had recently learned that we didn’t take any family photos on Green Island during that family trip.
The Transcript of
"Yueh-Tao answer Li-Hui 3"
There is a small drawer installed under the table at partition 5. Inside of the drawer I put a photo, which is the same family photo that I placed on the tabletop at partition 3 in the A-side, however this photo is not cropped and shows the entire scene. Judging by the landscape in the background of the uncropped photo, the photo was not taken on Green Island.
On the back of this photo, I wrote down a sentence:
The "green island” in “Green Island Serenade”
does not refer to Green Island
The uncropped family photo in the small drawer
at Orchid Island but not Green Island
Pink frame : small drawer
The uncropped family photo in the small drawer
Yueh-tao
The illustrations of Gethoo (Yueh-tao) + The recreation of the scene in political prisoners’ labor at New Life Correction Center
Orange frame
The illustrations of Gethoo (Yueh-tao) + The recreation of the scene in political prisoners’ labor at New Life Correction Center
There are three photos hanging on the wall of the B-side visiting room. The photos were all taken in the “Labor Reform Exhibition Area” in the Wax Gallery of the 3rd Battalion (at New Life Correction Center). Two of the images are illustrations of Yueh-tao ( Gethoo / shellflowers), describing how “New Life”(that’s what people called political prisoners in 50s) used Yueh-tao plants as material for ropes and sacks in their labors. In the same exhibition area there is a recreation of a scene of the political prisoners’ labor, which includes several artificial Yueh-tao plants. The last photo shows part of this scene with “New life” pigs and Yueh-tao plants.
There are also several Yueh-tao / shellflower potted plants delivered from Taiwan (the main island), placed in the B-side visiting room. One of them is put on a high pedestal, with a metal plant label for Yueh-tao on the front, and says:
The ones outside are grown on Green Island
The ones here are from Taiwan
The Beige Phones
"Please don't put the handset back You can pick it up and listen to it"
Green circles
Green circles
"Please don't put the handset back You can pick it up and listen to it"
Both sides of the visiting rooms have 5 beige phones installed on the table as part of the original museum setting. This is so the museum visitors can experience talking with people behind the partition via phone. These phones are the only means of communication between the two sides.
I took all of the handsets of the beige phones off of the cradles on both sides, so they could be used as receivers / players for the ambient sounds of the room. The audience on the A-side wouldn’t receive any noise, while audience in the B-side would receive subtle whistle sounds from the A-side.
Monitoring Room
The monitoring windows
Orange frame
The monitoring windows
After walking out of the B side visiting room, the audience will arrive in the monitoring room. There they can see the both the A side and the B side at the same time through the rooms windows.