回莫村 Huai Mo Village

回莫村 Huai Mo Village

單頻道錄像裝置 single-channel video installation, 8'20", 2012

Huai Mo Village focuses on the Huai Mo Tzu Chiang House in Chiang Rai, Thailand. The founder of this house is a priest who served as a secret informer for the CIA during the Cold War period for thirty-nine years. His identity indicates the sources of this period of history and the change process. Starting from the 1980s, this region has turned into a world drug centre facing severe issues of smuggling and trafficking. Currently, there are around 70 children, most of whose parents have been killed or jailed due to drug trafficking or smuggling. Owing to the local drug problems, these kids have become orphans.

In this video work, the artist invited these children to form a filming team and jointly used the camera, sound recording equipment, lights, and other filming facilities. Children could visit the priest in person and listen to him tirelessly talk about the past of the Intelligence Bureau. The artist's customary style is extended in this work – the people telling the stories, the people listening to the stories, the filming crew made up of orphans, with the artist standing furthest back, observing it all and exploring a complex history of this region.

作品《回莫村》關注於泰國清邁回莫村的自強之家，創辦人是一位牧師，但同時在冷戰時期，他也秘密地擔任CIA情報員，持續了有39年的時間，他的身份也點出了這段歷史的源頭及變化的過程。此地從80年代開始成為世界的毒品中心，走私與販賣問題極為嚴重，目前有大約70位左右的院童，這些孩童的父母親大多是因為販毒或走私毒品而遇害或入獄，因為當地的毒品問題而成為孤兒。

在這件錄像作品中，藝術家邀請這些孩童成為拍攝團隊，與他們共同使用攝影機、錄音設備與燈光等等的拍片器材，並且由孩童們親自訪問這位牧師，牧師在影片中娓娓道出作為情報員的過往。藝術家慣有的拍攝手法在本作品中仍在延續：從講故事的人、聽故事的人、到由孩童們組成的拍攝團隊，藝術家站在更為後方的位置，觀察著這一切、探討這個地區複雜的歷史。