The “IMPACT Symposium” is one of the very few transdisciplinary symposiums I have attended so far, which is full of warmth and depth. The theme of the symposium is “Ecologies of Attention” and it took place from 8 to 12 November 2023 at PACT Zollverein in Essen, Germany.
On the evening of our arrival at the event, the organizer, PACT Zollverein, prepared a talk for us in which Melanie Sehgal shared definitions, phenomena and case studies of “attention”.
Melanie Sehgal is a philosopher whose research interests include the history of philosophy, theories of science and technology, aesthetics and environmental humanities. Her book “Eine situierte Metaphysik” explores the empiricism and discourse of philosophers William James and Alfred North Whitehead, as well as process philosophy, pragmatism, aesthetics and interdisciplinary practice in the context of global warming. It opens up a different kind of critical discourse. She is currently working on another book, tentatively entitled “The Arts of the Anthropocene”, which explores the cultural dimensions of the current ecological crisis and suggests possible contributions from the arts and humanities.
「IMPACT Symposium」是我目前參加過，一個非常少見，充滿溫暖且深切的跨學科研討會。主題是「注意力的生態」(Ecologies of Attention) 2023年11月8日至12日於德國埃森 PACT Zollverein 舉辦。
抵達活動現場的當天晚上，主辦單位 PACT Zollverein 為我們準備了一個演講，由梅蘭妮・塞格爾 (Melanie Sehgal) 分享「注意」的定義、現象和相關案例。
梅蘭妮・塞格爾 (Melanie Sehgal) 是一位哲學家，研究領域涵蓋哲學史、科技理論、美學和環境人文學科。她的著作《情境形上學》(Eine situierte Metaphysik)1 探討哲學家威廉・詹姆斯 (William James) 和阿爾弗雷德・諾斯・懷特海德 (Alfred North Whitehead) 的經驗主義和思辨，以及全球暖化背景下的過程哲學、實用主義、美學和跨學科實踐，開啟另一種批判性的討論。目前她正在寫另一本書，暫定名為《人類世的藝術》 (The Arts of the Anthropocene) ，探討當前生態危機的文化層面，並提出藝術和人文學科可能做出的貢獻。
The philosophical approach to the opening of the symposium undoubtedly provided us with a clear and initial anchoring in Attention. Because the participants come from different countries, education, and practices, the focus of attention ranges from humans, animals, and plants to bacteria, or events, relationships, and so on, with individual interactions, phenomena, and effects.
If curiosity leads us to explore the term “attention” further, it touches on psychology, neuroscience, and pedagogy. Then, sociology, aesthetics, and other fields of knowledge will spread outwards like ripples. For me (later when we bring it into SUAVEART’s projects), do we explore these layers from a macroscopic perspective or do we sort out the correlations in the microcosm. Or, as a natural person/human being, what are the factors that play a role in the relationship between human beings and nature.
從哲學思維切入研討會的開場，無疑地替我們在「注意/注意力」(Attention) 有了初步的清晰定錨。因為參與者來自不同的國家、教育、實踐經驗，關注的面向也從人類、動物、植物到細菌、或者事件、關係等等之間，有著個別的相互作用、現象與影響。
如果好奇心再帶我們往下探索「注意/注意力」這個詞彙，它會觸及到心理學、神經科學、教育學。接著，社會學、美學等知識領域的參與便會如漣漪般往外擴散。對我 (細着藝術) 而言，我們是處於宏觀的角度尋探這層層作用，還是從微觀世界中梳理關聯性。又或者，身為自然人2/ 現代人，人類與自然之間的關係，受到哪些因素而發揮作用。
In the interactions between humans, animals, plants, and things, in ecosystems and in the technosphere, pervasive patterns of perception are at work. Such patterns are influenced by assumptions, interests, projections, framings, and selections. What powerful phenomena, forces, connections and exchange relations remain hidden or obscured as a result? What methods, tools, strategies, or systems are required to reevaluate these connections and foster productive relationships? Which ingrained patterns need to be disrupted?
(a number of thoughts addressed on IMPACT‘s open call)
在人類、動物、植物和事物與生態系統、技術領域、普遍感知模式正在發揮作用的互動中，這些模式受到假設、興趣、預測、框架和選擇的影響。 哪些強大的現象、力量、連結和交換關係因此而被隱藏或模糊？ 需要哪些方法、工具、策略或系統來重新評估這些連結並培養有成效的關係？ 哪些根深蒂固的模式需要被打破？
(IMPACT 研討會網頁上面的敘述)
A series of questions led to potential thinking. At this point in time, we really do need to take a break and look at what is happening in and around our society. Threats thrown from the outside, irrational dialogues, imbalances, out-of-context and false justice that correspond to internal flaws in the individual or society. Fragmented disconnections, and even the right to speak, obviously is often discussed in psychology. Society truly reflects the multiple facets of the individual, in states of emotional expansion and instability, which has become a common relationship that must coexist with depression or bipolar disorder.
Therefore, after nearly a week of the IMPACT Symposium, I was finally able to let go of my active role as an organizer, and immersed myself in a passive state of being, and returned to the role of a caregiver. At the time of the event, when there is still no ceasefire in the Ukrainian-Russian war and the Israeli-Palestinian-Gaza corridor conflict is impacting the humanity of the world, I feel that PACT Zollverein has played a crucial role in the past 20 years, and even today, in both the vertical and the horizontal levels of our societies. This role is to help us regain our sensory experience, listen to our inner voice, repair or inject the missing pieces, and rebuild our epistemology and confidence in human existence.
When we consciously gather in a new environment, the culture of origin attached to us becomes apparent. So, after almost a week of meeting, dialogue, exchange, relationship building, care and learning, we came to understand how precious this existence is. The presence of each participant is nothing more than doing something super, super, super that no one else can see. The presence of each identity or role is one of the evidence of the real existence of the community.
一連串的提問，引導出潛在的思考。當前的階段，我們的確很需要暫緩，看看社會與周圍發生的一切。外部拋出來的恐嚇、非理性對話、不平衡的斷章取義與假正義，是一種外顯的症狀，對應著個體或社會的內部缺陷、碎片式脫鉤，甚至是心理學中經常討論的話語權。社會真實的反映著個體多重的面貌，在情緒擴張和不穩定等狀態之中，這已經成為常見的憂鬱症或躁鬱症必須共存的關係。
因此，將近一週的「IMPACT 研討會」我終於可以放下組織者的主動身份，沈浸在被動者狀態，重回被照料的一環。參加活動的當下，烏俄戰爭尚未停火、以巴加薩走廊衝突正衝擊著世界的人性，我覺得 PACT Zollverein 不僅在過去20多年裡，甚至是今天，在社會垂直或水平層面發揮了至關重要的作用。而這個作用便是幫助我們重拾感官的經驗、傾聽內心的聲音、修補或是挹注缺失的片段，重建對於人類存在3的認識論與信心。
當我們有意識地聚集在另一個全新的環境，附著在我們身上的原生文化顯而易見。於是，歷經了將近一週的相處、對話、交流、關係建立、照料學習，我們理解到這樣的存在多麽的珍貴。每一個參與者的現身出席，無外乎是都做了超級超級多別人看不見的事。每一個身份或角色的出現，是社會真實存在的證據之一。
Nature accommodates thousands of species, and its interactions with plants, animals, creatures, and humans stimulate interactions. I learnt another way and dimension of thinking from the different participants. For example, I think of bacteria in terms of their benign and malignant effects on the body (a formless perspective), whereas Brazilian artist/ecologist Felipe Shibuya visualizes them through color, giving us the ability to interact with them through the derivation of consciousness (attention). Ahnjili Zhuparris, an engineer who has traveled between Europe, Silicon Valley and Asia, shared his experience of biomarker collection from a technological perspective, and how the use of artificial intelligence and deepfake can create “attention” and spillover effects in the environment, industry and community. Each participant came from a diverse background, continents, and included artists, cultural practitioners, researchers, scholars, doctors, musicians, engineers, architects, business executives, dancers, and more, and each one’s practice is beautiful and inspiring.
In addition to this, I also enjoyed PACT Zollverein’s special arrangement with the Berlin–based Social Pleasure Center (SPC) to create a series of physical and behavioural exercises, which were led in a very specific way, deconstructing the body, dance and space as we know it today. Dialogue, music, and physical movement are guided by sensory focus and perceptual thinking, which gradually covers layers of organic awareness from small perceptions, such as skin, breath, frequency, action, phenomena, and overlap. In a short period of time, there is sensory resilience in action, and such action infects the surrounding environment, including those lights, equipment, cushions, tables, chairs, and air.
I’ll always remember these nights, when we, tired and exhausted before arriving, were melted by the artists from Latin America. In the middle of the cold night, a procession formed naturally on the streets of Essen. The streetlights were vibrating with music, the Kebab boss was improvising after hearing the music, the very rational and reserved doctor was loosening up his bodies, and the succession of movements turned into a beautiful dance. Apart from sleep deprivation, there is a great need to get back to life.
We, the independent nodes, form a safety net because of these beautiful and enormous energies. In a way, the theme of this symposium, “The Ecologies of Attention,” attempts to present a part of what we, as a group of people, have shaped and shaped beyond words. Perhaps one day such a system will grow and plug in Taiwan, or perhaps not, because it is being woven by people across borders, and if it is dense enough, it will be able to catch the humans who need it.
We have caught each other and returned to our places for the time being. Looking forward to the day when we will be together again.
自然容納了萬千物種，它與動植物、生物、人類的交集，刺激著之間的作用。在不同的參與者身上，我學到另一種思考的方式與維度。好比說，我對細菌的看法是對身體有良性和惡性的作用 (無形式的角度)，而巴西藝術家/生態學家菲利佩・施布雅 (Felipe Shibuya) 則是通過色彩將其視覺具象化，賦予我們衍生意識的能力 (注意) 與之互動。往返歐洲、矽谷與亞洲的工程師 Ahnjili Zhuparris 則從科技的角度分享生物標記採集，近一步為人工智慧、深偽技術運用時，於環境、產業和社群中產生的「注意」與外溢效果。每位參與者的背景皆不同，橫跨各大洲，有藝術家、文化研究者、學者、醫師、音樂家、工程師、建築師、商管、舞蹈家等，而且，每個人的實踐都非常的美麗並令人啟發。
除此之外，個人還非常喜歡 PACT Zollverein 特別邀請到柏林的 Social Pleasure Center (SPC) 安排肢體與行為的系列練習。SPC 的帶領方式相當特殊，她們解構了當下我們已知的身體、舞蹈和空間。對話、音樂、肢體動作的引導背後其實帶出了感官專注與感知思考，從微小的認識中，逐步地涵蓋肌膚、呼吸、頻率、作用、現象、交疊等層層堆疊的有機意識。在短時間內有感的復原力行動，且這樣的行動感染了周圍環境，包含那些燈光、器材、軟墊、桌椅、空氣。
永遠都會記得這幾個晚上，抵達之前身心俱疲的我們，被來自拉丁美洲的藝術家們融化。寒冷的深夜在埃森街頭自然地的形成一條隊伍扭動跳舞。路燈被音樂震動著、Kebab 老闆聽到音樂後即興的舞動到街上、非常理性矜持的醫師鬆動了肢體、動作和動作之間的接力竟然成為曼妙的舞蹈。睡眠不足之外，我們需要重返生活。
微小的我們，因為這些美好且巨大的能量形成一張安全網。某種程度而言，這次的研討會主題「注意力的生態」試圖呈現的其中一部分，也是我們這群難以言說、形塑出來的一切。或許有一天，台灣會逐漸長出這樣的系統，也或許不用，因為跨國境的人兒正在編織，如果它夠縝密龐大的時候，便可接住需要的人類。
接住彼此的我們，暫時歸位。
期待，未來某一天，再次齊聚一堂。
Thanks to the PACT Zollverein team for including me.
Thanks to photographer Dirk Rose for providing photos after the event, all copyrights must be used with his permission.
Thank you Sasha Dees for sharing this event and appreciating our past achievements.
Thank you Paola for the trust built during the body practice and dance.
Thank you Ra’z for the feedback between Taiwan v.s Southeast Asia.
Thank you Dan Xu for waiting for the train with me on the platform on the way back.
Thank you Wendy for your hospitality when we met in Kuala Lumpur.
Thanks to myself for opening my heart again to immerse myself in a new world.
謝謝 PACT Zollverein 團隊的接受。
謝謝攝影師 Dirk Rose 於會後提供的照片，所有版權使用前，必須獲得他的同意。
謝謝 Sasha Dees 分享此活動，並且賞識我們過往的成就。
謝謝 Paola 肢體舞蹈期間建立的信任。
謝謝 Ra’z 給予的台灣 v.s 東南亞的回應。
謝謝 Dan Xu 最後回程陪我一起在月台等火車。
謝謝 Wendy 在吉隆坡見面時的招待與分享。
謝謝我自己，再次打開心胸浸濡新世界。
- Eine situierte Metaphysik 為德文，暫譯為《情境形上學》。 ↩︎
- 台灣稱自然人(natural person)，是一個與法人相對的法律概念。每個生物學意義上的人都是指自然人，只有自然人才有資格享有基本人權。在法律上，自然人是當然的權利主體而具備權利能力，即在法律上享受權利並負擔義務的資格。依中華民國民法第6條規定：「人之權利能力，始於出生，終於死亡」。 ↩︎
- PACT Zollverein 中心位於德國埃森關稅同盟煤礦工業區。埃森於16到19世紀為重要的工業大城，與後工業發展帶出的環境議題，有著非常複雜的時空歷史背景。今日，關稅同盟礦區已納入世界文化遺產，反映了從表現主義到立體派和實用主義的一個過渡階段，是工業時代建築和文化的代表。 ↩︎
細着藝術 SUAVEART 