在记忆產生之前的状态是什么？犹如一个刚出生的婴儿所看到的这个世界的影像是什么？在不受知识、社会餵养前、面对世界的第一眼是否为「纯洁之眼」？就如同记忆產生之前是为一种清明？抑或是一种浑沌的状态？当我们与记忆对峙的时候，立身处地的时间感与歷史感又是如何地被想像及描述？

本次个展「在记忆之前」的「之前」有著双重含意：一个是在记忆发生之前，是线性的「时间之前」，另一个意思为「面对著记忆、与记忆对峙」，为「方位之前」。「记忆」在时间上不仅是指过去也与当下有关，它不断的在时间轴上来回扫描并与「想像」同时发生，譬如回忆幼时家屋、故乡情景、已故亲人、城市的记忆、或面对曾经歷过辉煌的废墟，我们通常会不由自主的使用一些「想像」嵌补在记忆的隙缝之中。

此次个展展出作品主要以录像作品为主：《逝去中的风景Ⅱ》（2011）为同步三投影装置，为之前作品的二部曲，以一种幽微的叙事及「微自传」 的文体，创作一个介於录像艺术与电影之间（外）的动态影像作品，并藉由「家」、「记忆」、「轮转」及「时间与废墟」等概念为其隐喻，展现一种剧场式的日常。同步四投影装置《在记忆之前》（2011）为全新出发之作品，转向「时间与记忆」、「身体与感知」、「歷史与废墟」、「寓居於黑」等方向。本件作品为一件四投影的大型录像装置，分别投影在空间的四周，四个投影同步呈现影像、声音及全然「黑」的状态 。当观眾置身於展场空间，四个投影的影像时而远离、靠近、环绕及上下的运动。《记忆中的肖像》系列（2011）为拍摄人物的录像装置，影像为模糊失焦，在最后一秒的时候焦距转为清晰、随继投影机关闭。因为投影在涂有月光粉的板子上，所以当投影关闭时，模糊失焦的肖像会留在板子上，发出幽微绿光的肖像，并同时缓缓消失。虽远犹近的影像让记忆在时间的轴线上来回的游移。

「在记忆之前」的原初状态很难用理解的方式来对待或去指称，或许要以存有的直接临在状态来体验，而当我们试图贴近「记忆之前」之时，彷彿进入了一个黑洞，在迈向这黑洞的过程中，能让自己凝聚起来并贴近一种原初的状态，并从中确认出我们的「存有」其实就来自黑暗之中。

袁广鸣个展「在记忆之前」将於耿画廊TKG+｜台北．内湖｜举办，展期自2011年9月24日至11月6日。

TKG+ is pleased to present Yuan goang-ming's solo exhibition Before Memory, on view in Neihu from September 24 to November 6, 2011 (opening reception on Saturday, September 24, 6:00pm-9:00pm). The video installations and photographs of Before Memory, all created this year, examine the temporal and positional facets of memories.

To Yuan, the temporal “before” is the moment that precedes the occurrence of a memory. In contrast, the positional “before,” occurs when one confronts a memory. Memory itself holds multiple meanings – it exists in the past, as well as in the present. The act of remembering is like a journey between the “then” and the “now” – wherein one toggles back and forth between one’s childhood home, one’s hometown, a loved one, a city, or the ruins of a glorious past.

The works of Before Memory take the viewer through these different aspects of remembrance. For instance, the camera of the three-channel video installation Disappearing Landscape – Passing II, traverses abandoned spaces, past a tree, by the ocean, and through the residence of Yuan’s late father. Likewise, in Before Memory, the camera travels through spaces filled with the sounds and sights of “black” – the sea, a forest, and a field of grass, all at night. The multi-media installations, Disappearing Portrait and A Portrait in Memory, create a discourse between past and present, leaving behind the faint remnants of a portrait on the screen. Smiling Rocking Horse brings into question the boundaries of movement, with the piece of curved wood that remains still while the scene on the screen rocks sideways, just as memories move forward and backward in time.

Yuan goang-ming, was born in 1965 in Taipei, Taiwan, and is currently assistant professor at the Graduate School of Art & Technology at the Taipei National University of the Arts. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the National Institute of the Arts, Taipei (1989) and a diploma in Media Arts from the Staatliche Hochschule f　r Gestaltung Karlsruhe, Germany (1997). His work has been included in numerous international exhibitions, including the Gwangju Biennale (1995 and 2002), the Taipei Biennial (1998 and 2002), Translated Acts (Berlin, New York, and Mexico City, 2001-02), 01.01.01: Art in Technological Times (San Francisco, 2001), Luna’s Flow: The 2nd Seoul International Media Art Biennale (2002), Culture Meets Culture: Busan Biennale 2002, the Venice Biennale (2003), the Liverpool Biennial (2004), the Guangzhou Triennial (2005), the Singapore Biennale (2008), and Taiwan Calling (Budapest, 2010). He has also curated several exhibitions including SlowTech held in 2006 at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei.

TKG+, the contemporary platform of the Tina Keng Gallery, opened its expansive space in the Neihu District of Taipei in October 2009. Its mission is to promote and support the most interesting and significant contemporary art from the region. The gallery works with emerging artists and privileges experimentation in art across different mediums, from video and photography to installation and new media. As its name suggests, TKG+ believes in the exponential growth and possibility of art in the 21st century.