Due to the book “The Intercalary August 1995” predicting a war across the Taiwan Strait during that period, coinciding with the missile crisis in the Taiwan Strait between 1995 and 1996, a general sense of tension and anxiety pervaded the Taiwanese people around 1995. This forced a serious contemplation of Taiwan's safety and survival. During the extra eighth month of 1995, I was studying abroad in Los Angeles. At that time, I set some "living rules" for myself and then monitored, recorded, collected, and reflected on my personal situation and that of Taiwan according to these rules. For me, the term "extra eighth month" signified a personal and national reflection and contemplation on subjectivity, illness, and demise under the threat of an existential crisis.
“Gazing the Intercalary August 1995” is divided into three parts: "Clippings," "Blood Sugar Records," and "Body Images."
◆ "Clippings"
“Chinese Daily News”, published by the United Daily News Group of Taiwan in the United States and Canada, is one of the major Chinese-language newspapers in North America. During the extra eighth month from September 25th to October 23rd, 1995, I read and collected all editions of the *World Journal* published in Los Angeles. These newspaper pages reported on global, US/Canada, Taiwan, mainland China, Hong Kong/Macau, Southeast Asia, and local Chinese community news, and carried commercial advertisements, leaving behind specimens like living biopsies of the tense atmosphere during the extra eighth month.
I wrote accompanying texts for these clippings, reflecting on history, power, interests, and ideology, engaging in a struggle for contention, occupation, control, justification, and legitimization on the medium of the newspaper. Regardless of whether events occurred in the world, the media would produce reports and discourses anyway. As long as people continue to believe in the myth of the existence of "history" and "truth," there will be those who continue to write our expected "history" and "truth." In the end, language surpasses everything, and we become slaves to ideology.
◆ "Blood Sugar Records"
During the 29 days of the extra eighth month, I monitored and recorded my blood sugar levels and insulin dosage daily. The accompanying diary entries described the symptoms of hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia, questioned the reliability of the senses and the objectivity of machines, reflected on the management and control of our bodies, the standards and boundaries of health, whether completely "healthy" people exist, and who benefits from it.
◆ "Body Images"
Centered around a pillbox, insulin, and collected medical waste bottles, a desk lamp was moved to project and photograph daily in a clockwise direction, resulting in 29 images. Additionally, my own body was divided into 29 areas, and each area was photographed in close-up daily until all parts of the body were covered. These partial images recorded the body's textures, markings, and scars, and were finally collaged and stitched onto a bed sheet. The accompanying texts explored, one by one, the transient and unreliable existence of the body, what its core essential parts are, sex, shame about the body, how it is occupied by discipline and taboos, the relationship between the body and desire, the reasons for prohibiting body exposure, controlling and managing desires, the symbolism of hair, hair and discipline, "figure" and "ground" and the identification of the subject, understanding the world and the past through the consumption of images, and the permanence of images compared to human demise.
“Gazing the Intercalary August 1995” is an experiment where the experimenter places themselves within the experiment, setting its duration and rules while simultaneously acting as the planner, observer, and subject. This experiment performs a pathological biopsy of the existing person and their socio-temporal context using accessible tools and possibilities. The collected newspapers, every news item, image, and advertisement, are biopsies of the society at that time. Every patient's diary, medical record, and image diary are also biopsies of their past existence. These multi-faceted biopsies accumulate into a fragmented past. Therefore, "history" has no so-called truth or restoration, only the collage of data and the interpretation of meaning. Health and illness, life and death are normal life processes. If they can be placed on an equal footing, living without welcoming or rejecting, it becomes possible to accept a complete life and reduce unnecessary suffering.
由於《一九九五閏八月》這本書預言台海將在1995年閏八月期間爆發戰爭，正好1995年至1996年間發生台灣海峽的飛彈危機，讓台灣人民在1995年前後普遍存在一種緊張與焦慮的心情，因此不得不凝視台灣的安危與存亡問題。一九九五年閏八月期間，我正在洛杉磯留學。當時我給自己設定了一些“生活規則”，然後依規監測、紀錄、收集、反省個人與台灣的狀況。“閏八月”一詞對我而言的意義，是個人與國族面對存亡危機威脅下對主體性、疾病與消亡的反省與思考。
《凝視閏八月》，分別是「剪報篇」、「血糖紀錄篇」與「身體影像篇」三個部分。
◆「剪報篇」
「世界日報」是台灣聯合報系在美國和加拿大發行的中文報紙，是北美地區主要中文報紙之一。1995年9月25日至10月23日閏八月期間，我閱讀並收集所有於洛杉磯發行的「世界日報」。這些報紙版面，對全球、美加、台灣、中國大陸、港澳、東南亞、地方華人社區的新聞做報導及販賣工商廣告，為閏八月期間緊張的氛圍留下如同活體切片的標本。
我書寫了伴隨這些剪報的文字，反省了歷史、權力、利益及意識型態，在報紙這個媒體上，進行爭奪、佔領、控制、合理、合法化的鬥爭。而不論世界有沒有發生事情，媒體反正就是要生產報導與論述，只要人們持續相信“歷史”與“真實”的神話存在，就會有人繼續對我們期待的“歷史”與“真實”書寫。最後語言凌駕了一切，我們成為意識型態的奴隸。
◆「血糖紀錄篇」
閏八月期間的29天，我每天監測、紀錄我的血糖值及注射胰島素的劑量，與這些紀錄相隨的日記文字，則描述了低血糖與高血糖的症狀，質疑感官的可靠性與機器的客觀性、反省我們身體的管理與控制、健康的標準與界線、完全“健康”的人是否存在，以及誰從中得到利益。
◆「身體影像篇」
每日以藥盒、胰島素和收集醫療廢棄物的瓶子為中心，移動檯燈依順時鐘方向投影拍照，一共有29個影像。另外，將自己身體劃分出29個區域，每日用相機分區特寫拍攝，直到照遍全身各部。這些局部的影像，紀錄下身體的紋理、標記與創痕，最後拼貼縫合在床單上。伴隨的文字，逐一探討身體這個短暫而不可靠的存在、什麼是它核心必要的部分、性愛、對身體的羞恥、如何被規訓與禁忌占領、身體與慾望的關係、禁止身體暴露的原因、控制管理慾望、毛髮的象徵、頭髮與紀律、「圖」與「地」與主體被辨認、透過影像的消費認識世界與過去，以及人類消亡對比於影像的恆久。
《凝視閏八月》是一個把實驗者自己放入實驗中的實驗，設定實驗的期限與規則，同時擔任實驗的計劃者、觀察者與被實驗者。這個實驗對存在的人和他所處的社會時空，運用可及的工具和可能性進行病理的切片。其中收集的報紙，每一則新聞、影像、廣告都是當時社會的切片，每一則病人的日記、醫療紀錄、影像日記也都是他曾經存在的切片。這些多面向的切片堆砌出一個破碎的過去，「歷史」因此沒有所謂的真實與還原，只有資料的拼貼與意義的詮釋。健康與疾病、生命與死亡是正常的生命過程，若能放在平等的位置，不迎不拒的活著，才有可能接納完整的生命，減少不必要的痛苦。
“Gazing the Intercalary August 1995” is divided into three parts: "Clippings," "Blood Sugar Records," and "Body Images."
◆ "Clippings"
“Chinese Daily News”, published by the United Daily News Group of Taiwan in the United States and Canada, is one of the major Chinese-language newspapers in North America. During the extra eighth month from September 25th to October 23rd, 1995, I read and collected all editions of the *World Journal* published in Los Angeles. These newspaper pages reported on global, US/Canada, Taiwan, mainland China, Hong Kong/Macau, Southeast Asia, and local Chinese community news, and carried commercial advertisements, leaving behind specimens like living biopsies of the tense atmosphere during the extra eighth month.
I wrote accompanying texts for these clippings, reflecting on history, power, interests, and ideology, engaging in a struggle for contention, occupation, control, justification, and legitimization on the medium of the newspaper. Regardless of whether events occurred in the world, the media would produce reports and discourses anyway. As long as people continue to believe in the myth of the existence of "history" and "truth," there will be those who continue to write our expected "history" and "truth." In the end, language surpasses everything, and we become slaves to ideology.
◆ "Blood Sugar Records"
During the 29 days of the extra eighth month, I monitored and recorded my blood sugar levels and insulin dosage daily. The accompanying diary entries described the symptoms of hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia, questioned the reliability of the senses and the objectivity of machines, reflected on the management and control of our bodies, the standards and boundaries of health, whether completely "healthy" people exist, and who benefits from it.
◆ "Body Images"
Centered around a pillbox, insulin, and collected medical waste bottles, a desk lamp was moved to project and photograph daily in a clockwise direction, resulting in 29 images. Additionally, my own body was divided into 29 areas, and each area was photographed in close-up daily until all parts of the body were covered. These partial images recorded the body's textures, markings, and scars, and were finally collaged and stitched onto a bed sheet. The accompanying texts explored, one by one, the transient and unreliable existence of the body, what its core essential parts are, sex, shame about the body, how it is occupied by discipline and taboos, the relationship between the body and desire, the reasons for prohibiting body exposure, controlling and managing desires, the symbolism of hair, hair and discipline, "figure" and "ground" and the identification of the subject, understanding the world and the past through the consumption of images, and the permanence of images compared to human demise.
“Gazing the Intercalary August 1995” is an experiment where the experimenter places themselves within the experiment, setting its duration and rules while simultaneously acting as the planner, observer, and subject. This experiment performs a pathological biopsy of the existing person and their socio-temporal context using accessible tools and possibilities. The collected newspapers, every news item, image, and advertisement, are biopsies of the society at that time. Every patient's diary, medical record, and image diary are also biopsies of their past existence. These multi-faceted biopsies accumulate into a fragmented past. Therefore, "history" has no so-called truth or restoration, only the collage of data and the interpretation of meaning. Health and illness, life and death are normal life processes. If they can be placed on an equal footing, living without welcoming or rejecting, it becomes possible to accept a complete life and reduce unnecessary suffering.
由於《一九九五閏八月》這本書預言台海將在1995年閏八月期間爆發戰爭，正好1995年至1996年間發生台灣海峽的飛彈危機，讓台灣人民在1995年前後普遍存在一種緊張與焦慮的心情，因此不得不凝視台灣的安危與存亡問題。一九九五年閏八月期間，我正在洛杉磯留學。當時我給自己設定了一些“生活規則”，然後依規監測、紀錄、收集、反省個人與台灣的狀況。“閏八月”一詞對我而言的意義，是個人與國族面對存亡危機威脅下對主體性、疾病與消亡的反省與思考。
《凝視閏八月》，分別是「剪報篇」、「血糖紀錄篇」與「身體影像篇」三個部分。
◆「剪報篇」
「世界日報」是台灣聯合報系在美國和加拿大發行的中文報紙，是北美地區主要中文報紙之一。1995年9月25日至10月23日閏八月期間，我閱讀並收集所有於洛杉磯發行的「世界日報」。這些報紙版面，對全球、美加、台灣、中國大陸、港澳、東南亞、地方華人社區的新聞做報導及販賣工商廣告，為閏八月期間緊張的氛圍留下如同活體切片的標本。
我書寫了伴隨這些剪報的文字，反省了歷史、權力、利益及意識型態，在報紙這個媒體上，進行爭奪、佔領、控制、合理、合法化的鬥爭。而不論世界有沒有發生事情，媒體反正就是要生產報導與論述，只要人們持續相信“歷史”與“真實”的神話存在，就會有人繼續對我們期待的“歷史”與“真實”書寫。最後語言凌駕了一切，我們成為意識型態的奴隸。
◆「血糖紀錄篇」
閏八月期間的29天，我每天監測、紀錄我的血糖值及注射胰島素的劑量，與這些紀錄相隨的日記文字，則描述了低血糖與高血糖的症狀，質疑感官的可靠性與機器的客觀性、反省我們身體的管理與控制、健康的標準與界線、完全“健康”的人是否存在，以及誰從中得到利益。
◆「身體影像篇」
每日以藥盒、胰島素和收集醫療廢棄物的瓶子為中心，移動檯燈依順時鐘方向投影拍照，一共有29個影像。另外，將自己身體劃分出29個區域，每日用相機分區特寫拍攝，直到照遍全身各部。這些局部的影像，紀錄下身體的紋理、標記與創痕，最後拼貼縫合在床單上。伴隨的文字，逐一探討身體這個短暫而不可靠的存在、什麼是它核心必要的部分、性愛、對身體的羞恥、如何被規訓與禁忌占領、身體與慾望的關係、禁止身體暴露的原因、控制管理慾望、毛髮的象徵、頭髮與紀律、「圖」與「地」與主體被辨認、透過影像的消費認識世界與過去，以及人類消亡對比於影像的恆久。
《凝視閏八月》是一個把實驗者自己放入實驗中的實驗，設定實驗的期限與規則，同時擔任實驗的計劃者、觀察者與被實驗者。這個實驗對存在的人和他所處的社會時空，運用可及的工具和可能性進行病理的切片。其中收集的報紙，每一則新聞、影像、廣告都是當時社會的切片，每一則病人的日記、醫療紀錄、影像日記也都是他曾經存在的切片。這些多面向的切片堆砌出一個破碎的過去，「歷史」因此沒有所謂的真實與還原，只有資料的拼貼與意義的詮釋。健康與疾病、生命與死亡是正常的生命過程，若能放在平等的位置，不迎不拒的活著，才有可能接納完整的生命，減少不必要的痛苦。
