LI.KUEI-PI 李奎壁
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Morpheus
莫斐斯
2017

Bracelet line,Letter bead
珠寶線,塑膠字母串珠
​50*65cm

​Since my first visit to India Gate in 2014, I saw a lot of vendors selling handmade English letters bracelets. A letter of the material costs 2 rupees, and the bracelet line costs 10 rupees, so around 30 rupees you can get a bracelet that has your name or name of the person you love on it. The vendors usually do not speak very good English, so does the customers. Sometimes both the customer and the vendor couldn’t either read or write well in English. So there was a time I was stopped by a white lady dressed in Saree, asking me to help spelling her name in English: Morpheus.
 
Delhi is a city full of English signs. As a visitor, except the mixed languages conversation and bargain with the rickshaw drivers, I should have felt comfortable about living in a globalized city. But people from so many different cultural backgrounds use English differently, and this always reminds me of the misunderstanding from communication: those vendors weave the bracelets they don’t understand, on the other hand, the customers also need to try hard to get their ideal English bracelets.
 
In 2017, I went back to India Gate again, with a paper of the Indian National Song translated in English, I asked the vendor to weave the bracelet. For me, this is an exotic, hard-to-read poem; for the vendor, they didn’t understand how the meaning of this poem bracelet related to him. The text here is only a sellable product.
 
“what is this?  G-N-J-A-R-A-T” the tanned vendor asked.
 
“Gujarat,G-U-J-A-R-A-T it’s a tribe of India”
 
(This is a rough translation of the original in Chinese)​
    從我2014第一次到印度門開始,就看到在門前販售英文字母手鍊的小販,一個字母2盧布,一條繩子10盧布,大約30盧布左右的價格就可以獲得一條寫有自己姓名或是戀人姓名的手鍊。攤販的英文多半不好,購買英文手鍊的顧客也未必能夠讀寫英文,我曾經在攤販前被一位穿著紗麗的白人婦女叫住,請我幫忙拼寫她的英文名字:莫斐斯。

    在處處充滿英文標示的德里市中心,作為一個外來者,除了與嘟嘟車司機溝通時夾雜印地語和英文的南腔北調外,我理應在全球化底下舒適的語言環境感到自在才對。在不同的文化背景下使用相同的英文字彙指稱不同事物的語言,總是提醒著我另外一層溝通的不對等。不懂英文的小販鎮日編織自己也看不懂內容的手鍊,購買的人則想盡辦法以英文為自己拼得一席之地。

    2017年我再次回到印度門前,在紙上抄下印度的國歌,請編織手鍊的小販,為我編織了這些手鍊。對我而言,這是無法順暢閱讀的異國語言之詩,對小販而言,他們亦不明白自己編織的東西與自身的關聯性,文字在此僅只是一種可供販售的物件。

    「這是什麼?G-n-j-a-r-a-t」黑皮膚的小販問
​
    「Gujarat,g-u-j-a-r-a-t,一個印度的民族」
Picture
Exhibition in Niv Art Center, India, 2017
Picture
Exhibition in Niv Art Center, India, 2017
Picture
Exhibition in Niv Art Center, India, 2017
other works

Thank You for the Opportunity to Meet Up on Line

Copyright © LI Kuei-Pi 2023.​ All rights reserved.
  • Work
    • 2019-Now >
      • Clement Town
      • Kha-Kha Shared Project >
        • Motherflag-Future project
        • GAP,000000093750251101
        • Morpheus
      • TransBorder Project >
        • Super Travel Personality Inventory >
          • Type A
          • TypeB
          • TypeC
      • Diamond Dream >
        • The Customs of Cambodia-China Map
        • Diamond CA&SA
        • National Road no.4
    • Early Work >
      • Solar Flare Economics: Rentopia >
        • (Backside of) Army, Philosopher and Love
      • Blooming Flowers, Flourishing Fortunes
      • Relationship studio >
        • Good Bye, Mr.Chiang
        • If a bookstore could be...
        • “When Can We Have the Ability to Produce Our Very First Domestic Car on Our Own? ”
      • Art Bento
      • KBB Factory >
        • Time Bank
        • When money is nothing more than its weight
        • Zombie Sheep Project
      • One Day,
      • The Begining of Spring
  • Curate
    • Keyword Dictionary of Asian Contemporary Art
  • text
    • Essay >
      • The Way to Freedom
      • 台灣與印度:「製造世代」之間的交匯與抉擇
      • 老闆,借個烏托邦 - 一份創作者對於「共存」的調查報告
      • 「能盛興」這個名字怎麼來的:紡織廠里的漂流史
      • 碎花布的殖民史:能盛興駐村筆記​
      • 微重點人物小傳
      • 陰謀論者的晚餐時光
      • 沒有紅墨水的世界: KBB FACTORY裡的消費關係
      • 貝殼與玩具狗:超信用再生產
      • 消費文化降靈術-關於計畫《如何消費一頭羊》
    • Research Project
    • Publication >
      • ​The Food is Good the Weather is nice What have you been up to?
      • Koh Pich's ABC's
      • Workbook series >
        • Workbook of Relationship studio project
        • Workbook of ​"When can we have the ability to produce our very first domestic car on our own?
        • Workbook of "if a bookstore could be..."
    • Podcast >
      • Travel Weekend, Tonight
      • Kha-Kha kitchen Project
  • About
    • ​Report and Commentary
  • contact