Nightmare Wallpaper 惡夢牆紙
This article is part of Nightmare Wallpaper 140928 - 190701 by Pak Sheung Chuen.
Pak Sheung Chuen started developing the project Nightmare Wallpaper in 2014, in response to the political impasse in Hong Kong. I first collaborated with him on the project for an exhibition at Para Site in 2017, which was followed by a new iteration in Taipei in 2019. The focus of both shows were his observations from various court cases involving political activists who were being prosecuted by the Hong Kong government. Such observations transformed into multiple narratives through wallpaper, drawings, archives, and objects. This book is an extended version that reduces the tapestry of Pak’s complex narratives into a narrow sequence that simultaneously frames it in a wider context. It consists of five chapters, including Pak’s interpretation of court cases related to the Umbrella Movement and the Mong Kok riots, selected writing from his column in Sunday Ming Pao, and corresponding letters with a prison inmate. The wide range of writing and materials in this book serve as an invitation to enter Pak’s aesthetic pilgrimage and provide multiple perspectives of his transformation. Through long and repetitive acts of self-diagnosis and self-healing, Pak begins this journey in a state of depression, which left him devoid of enthusiasm to work, but he eventually regains the energy to return and become an active agent within society.
During the summer of 2019, unsettling protests broke out on the streets of Hong Kong. They made us believe that releasing this book had never been so timely, so urgent. When a wave of fear and anxiety over political uncertainties spreads across the city, people gather in solidarity, which sparks a harmonious energy. However, the frustration and negativity towards the unrest can also paralyse one’s ability to empathise and make judgements
with true objectivity.
This book is a proposition on how to release the internalised trauma and melancholia from the recent political instability; how to reconcile with violence, conflicts, and most importantly, with oneself. If we believe in historical recurrence, the remnant of hope is not unimaginable, but there is a long journey ahead of us for healing and repair. Though the world will continue to let us down at times, people’s imagination of a better future stubbornly refuses to die. Therefore, it is even more important now to believe in humanity and imagine structures that foster inclusivity and participation, rather than succumb to what divides us.
2017 年我首次與白雙全合作了《噩夢牆紙》的項目，當時在Para Site 的展覽打開了一扇窗消弭他在面對政治憂鬱下產生的失落。展覽的後續效應傳遞了某種力量，黎清妍便是在此精神感召下提議將作品做成一本書 。2018 年秋天我們開始著手討論書的結構，然而白雙全從2014 年起纍積的文件檔案像一個極度繁瑣的工廠生產綫，井然有序卻也錯綜複雜。展覽上我們看到的符號、物件是在層層抽絲剝繭後的轉換，極簡化的形式下已是他在混亂中理出的解套，這本書便是要帶領讀者進入那段混亂的旅程，但，該如何開始？
白雙全的電腦檔案夾裏是密密麻麻的筆記掃描，圖檔，文字，excel 表格上寫滿了編號、密碼、日期、數字，每一欄用不同的顔色分類，顔色上還有其他顔色用以顯示重要性。我看著這些瘋狂的分類，腦筋停滯了好幾個禮拜，原來世界上最難的事不是找不到邏輯，而是如何從邏輯的捆綁中解脫。 2019 年6 月，我們在台北合作了《噩夢牆紙》的另一系列作品，由於對彼此多了熟悉及默契，作品在呈現上更加完整及聚焦，當時決定以此作爲書的結尾。然而，今年夏天香港發生的抗爭運動，一度癱瘓了我們三個人。
回看書原本決定好的架構，突然覺得與街道上的現實產生了陌生的距離，找不到合理說服自己繼續編輯工作的理由，好像生活只有失落與憤怒兩種情緒；然而還有一種社會現實叫截稿，書必須要做出來，這驅使
著我不得不耐著性子埋首工作。在整理文字的過程我意識到一度進入了白雙全當時的憂鬱，原來召喚憂鬱出現的是對自身現實的不思考，眼像蒙住似，不知道自己是誰，只知道自己是倖存者。我們經歷一個動蕩的結束，卻在過程中面對另一個暴戾及不安的開始，這樣的循環也許還會繼續發生。然而歷史的重演其實也告訴了我們當下憂鬱的療治不是遙不可及，只是我們需要一段哀悼的過程來與創傷進行和解；這個創傷來自暴力，抗爭，不公不義以及對現實的失落。
我始終相信藝術的力量在於轉換，它的進場時間應該是在運動發生的前與後。藝術處理的是心理層面的療癒、幫助人如何與社會、歷史、暴力、抗爭，以及自己和解。如果公民上街是直言，當進入藝術範疇時我們需要的是轉譯、抽離，再想像及沈澱。今日香港社會面對了前所未有的團結，正面的能量積極飽滿，它除了激發兩百萬人上街和平抗爭外，也意味著某種巨大的恐懼正在翻轉。白雙全說他是帶著噩夢走進法院，就必須在這裏把噩夢抽出來。噩夢是一種意象，隱含在心裏的負面情緒。這本書集合了他從2014 年9 月到2019 年7 月進入法院旁聽案件時的手稿記錄，文字變成抽象符號及物件轉換的分析，同時也收錄與一名被告在獄中的書信往返和五年來明報專欄的文選。我們決定將8月18日作爲本書的結尾，是因爲我們相信那樣的精神才是人性的根源。或許每個人在各自微小的世界能參與的不見得都是大張旗鼓的呐喊，但仍必須嘗試練習如何在亂世中保持清醒。往後修復的道路遙遠及漫長，這一刻，世界持續令人失望，但人類的想象力也頑固的拒絕死去。當大部分人開始掙脫思想囹圄時，那些既有的可能與不可能也有粉碎的一天。
本文收錄於白雙全的《Nightmare Wallpaper 140928 - 190701》