「生命會自己找出路。」（Life finds a way.）
—《侏羅紀公園》
「不適者生存？」一展的關鍵字，來自「適者生存」這個演化論的誤譯。在不同的情境下，人人都有可能是適者與不適者。面對社會文化的演化，倘若以藝術之名來審視，而非用天擇結果來歸納，又可以看見什麼？藝術史的風格演化？社會運動的推動與實踐？還是大眾文化的流行、過氣與復古？社會文化的演化與選擇，因適者而有所保存，但往往又由不適者所引發響應與關注。
在所謂的自然界裡，生存與繁殖看似是終極的目標；然而在人類的文化與社會中，「適者」與「不適者」似乎不是僅以生存與繁殖為目標來判定。「多元成展」六年來持續以藝術展演的策劃，來思考「多元性別」在今日社會文化中的狀態。從疾病汙名、校園霸凌到婚姻平權等社會議題，我們發現「適者」或「不適者」求生頑抗的種種足跡，並思考社會運動、藝術表現和生命記憶共同作為「抗體」的可能性。
「不適者生存？」展出作品包含了公立美術館的典藏品以及當代藝術創作兩個部分。透過選出原具有歷時性的官方權威的美術館典藏品，以性別意識重新檢視其中象徵「典範」的「適者」，再於策展中另闢觀看的蹊徑，讓「不適者」得以暫時被「發現」。而邀請展出的當代藝術作品，則是透過創作者本身既有的性別與環境、社會關係之意識，讓今日似乎擁有許多生存之道的「適者」，藉由集結展示，讓仍有可能存在的「不適者」得以持續被「關注」。以典藏品對照當代藝術，比較時序關係裡「適者」的生存之道，也映照出「不適者」跨越時空的多重樣貌。
「不適者生存？」參酌演化論並延伸想像，提出「共生」、「抗體」、「晝夜行」、「擬態」四種形態作為作品類比的關鍵字，彷彿是對於不適者生存的生態筆記，試圖在「不適者」與「適者」的相對關係中，從「已知」思考「未見」、從「已見」思考「未思」、從「遮蔽」意識到「彰顯」，進而觀察社會運動、大眾文化與藝術、博物館典藏這三個貌似平行發展的軸線，如何形成演化與消長的關係，以重新思考性別政治交融與延展的可能。
“Life finds a way.”
- Jurassic Park (1993)
The exhibition title “Survival of the Exceptional” comes from an appropriation of the evolutionary theory of “survival of the fittest.” In different circumstances, everyone can be both the fittest and exceptional. What will we reveal if we examine social-cultural evolution instead of natural selection through the lens of art? Will we see the development of genres in art history, the impetus and practices of social movements, or the currency, obsolescence, and revival of popular culture? The evolution and selection of social-culture are preserved by the fittest; however, the exceptional often provokes reactions and concerns.
In nature, survival seems to be the ultimate goal; however, in human society, the “fittest” and the “exceptional” are not solely determined by the basis of survival. The “Coexist Exhibition” has been exploring the state of “gender diversity” in today’s society and culture through curating over six years. From social issues such as the stigma of the disease, school bullying, and marriage equality, we have discovered that traces left by those fittest and exceptional in their struggle for survival, and considered the possibilities of social movements, artistic presentation, and life skills working together as the “antibody.”
The exhibition “Survival of the Exceptional” consists of works from the public museum collections and contemporary artworks. On the one hand, through the selection of works from the museum collection with its diachronic order and authority, the exhibition intends to re-examine the “fittest,” which symbolizes the “paradigm,” through gender perspectives. Through the curatorial approach that juxtaposes the museum collections with contemporary artworks, it also creates a new way of viewing the works allowing the “exceptional” to be temporarily “discovered” through alternative reflection. On the other hand, the invited contemporary artists’ perspectives of genders, environments, and social relations bring together the “fittest” that may seem to have various ways of surviving today. It allows the possible “exceptional” to be constantly “noticed.” By doing so, the exhibition demonstrates the survival of the “fittest” both in the past and the present. It reflects the multiple appearances of the “exceptional” across time.
“Survival of the Exceptional” draws on evolutionary theory and extends the imagination, proposing four forms as the subthemes, “symbiosis,” “antibody,” “diurnality/nocturnality,” and “mimicry.” In the dialectic relationship between the “fittest” and the “exceptional,” the exhibition considers the “unseen” from the “seen,” the “unthought” from the “known,” and the “concealed” from the “manifested.” It further observes how the three seemingly parallel-developed themes including social movements, popular culture, and museum collections, form a relationship that mutually evolves and fluctuates to rethink the possibility of integrating and extending gender politics.
時間 2020/12/29 10:00 ~ 2021/06/13 18:00時間
地點 2館3樓展覽室K、2館3樓展覽室L、2館3樓展覽室M、2館3樓展覽室N
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