Chronicle of Nowhere

建築物的建造表徵了一個地區在某個時間段中的政治、經濟與文化等各層面的影響。我曾拍攝《紀念中國城》一片紀錄台南市區中國城最後的時光，中國城彰顯了九零年代住商混合大樓的興盛，以及某一輩台灣人對中國的各種情懷；這次我將目光拉至北海岸一批塑化建築物——飛碟屋。它們緣起於歐美的未來主義風潮，在台灣則是被包裝成度假小屋的形式宣傳販售；它們一方面滿足了人們對於美式生活的想像，另一方面也搭上了經濟起飛所帶動的觀光潮、買屋潮。數十年過去，炒地產的商人與投機客離去，徒留半荒廢的社區與冷冽的東北季風。歷史總是不斷地自我重複，就像那隨著季節來來去去的秋蟹一般。我試圖以散文電影的形式，結合膠卷、數位、靜照等不同影像媒材，紀錄下這批曾見證人們還懷有美夢時代的建築，也一同見證了人類行為的反覆與徒勞。

An architecture can manifest the multiple facets of political, economic, and cultural influences within a specific time frame. My previous work, In Memory of the Chinatown, documents the last days of the “Chinatown” in Tainan City before demolition. The once bustling residential and commercial complex, an architecture style popularized in the 1990s, has embodied some older generation’s nostalgic imagination toward China. This time, I am drawn to spaceship houses made of plastics, the so-called “UFO Houses”, on the northern coastline. Originating from futuristic mania in Western societies, the idea of UFO Houses was repackaged into beachfront resort advertisements in Taiwan. Catering to the fantasy of American life, such an idea was embraced by frenzy phenomena of housing transactions and tourism brought by economic boom. After decades, real estate speculators and opportunists were long gone, what remains is the northeast monsoon wind howling across the semi-abandoned houses. After all, history is repeating itself, akin to annual crab migration. With this essay film, I attempt to combine still photography, digital and celluloid materials, as to document a peculiar sight that once conjured thoughts of a more hopeful time and has witnessed never-ending repetition and futility of human behaviors.