“ Clean Noise ”
地址｜Address
中国上海莫干山路50号6号楼105
Rm 105, Bldg 6, 50 Mo Gan Shan Rd, Shanghai
文 / 哈利
Text / Harriet Min Zhang
画廊中的 "CORRIDOR 长廊" 是一个特殊的地方，这是一个12米深、7米高、1米多宽的黑色狭长空间，是画廊用来支持年轻艺术家展示多媒介作品的场域。若我们把整场展览看作是对艺术家 Dori Deng 扩展系列（2000- ）的梳理，那么 The Analogue Room 是主单元之外的存在，其中所有出现的物体和作品都代表着另一维度的变形体或参照物。
为何说 analogue 一词的中文翻译通常是精准却又失败的？词典与智能翻译都会将它直译为“模拟的”、“类似的”、“类比的”，但在如今很多语境中，它有了更多引申义，且这些引申义并不应该被架空；为了解它们，我们仍需要回到 analogue 一词的本意。所以，“精准”在于它的直译奠定了理解意译的理论基础，即，因为代表了对现实的“模拟”，我们才能辨别镜头内外不同的现实层次和时空维度，才能在数码科技出现之后对“模拟”的方式有新的认知，并将 analogue 逐渐构建为一种与数码技术相对的方式，最终让它的机械性和身体性成为持续塑造它的第二层含义。虽然翻译上的“失败”在于我们无法找到一个符合语境的词汇，但也因语种之间产生的语义差别而进一步印证了 analogue 的存在——从一个语言到另一个语言的过程也是 analogue 的，而非纯粹模拟的。基于以上考虑，我们并未给 The Analogue Room 一个中文译名。
黑色长廊内展示了与 Dori Deng 早期创作相关的决定性物件。这一附于主展览之上的半独立策展项目空间，试图通过陈列在长廊两侧展台上的物件，让观者了解贯穿于艺术家 Dori Deng 创作生涯中的具体线索。这其中包括机械节拍器、失败材料展架、自制观片台、老式投影机和一幅名为“结构研究”的作品，我们也将在此文中寻找它们与 analogue 之间的联系，并在每一种联系之上赋予一个属性，以便于观者阅读理解。
BROWNIE Project's "CORRIDOR", a 12-metre long, 7-metre high and less than 1-metre wide dark narrow space, is a venue to support young artists in presenting multi-media work. For the current exhibition “Clean Noise”, we have also used the space for something special. While the main body of the exhibition is an embodiment of Dori’s creation of Expansion series, the objects in The Analogue Room represent a reference of another kind or a metamorphosis in another dimension.
Why do we say the available Chinese translations of the word “analogue” are accurate and loose at the same time? Dictionaries would explain it as ‘comparable’, ‘similar’, ‘analogical’, but in most contexts today there are complex connotations that we cannot overlook. However, to reach these connotations, we need to recognise its original meaning which is often the theoretical foundation for understanding it further. Therefore, “accuracy” lies in the fact that its direct translation entails that the word represents a “simulation” of reality. It is only when we acknowledge the significance of its direct translation or description - a simulation of something - that we can recognise the development of the word and the different dimensions around it. For example, the emergence of digital photography rendered us a pronounced contrast between digital and analogue. Our perception of the word “analogue” has certainly shaped its meanings and now it also means “mechanical” “physical” “bodily”. Although the translation between one language to other fails in that we cannot find a perfect word that fits every context, the semantic differences between languages further confirm the existence of “analogue” - translating is an analogue act and process that creates gaps. Therefore, we decided not to give The Analogue Room a Chinese title.
The Analogue Room shows objects that are dear to Dori and her practice. This semi-independent curatorial project space provides an opportunity for audience to understand Dori’s creative process in a richer context. These include a mechanical metronome, a display of failed/cancelled materials, a film station, a duo-slide projector, and one of her Drawing Studies. In this article, we will also look for their connections to word “analogue” through the description of each object.
i
「 节拍器 Metronome 」
启示的；一切节奏的开始
heuristic; the rhythm of all things started
这件节拍器是 Dori 的情感和记忆寄托—这是她大学毕业后的第一件正式的作品（现场表演）中的道具之一。作为长廊中的第一个物件，节拍器引出了 Dori Deng 对声音、乐理和节奏的热爱和关注。机械节拍器不需要电池，而是通过发条运行。为使节拍均匀，节拍器常被放置在水平、不易移动的位置。如今，数字节拍器并不需要在意这些条件，它们的运动始终存在于虚拟的数码世界中，从不会轻易流失动力。
For Dori, the metronome is a sentimental object as it was used in her first formal piece of artwork (a live performance) after university. It symbolises Dori’s passion for music, sound and rhythm. It also symbolises the rhythm of many things in this exhibition. A mechanical metronome does not need an electric battery, but runs from a spring-wound clockwork escapement. For uniform beats, the metronome should be placed on a hard, level, unmoving surface. These conditions are ignored by contemporary digital metronomes. As they exist in the virtual, they will never lose momentum so easily while repeating movement.
ii
「 试验的痕迹 Evidence of trials 」
身体性的；无序指向有序
bodily; each failure is a gain
这些材料中有些是 Dori 在创作试验中留下来的，它们因一些瑕疵而并未被纳入作品和展览中，这代表了标准化系统中不被容忍的无序和反序，也打开了我们对事物状态的新思考：一方面，我们如何定义一件事物是否出了问题？我们为何不能包容偏差？另一方面，我们如何评判一件作品是否“完成”？
These materials have either been sacrificed for testings, or been considered useless leftovers or waste. They stand for the degree of disorder in a standardised system. They also represent an inquiry about readiness. On one hand, when do we consider something to have gone wrong? Why aren’t discrepancies allowed? On the other, when is a work ready? When is anything ready?
iii
「 观片台 Film station 」
程序的；手工制造想象
programmatic; handmade imagination
这是由一个灯箱、八张手工剪裁的底片、一本 LEE Filters 样品册组成的自制观片台。在灯箱之上的底片来自 Dori 在最初 10 年的艺术实践；起初，在使用数码投影后，她开始寻找结构形式更纯粹、没有明显像素点的光源，于是她开始研究 analogue 幻灯机，并用金属胶带和滤光色纸对胶片进行手工改造。滤光色纸通常用于剧院等专业灯光场景，而 Dori 则是将其用于手作底片，以此将彩色形状投射到物体上。观片台实际上呈现了她以前作品的关键要素，这也引出了她对 analogue的执着。
The film station presents a light box, eight hand-cut slides, a LEE Filters swatch book. The slides were the previous analogue materials Dori used in the first 10 years of artistic practice. At first, after using digital projection, she started searching for the light source with purer structural form and without the pixel. She looked into analogue slide projector and hand cut slight films with metal tapes and colour filters. The lee filter is typically used for theatre lamp / lighting. Dori used it for the hand cut slides for projecting colour shapes onto objects. The film station presents essential parts of her previous practice which entails her love for the analogue.
iv
「 投影机 Projector 」
机械的；人造灯之本源
mechanical; pure source of handmade light
区别于现在的数码投影机，这台50年代的老式投影机是 analogue 的，是机械的。对于 Dori 来说，它的投影方式更纯粹，或者说，这一机械身体制造的光源是纯粹的。而其实它的发明也象征着人类对机械自动化的欲望，从此，观看变得越发容易。这台幻灯机在 Dori 的上一回个展中被烧坏，仿佛它已无法承载如今某些电路环境，而这是否也暗示了一种淘汰或死亡？原来，机器并非拥有一具不死之身。
In contrast to conventional digital projectors. this old projector from the 1950s is an analogue and mechanical device. For Dori, it shows “purer projected light”. Yet, it also symbolises humans’ desire to automate the process of viewing, to make seeing easier. This projector was burnt out in Dori’s last solo exhibition, as if it is no longer compatible with today’s circuitry. Does this also suggest an obsolescence or a death? We will soon realise the mortality of the seemingly immortal beings.
v
「 结构研究 - 扩展系列 1号
Drawing study - Expansion series No.1 」
相互回报的；不间断的思维构想
reciprocal; a process of constant adaptation
这幅结构研究绘画的创作象征着整个扩展系列的开始。为完成这件作品，投影光、玻璃和钢丝被组合成一系列优雅的平面形状：圆形、三角形、正方形。在 Dori 的创作逻辑中，纸上的结构练习与落地的装置作品之间有着极其微妙的关系，这些基于纸张的绘画并非一件作品的前身或替身，它们代表了一种由意识与无意识共同引导的练习或研究过程，它们本身也可以被视为一件作品。而正因如此，扩展系列 1号作品的结构研究绘画也见证了 Dori 将扩展相关的想法不断视觉化、将纸上的结构不断实现的过程，它被陈列在 The Analogue Room 的最后，与画廊展厅内其余的作品互相支撑。
The creation of this drawing symbolises the very start of the whole series. In the actual work, light, glass and metal wire are the essential materials, which are crafted and combined so elegantly to realise a composition of primary shapes - circle, triangle and square. The drawing of No. 1 wraps up The Analogue Room, as it is the perfect witness to a journey of visualisation and materialisation of the act of expansion.
Dori Deng
哈利
Harriet Min Zhang
