= Reflection 感想 =

Empty yourself. Let the sound enter you, palpably. Your body is a container.

At the artist workshop in Hong Kong, we spent half of the time relaxing our bodies and learning how to listen wholeheartedly. Through the practice of continuous listening and note taking, I realized in amazement how many messages had actually been missed whilst one was listening. Unlike our eyes, our ears comprise a system that can neither be shutted down nor turned off: when you are tired or do not wish to read on, you can simply close your eyes; but what about your ears? In fact, it all comes down to the choices constantly made by our concentration. Staying concentrated, we can decide whether to listen to a particular sound or soak up all sounds in an uproarious environment—like how our mind functions. Nonetheless, once the level of concentration runs low, or too many judgments are already formed during the process of listening, or when one is too eager to express one’s feelings, the listening is bound to be stopped. Only when you attempt to empty yourself and let the sound palpably enter you will your body turn into a container.

Create a world we want to listen to.

The field trip to Manila, as compared to the listening practices on the streets in Hong Kong, is an experience based on a completely different order. The most unforgettable part goes to the listening practice along the pedestrian pathway built between the seaside and the main road. Confronted by the blaring traffic noise and the rhythmic sound of the waves, my body made the most honest response by tensing up immediately. Perhaps I was a ruler that was used to measure the crack of the impoverished and polluted Manila, yelling that the crack was too narrow, and that it was too packed to occasionally squeeze in the clip-clop of those horse-drawn carriages that carried tourists around. Gazing at the barefoot children coming towards me, I could not help but wonder: how could we possibly squeeze happiness into this crack too?

Derek, a co-walker and artist who performed with me in Manila, managed to answer my question by a guided tour in the community. Wandering around the area where he worked and lived and dodging in and out of the busy traffic during peak hours, I somehow started to master some of the navigation skills and my nervous body, much stiffened over the past few days, also began to relax itself. Derek and I looked at each other and chuckled. Well, isn’t such folk wisdom developed in between crevices exactly the kind of happiness that could be squeezed into a crack?

This provided the inspiration for our improvised sound performance. Despite all the limitations of the surroundings, as long as we strive to create with all our heart, happiness is still able to be squeezed in. And it is probably for the sake of creating a world we want to listen to that we have to learn how to listen to the present.

清空自己讓聲音確切進入身體就是一個容器。

於香港的藝術家工作坊中我們花一半時間學習放鬆身體學習全心全意的聆聽。透過不斷聆聽及同時進行文字記錄才驚訝於聆聽時所流失的訊息之多。有別於眼睛耳朵是一個不能緊閉、關掉的系統。累了或不想看了關上眼簾就可耳朵呢原來是用專注力不斷作出選擇有點像心念想聽嘈雜環境內其中某個聲音或想照單全收所有聲音都可辦到。可是一旦專注力不足或聆聽時已經有太多判斷或急著表達自己的感受聆聽都會被迫終止。只有清空自己讓聲音確切進入身體就是一個容器。

創造我們想聆聽的世界。

馬尼拉實地考察之旅與香港街道的聆聽練習相比絕對是兩種截然不同的秩序。最難忘的是在海邊及馬路夾著的行人走道上進行的聆聽練習在繁囂的交通嘈音及隨疾有致的海潮聲的夾擊下當下身體誠實地以緊縮作出回應。或許我就是一把量度著馬尼拉這貧窮及污染夾縫的尺子喊著夾縫太少了還要偶爾擠上拉遊客的馬車的馬蹄聲太擠迫了。望著迎面而來沒鞋穿的小孩要怎樣把快樂擠進這條縫呢?

當地和我合作演出的同行者兼藝術家Derek正好以一個社區導賞解答了這個問題。跟著他在他日常工作與生活的地區走著正值繁忙時間人車爭路的情況下左閃右避的在車縫與車縫間穿梭竟開始走出一點點技巧來連日來緊縮的身體也隨之而放鬆二人對望竟嘻嘻笑了起來。在夾縫裏能練就到的民間智慧不正正是種能擠進夾縫的快樂嗎?

最後合作演出的概念因此得到啓發用即興聲音演出了這一幕。環境的限制只要人用心創造還是可以把快樂擠進去。學習聆聽當下大概是為了創造我們想聆聽的世界。