= Reflection 感想 =

The Full Body Listening experience impressed me the most as it has really opened my sensations to receive sounds. I find the whole process of doing different listening exercises that slowly encourage and open my whole body to listen brilliant and efficient. This is especially when Viv gave a very clear instruction about using our own voice to vibrate the body by sending a long note with our own voice to the muscle that needed to be massaged. When I was doing the exercise, I was so amazed about the way the energy was flowing in my body. I have never experienced this before. I really liked it as I had to lie down on the floor while doing this exercise. It made me feel the connection between the ground and myself.

“Shadow-walks” in Manila was a great experience for me. Being in a city I have never been to and getting to know a place and its culture through a local resident was really wonderful. It helped me understand so much deeper about the city and the people. I was working with Julius Redilas, my walking companion and a painter specializing in water colour from Manila. He took me to Quiapo Church and we walked around that area. He used to go to the church every year with his father until he passed away. His father was a true believer. He went to church almost every day. He also went to the Feast of Black Nazarene every year on Good Friday to grab the towel which was touched by the Black Nazarene (the sculpture of a dark-skinned Jesus), as he believed the towel would bring luck to his family for the whole year. Julius told me when he saw a new white towel at home on Good Friday every year, he knew his father was back from the crowd. However, Julius said that no one in his family goes to the church any more, no one keeps up the tradition to grab a towel back home every year. He said: “I went to church when my father asked me to only because I was afraid of failing my exams when I was young.”

I was really touched by his father’s spirit and the symbolic meaning of the towel. I decided to make a sound installation by using a towel and water colour. After listening to Julius’ story, the idea of “Time” came to my mind. I felt we are all just human. We all have our own pattern of behavior and schedule on this planet. However, as time goes by, we will be just the same no matter how different our lives had been. I warped water colours in the towel, then poured water to the towel. The colours soaked up by the towel slowly came out, blending into a browny black colour, dripping into the plastic bag. The sound of dripping is the symbol of time.

I was really blessed to have a chance to participate in both workshops in Hong Kong and Manila with very supportive folks. Just like what Lin Wah said: “The group was very gentle but passionate, we actually created and blended our energies together to strengthen the workshop spirit and enjoyed lots of memorable listening experiences.”

最令我印象深刻的環節是「全身聆聽」Full Body Listening體驗因為它的確讓我打開了接收聲音的感官。我發現通過不同的聆聽練習逐漸開放我的身體去聆聽聲音的這個過程非常精彩和有效。尤其是當Viv非常清晰地引導我們用自己的聲音給需要放鬆的肌肉傳遞一個長音符從而利用自己的聲音帶動身體的震動。在這個過程中我被那種能量在身體中遊走的感覺震撼了。對我來說這是前所未有的體驗。我很喜歡當我做這個練習的時候我需要平躺在地上這使我能感受到自己與大地之間的羈絆。

在馬尼拉的《Shadow-walks》練習對我來說是很美好的體驗。在當地人的陪伴下去認識一個我從未到訪過的城市及它的文化使我對這個城市和她的居民有了更深厚的了解。我的同行者是Julius Redilas一個馬尼拉水彩畫家。他帶我去了奎阿坡教堂Quiapo Church一個在他父親過世之前每年都會和他一起去的地方。他的父親是一個幾乎每日都會去教堂的虔誠的信徒每年的聖週五Good Friday都會參加黑拿撒勒耶穌節Feast of Black Nazarene去領取一條曾被黑拿撒勒耶穌一個木製的黑色耶穌雕像觸碰過的毛巾因為他相信這條毛巾會給全家人帶來全年的好運。Julius告訴我每年的聖週五當他看見家裡又多了一條新的白色毛巾他就知道父親已經從擁擠的人群中回來了。然而Julius告訴我現在他家裡已經沒有人再去教堂也沒有人延續那個每年帶回家一條新毛巾的傳統了。他說「我小時候之所以會答應和父親一起去教堂只是因為我害怕考試會不及格。」

我被他父親的精神和那條毛巾所象征的意義所打動。我決定用毛巾和水彩去製作一個聲音裝置。聽了Julius的故事以後我想到了「時間」。我覺得我們都終究不過是人。我們在這個星球上都有自己各自的行為習慣和軌跡然而隨著時間的流逝不管我們的人生怎樣截然不同我們都會到達一樣的終點。我把水彩擰在毛巾裡面然後往毛巾上倒水。浸泡在毛巾裡的水彩迅速滲出來變成棕黑色滴在塑料袋上。水滴的聲音正是時間的印記。

我很感恩有這樣的機會可以參與在香港和馬尼拉的兩個工作坊並得到很多人的支持。正如年華所說「大家都非常親切和熱情我們互相激發和吸收彼此的能量共同鞏固工作坊的精神也享受了很多難忘的聆聽體驗。」

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Sound installation made by Sze Ka-yan in Manila
史嘉茵於馬尼拉製作的聲音裝置