Junk is more than just piles of rubbish--there is also feeling and meaning to be found.
Over the last three years, I have been looking through abandoned military dependents' villages and Hungmao Port seeking the source of my nostalgia for the time when Taiwan was in the process of urbanization. But in the abandoned dwellings, I found myself wondering about each particular object--I tried to find vivid stories in each one, and tried to piece together a world I didn't understand.
The story begins in 2005 in Chungchen New Village, in an abandoned blue house. The walls were covered with pictures of characters from the Fist of the North Star comic seeking out vengeance before my eyes in battle after battle. I examined them carrying out the missions given to them by their master in that sea of blue. I imagined a pair of skillful hands placing them in order, creating a rich plot--did that young face also carry a stern expression of righteousness? Do these characters left behind hold the memories of a child?
Packing, sealing, abandoning; renovating, cleaning up, organizing. Moving is a disaster. Unable to adjust, and ghosts reminding you of the past at every turn. The "old" of "the old place" has become a record of pain.
The definition of "junk" all depends on perspective--what people need is not junk, but that which is abandoned is junk. The objects and the pain in junk are my inspiration. Contemplating it brings me face to face with change and allows me to excavate history. I collect, repair, and arrange them, recording these former objects of worship in a diary of photos.
In these days of discovery I always find ghosts in the refuse that still retain the stories of these abandoned places. Fortunately they never scare off a curious soul like me.
Chen Po-yi profile:
PhD candidate, Department of Hydraulics and Ocean Engineering, National Cheng Kung University
2004 13th Taipei Photography Newcomer's Prize
2005 Stone People, Time People, Collected People, fnac Photography Gallery
2007 Kaohsiung Arts Prize nominee
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