位於高雄的旗津，從清朝為捕烏魚而來建臨時寮屋的移民，歷經了不同文化政體的現代化，是南台灣第一個西化開港的島嶼，有著南台灣第一所公校、第一支打敗日本少棒的本土少棒隊，第一個興建西方教堂與西醫醫院，以及戰後興盛的拆船業與兩千年後興起的遊艇設計製造工業。之後，高雄的市中心從旗津移往鹽埕，構成了戰後高雄最繁榮的洋貨零售與美式酒吧中心。然而，歷史的厚度在急速的經濟發展過程中溶解，旗津在人們心中僅為海鮮夜市的觀光沙灘，例如甫獲國際宜居城市獎的高雄市多項成就之一的「旗津海岸線保護工程」，實則是生態災難的後續，八〇年代政府花錢「買」了大量的工業遺留的電石渣作為墊高逐漸流失的海灘基底，在上頭建立起可供旅遊的海灘與現在獲獎的保護工程。而鹽埕，則如風華已過的婦人，在駁二文創帶來的青年觀光人潮景象後一棟棟繁華歷史建物被陸續拆除。
地景變遷既是社會也是生態的。Memo 是備忘錄，也是記憶；而 scape 則是形貌之意。一般的田野計畫，乃為生命史與地方史之記錄，單以社會學或人類學的觀點切入常陷入「凝固的歷史」的再現工作，使得藝術品最終只是泛黃歷史的整理；而與地方或社區的藝術工作又常常限於「社區型」的表達，將藝術能動性限於社區內參與。《錄地景 Memo-scape》從工作坊與田野訪談開始，找出能代表社區歷史的老照片，繼之重演凝固的歷史，團隊開始尋找人與景相遇之初，以及現在的人與景的變化，透過尋人尋景，尋人，即以重新聯繫歷史中震盪分離的人情聚合，尋景，即橋接（bridge）歷史與當下之景，透過雙重故事的「復刻」，創造連結（articulate）人群情感與空間記憶的機制。人群與歷史的田野就是創作過程，作品則是眾人的歷史與當代記憶。《錄地景 Memo-scape》乃是重繪諸眾公共歷史（public histories）的實驗行動。（文／黃孫權）
The Memo-scape exhibition is set in Kaohsiung City's historic Cijin District. Mullet fishermen were the district's earliest modern residents, occupying work sheds along the shoreline here during fishing season in the 18th century. The political and economic changes that buffeted Taiwan through the following centuries gradually introduced to the district an eclectic and dynamic mix of cultural and commercial influences. After the mid-1800s, Cijin's commercial harbor, Taiwan's first modern international port, bustled with foreign merchant ships. As southern Taiwan's window on the world, Cijin boasts a history replete with Taiwan "firsts", including Taiwan's first public school, Taiwan's first primary school baseball team to beat Japan's primary school baseball, Taiwan's oldest Christian church, and Taiwan's oldest Western hospital. Cijin emerged from the Second World War as the focal point of the nation's highly lucrative ship-breaking industry. In the waning years of the 20th century, Cijin again secured global recognition as a center of yacht design and manufacturing. Also, as the center of Kaohsiung shifted toward the Yancheng District, Yancheng's commercial quarter became a popular youth-oriented destination for imported retail-goods shopping and pub nightlife. Nevertheless, rapid economic change in the district has taken a heavy toll on the district's historic heritage. In the minds of many, Cijin remains firmly associated with its locally famous seafood night market. Furthermore, Cijin's Shoreline Protection Project, one of the items recognized in Kaohsiung City's 2012 International Livable Community (LivCom) Award, is in actuality an overdue response to the steady loss of natural shoreline in the area. The surface of the massive coastal earthworks built by the government during the 1980s using carbide slag was retrofitted for double duty as a coastal tourism destination. Also, Yancheng has already lost much of its youth business to the trendy new Pier-2 Cultural-Creative District. With visitor numbers dwindling, heritage buildings dating back to Yancheng's glory days of trade and industry are one by one being bulldozed to make way for new development.
Social and ecological factors contribute to the reshaping of landscapes. "Memo" abbreviates the English word memorandum as well as the word memory, while "scape" infers an extensive view or perspective. The goal of most fieldwork is to record life and local histories. However, reliance on a purely sociological or anthropological perspective often devolves into recapitulations of "static history" that relegate artwork to the depiction of a distant, faded past. However, local and community art programs often suffer from being unable to achieve expression beyond their local context, thus confining the impact to the small circle of program participants. Memo-scape uses workshops and fieldwork to find historical photographs best suited to represent static history. Our team sought the point in time when modern history's path first intersected with a specific geographic location and then traced the changes in both contemporary culture and that location up to the present time. Our work targeted both people and locations. People help to reinstate long-severed emotional bonds, while locations bridge historical scenes with their current appearance. The replication achieved through this dual narrative creates mechanisms that articulate collective affinities and spatial memories. Communities and history thus feed the process that creates our shared experiences and collective memories. Therefore, Memo-scape is a practical initiative designed to recast public histories. (HUANG Sun-quan)
