Five minutes with Song Dong
與宋冬的五分鐘

Written by: Lin Shangtong

撰文：林上童

Translated by Trish Lyons

翻譯：崔西里昂

Photographed by: Harry Liu

圖片：劉競晨

 

Lin Shangtong (LS): Do you like London?

Song Dong (SD): Yes, maybe because this is my first overseas city.

 

LS: Among your artworks, is Waste Not important to you?

SD: Yes. There are two others, Writing Diary with Water and Touching My Father.

 

LS: You mentioned the word Trust. Can you explain it further?

SD: Trust is the most important and most valuable thing between people. Without trust, incidents such as Xiao Yue Yue[1] occur. Each time Waste Not is made the trust between my family and me becomes more solid.

 

LS: Can you recognize every piece in Waste Not, and tell the story behind them?

SD: No. There is too much stuff, every time we sort, we make new discoveries. When installing Waste Not in San Francisco, we found a piece of my mother’s clothing from the 1970s it was her denim work outfit. It was shabby and covered with oil and paint. She still could not bear to throw it away. So she made it into her own jacket by sewing it inside out and covering the holes with pockets. At the opening of the exhibition I wore this jacket, and it was commented upon as being ‘cool’ and ‘fashionable’. San Francisco is where Levi jeans originated, the first working clothes made of denim. I felt she was close to me when I wore her 30 year-old denim jacket.

 

LS: I can’t imagine what your mother used the plastic and foam food packaging for.

SD: She used these as dishes to hold food for stray cats and dogs; she loved small animals very much.

 

LS: In your own life, do you uphold the principle of ‘waste not’?

SD: Yes, my home is still very simple. Our furniture is bought from flea markets. We have a sofa that cost us only 30 yuan. My wife covered it in used clothing. This made the sofa the only one of its kind in the world. From this point of view, it is expensive. I have also used an old wardrobe to make a space for sleeping and playing for my daughter, and she loves it.

 

LS: Say something about art!

SD: Art is in everywhere, life is art and art is life.

 

LS: Is there anything that you can share with our readers?

SD: Don’t waste. If you waste everything, the day will soon come when there will be nothing left.

 

 

林上童：喜歡倫敦麼？

宋冬：喜歡，也許因為我第一次出國就是到倫敦。

 

林：眾多作品中，“物盡其用”對你來說是最重要的嗎？

宋：是。另外還有兩個，“水寫日記”和“撫摸父親”。

 

林：剛剛你在回答記者提問時，數次提到信任一詞，能進一步解釋一下嗎？

宋：信任是人與人之間最重要，最寶貴的因素。在一個信任嚴重缺失的環境裡，就會發生類似去年的小悅悅事件[2]……而每次共同籌備“物盡其用”展覽，都使得我和家人之間的信任更多更牢固。

 

林：你能認得“物盡其用”展覽中的每樣東西，並講出它們背後的故事嗎？

宋：不能。東西太多了，每次整理都會有新發現。就像上次在舊金山展覽時，找到了母親上世紀70年代的一件衣服。那是她在下放勞動時穿過的“勞動布”工作服。當時這件工作服已很破舊且沾滿油漆，她肯定捨不得扔，要物盡其用，就把衣服裡兒當面兒，用兜布補破洞，一針一線地逢成夾克自己穿。我在開幕式上穿上了這件“物盡其用”的夾克。大家說我真“酷”真“時尚”。舊金山是牛仔服的發源地，現在名牌牛仔服的設計很像我母親30多年前改造的衣服。我穿著母親的衣服，就覺得她緊貼著我。

 

林：我實在想不出，您母親當初收集這些泡沫和塑料快餐盒，能派上什麼用場？

宋：用這個盛食物來喂流浪貓狗，她非常愛小動物。

 

林：你現在自己的生活中也秉持“物盡其用”的原則麼？

宋：是的，我現在的家還是簡潔樸素。我們的傢俱都是從舊貨市場買的，再自己改造成有意思的傢俱，有一個沙發，買的時候才花30多塊錢，妻子用舊衣服把它包了，成了世界上的唯一，從這個意義上來說，它很昂貴。我還用舊的大衣櫃給孩子做了一個可以睡覺玩耍的空間，她很喜歡。

 

林：隨便說點什麼關於藝術的吧！

宋：藝術無處不在，生活就是藝術，藝術就是生活。

 

林：說點什麼送給我們的讀者好嗎？

宋：別浪費了。這麼浪費下去，沒有任何東西可浪費的一天，會很快到來。