為了準備台北當代藝術館閉館前展覽「美術館之後」，我開始接觸警衛。我在另一間美術館拍攝錄像作品時，策展人特意帶我去警衛每晚居住的地方，在剛硬、俐落與充滿潔白秩序感的藝術中心內，有一個瀰漫著濃厚個人氣味的居住空間隱形著。警衛桌前貼著不同館棟開關機與操作切換須知的紙條、數字時鐘掛在臨時折疊床上方，床的上方看似有一個洞，但洞又被厚紙板緊密地貼住，如此令人費解的個人設計。

每當我進入美術館工作，通常會先在警衛室交換證件，在不同國家，遞交不同證件，驗證藝術家身分，再進入屬於當地的美術館。美術館的警衛也有著截然不同的工作內容，在美術館森林雪地使用探照燈探查每晚安全狀態的警衛、每到四點在館間巡邏遞送包裹的警衛、使用行軍椅過夜的警衛、運用狹小空間進食的警衛、必須運動身體保持警醒狀態的警衛。美術館警衛在漫長工作時間中，以持續在場作為基礎的勞動形式，在觀察、巡視、守衛間反覆轉換，其工作價值體現在事件未發生之時，在平靜且重複的狀態中度過，沿著固定路徑巡視、停留於相同的位置、反覆閱讀空間與人流，並隨時因應不可預期的狀況。

展覽資訊

In preparation for The Museum After, an exhibition preceding the closure of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei, I began engaging with museum security guards. While filming a video work at another museum, a curator made a point of taking me to the place where a guard stayed each night. Concealed within the hard, precise geometry and immaculate order of the art centre was a living space saturated with the traces of an individual life. Notes explaining the switches, operating procedures, and system changeovers for different buildings were taped in front of the guard’s desk. A digital clock hung above a temporary folding bed. Above the bed was what appeared to be an opening, yet it had been carefully sealed with thick cardboard, a perplexing piece of personal design.

Whenever I enter a museum for work, I first hand over my ID at the security desk. In different countries, I present different documents, have my identity as an artist verified, and only then enter a museum belonging to that particular place. The work of museum security guards varies markedly from one museum to another: a guard sweeping a searchlight across the forest and snow-covered grounds each night to check that all is secure; a guard making the rounds at four o’clock, carrying packages between buildings; a guard spending the night on a military-style folding chair; a guard finding ways to eat within a confined space; a guard who must keep moving to remain alert.

Over the course of long working hours, museum security takes the form of labor grounded in continuous presence, shifting repeatedly between observation, patrol, and guarding. The value of this work manifests itself precisely when nothing happens. Security guards pass their time in states of calm and repetition, following fixed routes, remaining in the same positions, and repeatedly reading the space and the movement of people, all while staying ready to respond to the unforeseen.

Exhibition Information