Celeste Viv Ly ｜Ocean Sarcophagus

Celeste Viv Ly | 海水灵柩——离散生命世界与低温政治
Celeste Viv Ly: in sarcophago vivum aeri —— on cryopolitics and diasporic lifeworld

Writer: 秦川 Ben
Date: 05/08/2024

Keywords: politics / diaspora

展厅的中央是蜡制的一座石棺，悬挂其上的冰锥慢慢融化，滴落水中。作为艺术家Celeste Viv Ly 厲奫研究项目“-321 °F | in sarcophago vivum aeri”系列装置的一部分，它由微晶蜡、390 升反渗透过滤海水制成，展开了对生命、死亡以及个人离散经历的探讨。被染色、改变形态、乃至凝结成冰的水串起了整组作品。

At the centre of the exhibition stands a wax sarcophagus, with an icicle sculpture suspended above it slowly melting and dripping into the black pool in the sarcophagus below. As part of artist Celeste Viv Ly's research and the resulted series of installations “-321°F | in sarcophago vivum aeri”, it is composed of microcrystalline wax and 390 litres of reverse-osmosis filtrated seawater transported by the artist from the coast. This work unfolds an exploration of life, death, and diasporic experiences. Water—dyed dark, transformed in form, and frozen into ice —serves as a thematic refrain threading through the entire sprawling body of work.

_{空中灵柩 in sarcophago vivum aeri (MMXXIII ver.)，雕塑，长175x宽60x高50厘米, 《-321华氏度|空中灵柩》装置系列作品的一部分
微晶蜡、玻璃蜡、390 升反渗透过滤染色深色海水，运输自133° 79.515 N 012° 90.797 E(未公开、海上“不存在”位置)，2021年6月
in sarcophago vivum aeri (MMXXIII ver.), sculpture, L175xW60xH50cm, part of the work "-321 'F | in sarcophago vivum aeri, ",
microcrystalline wax, glass wax, 390-litre reverse osmosis filtrated dyed black and copper coloured water,
transported from 133° 79.515 N 012° 90.797 E (an undisclosed, 'nonexistent' location at sea), Jun 2021}

展览的布景源自艺术家自己身份的担忧。因为他者所掌控的生命而让恐惧外化为对于冷冻保存技术的恐惧——“零下321华氏度”意指使用液氮来保存生物体的大致温度，冷冻以封存细胞，延缓或者让死亡加速。石棺状的雕塑作品“空中灵柩 in sarcophago vivum aeri”（grave in the sky的拉丁翻译，引用自保罗 · 策兰的《死亡赋格》的副歌）暗示了死亡的高悬，而这个持续性项目起源于一个真实事件：2019年，英国埃塞克斯，来自巴尔干半岛的冷藏卡车上，一货柜39名非法移民的遗体被发现。因为身份不可验证以及社会的偏见，被社会指认为是中国偷渡者的尸体，相隔两周后才被确认为越南公民；而媒体猜测的、可能在零下25度严寒中失温的男女孩童，实际却是在穿越英吉利海峡的途中，因体温过高和缺氧窒息，成为人口走私阴谋的受害者。

The exhibition’s scenography stems from the artist's concerns surrounding their own identit(ies). The fear induced by life under the control of an external force becomes externalised as consternation regarding cryopreservation technology. “-321°F" refers to the approximate temperature at which liquid nitrogen is used to preserve biological organisms, freezing cells to delay or hasten death. The sarcophagus-like sculpture "in sarcophago vivum aeri" (Latin for "grave in the sky," a reference to the refrain in Paul Celan's Todesfuge) alludes to death and its gravitas. This body of work originates from a real-life event: in 2019, Essex, UK, a refrigerated truck from the Balkans containing the bodies of 39 illegal migrants was discovered. Initially misidentified as Chinese nationals due to the unverifiable identities of the deceased, the bodies were confirmed to be Vietnamese citizens two weeks later. While media initially speculated that these men, women, and children had succumbed to death in the harsh -25°C cold, in reality they perished from hyperthermia and hypoxia in the locked reefer trailer as victims of human trafficking.

空中灵柩 in sarcophago vivum aeri (MMXXIII ver.)，雕塑，长175x宽60x高50厘米,《-321华氏度|空中灵柩》装置系列作品的一部分
微晶蜡、玻璃蜡、390 升反渗透过滤染色深色海水，运输自133° 79.515 N 012° 90.797 E(未公开、海上“不存在”位置)，2021年6月
in sarcophago vivum aeri (MMXXIII ver.), sculpture, L175xW60xH50cm, part of the work "-321 'F | in sarcophago vivum aeri, ",
microcrystalline wax, glass wax, 390-litre reverse osmosis filtrated dyed black and copper coloured water,
transported from 133° 79.515 N 012° 90.797 E (an undisclosed, 'nonexistent' location at sea)

冰柜成为了坟墓。好似作品里的蜡——也是用来描刻逝者容貌和塑像的工具。生命政治和亡灵学扬起的尘埃依旧笼罩在动荡的国度，但今天的恐怖不再仅仅是例外状态阴霾下的集体。一侧是冰柜内逝去的移民生命，另一边是完全不同社会经济背景的人，他们以低温保存（cryo-preservation）技术作为永生的钥匙：冰冻，以便在未来复活——失活的细胞，技术政治下生命有着相似或相反的旅程。

The freezer becomes a tomb, much like the wax in the artwork—traditionally used to cast the features of the deceased in funerary effigies. The dust stirred up by biopolitical and necropolitical issues continues to shroud turbulent nations, and yet today’s horrors no longer solely extend to the masses under spectral states of exception. On one hand there are the lives of migrants lost to industrial freezing in the refrigerated lorries, while on the other, individuals from vastly different socio-economic backgrounds view cryopreservation, or cryonics, as the key to immortality: cryofreezing themselves for future resurrection. In the technopolitical age, the trajectory of life —whether suspended or ended—takes on a journey that mirrors or opposes these stark realities.

_{-321华氏度 | 空中灵柩 -321 °F (MMXXIII ver.), 伦敦圣詹姆斯哈查姆的展览现场，2021年6月

-321 °F | in sarcophago vivum aeri (MMXXIII ver.), installation view at St. James Hatcham Building, Jun 2021}

对于同样有着少数族裔和迁移背景的艺术家，新闻发酵带来的恐惧和个人的离散经历以及低温冷冻技术从未这样密切地绑定在一起，在媒体和意识形态的操弄下，私人生命的脆弱更令人寒战。

For an artist of the global majority with a migratory family background, the fear amplified by media sensationalism has never been so closely intertwined with their own diasporic experience and the technologies of cryopreservation. Under the manipulation of media and ideology, the fragility of individual life becomes even more chilling, revealing the profound vulnerability that personal existence faces in such a context.

_{扭矩 ("-321华氏度|空中灵柩" 装置系列作品的一部分)
Torque（part of the body of work and installation-321 'F | in sarcophago vivum aeri）}

“扭矩 Torque”——也是石棺中的水源，来自于北纬133° 79.515 东经012°90.797的海边。近1000升的海水被抽取至IBC贮水罐内，然后运输至展览当中。运输，正如海水承托起离散的身体漂泊，那些受到迫害的身体穿过海洋，生死或离散的暴力如幽灵般萦绕。“海洋在某种程度上是一个巨大的集体石棺”。因此，水在艺术家看来也可被工具化为致命武器，悬于“石棺”之上的时间性雕塑作品“1̵̨3̵̰ 3̵̥͝͝͝°ͅ 7̷̲͛ 9̵͈ ̵̗.́́̈̀͆̈̐͝5̀ ̷1͇ ̴̢5́͒̒̎ ̴ N̷̺ ͉͝ 0̴̧̽ ̷1̢ ̸͕2̶°̺ ͅ 9̶̺̍ ̸0̨͝ ̴͇.79̸̡ ̸7͍ ̷̮͘ Ë̵̢ ̠”展示着在不同温度和时间尺度上的水的隐匿暴力。

The action/performance piece "Torque"—also the source of water within the sarcophagus— happened at the coastal coordinate 133° 79.515' N, 012° 90.797' E. 1,000 litres of seawater were extracted into an IBC tank and transported to the site of the exhibition. This act of transportation mirrors the way seawater supports the drifting bodies of the displaced, as persecuted bodies cross the ocean, haunted by the travail of life and exile. “The ocean is to a certain extent a vast collective sarcophagus.” To the artist, water can be weaponised and transformed into a lethal force. Suspended above the "sarcophagus" is the durational sculptural piece 1̵̨3̵̰ 3̵̥͝͝͝°ͅ 7̷̲͛ 9̵͈ ̵̗.́́̈̀͆̈̐͝5̀ ̷1͇ ̴̢5́͒̒̎ ̴ N̷̺ ͉͝ 0̴̧̽ ̷1̢ ̸͕2̶°̺ ͅ 9̶̺̍ ̸0̨͝ ̴͇.79̸̡ ̸7͍ ̷̮͘ Ë̵̢ ̠in the form of an icicle made from frozen seawater, revealing the latent violence of water across different temperatures and timescales.

_{扭矩 ("-321华氏度|空中灵柩" 装置系列作品的一部分)

Torque（part of the body of work and installation-321 'F | in sarcophago vivum aeri）}

“-321 °F | in sarcophago vivum aeri”系列作品在过去3年的不断迭代，是与其所到的地方、当地的水源、以及隐藏在水面下的幽灵故事建立联结、互相纠缠的过程。它时刻提醒着我们作为一具鲜活躯体的脆弱在场，也同时作为暴力的容器。

The series "-321 °F | in sarcophago vivum aeri" has undergone continuous iterations over the past three years, forging connections and entanglements with the places it visits, the local water sources, and the spectral narratives concealed beneath the water’s surface. It constantly reminds us of the fragile presence of the living body, while simultaneously materialising as a vessel of violence.

_{北纬 42°03'28.9" 东经 138°12’25.0"，京都艺术中心，京都，日本，装置展览现场, 2023年11月

𝟰𝟮°𝟬𝟯'𝟮𝟴.𝟵"𝗡 𝟭𝟯𝟴°𝟭𝟮’𝟮𝟱.𝟬"𝗘，installation view at Kyoto Art Centre, Kyoto, JP,Nov 2023}

来到不同国家展出的作品，是艺术家以物证和半虚构故事揭示不同时空下集体认同的尝试，对创伤和暴力的追问超越了物质-符号关系的转录，艺术家捕捉水滴激起的波纹和迸裂出的声响，以档案的形式呈现。自然融化的冰锥砸在水面上的声音几乎不会被我们的耳膜捕捉到，却真实制造了一个声音-权力的真空，其间寓居着在海洋和其他水体发现和遗失的身体，属于所有流散者和“我们”。

The works exhibited across different countries including the UK, US and Japan are the artist’s attempt to reveal collective identities across different temporal and spatial contexts through material evidence and parafictional narratives. The inquiry into geotrauma and violence transcends the transcription of material-symbolic relations, as the artist captures the ripples and ruptures triggered by droplets of water, presenting them in an archival form. The sound of naturally melting icicles striking the water's surface is nearly imperceptible to our eardrums, yet it creates a real vacuum of sound and power. Within this void dwell the bodies found and lost in the oceans and other bodies of water—belonging to the diasporic and “us."

_{北纬42°03'28.9"东经138°12’25.0"，京都艺术中心，京都，日本，装置展览现场,多媒体装置，尺寸可变, 2023年11月

𝟰𝟮°𝟬𝟯'𝟮𝟴.𝟵"𝗡 𝟭𝟯𝟴°𝟭𝟮’𝟮𝟱.𝟬"𝗘，installation view at Kyoto Art Centre, Kyoto, JP, Multi media installation，Size Variable，Nov 2023}

“-321 °F | in sarcophago vivum aeri”系列作品包含：“空中灵柩 in sarcophago vivum aeri”、“扭矩 Torque”、“北纬133°79.515 东经012°90.797”几件多媒体装置，尺寸可变。

“-321“-321 °F | in sarcophago vivum aeri” series of work includes: sculpture “in sarcophago vivum aeri”, durational sculpture "133° 79.515 N 012° 90.797 E", performance “Torque”, and multimedia installation “42°03'28.9"N 138°12'25.0"E”, among other works, sizes variable.

Images courtesy of the artist