Girl’s Notes—2018 Taipei Fringe Festival
SU Pin-Wen
Date：2018.08.06
Venue：Thinkers’ Theatre
Comments on the Finalist
Girl’s Notes touches upon the grand issue of putting feminism into real practice on stage in the artist statement of the work. In Taiwan in 2018, how does one respond to the diversified and multiple meanings of “feminism,” which was established a century ago and has permeated all classes, races and cultures worldwide? Throughout the performance, Su Pin-Wen balanced the book, History of Beauty, on her head and performed the general impression of an Asian girl’s elegant and refined physicality, or the demand of a girl’s nice, graceful demeanor imposed by Asian societies. However, while conforming to the norm, Su also invited the audience to look at her nude, which she showed with an equally elegant, undisturbed composure and a hint of embarrassment that aimed to mock girls’ bashfulness. By doing so, instead of creating strenuous conflicts, the work reverses the power relation between body and social norms through switching the object’s and subject’s positions and counteracting the notion of girls with “being” a girl.
(Commentator: Siraya PAI)
Artwork Introduction
Girl’s Notes, premiered at the 2018 Taipei Fringe Festival, is inspired by the same-titled female behavior instruction book published in 1984. Su Pin-Wen adopted a contemporary feminist perspective to create this dance and performed in the nude to demonstrate a pure state of the female body. As the choreographer of the work, she practiced feminism through her physical performance, exploring what constitutes “the female gender” and delivering her criticism of the book. The premiere took place at Thinker’s Theatre and guided the audience to read and reflect on different aspects of contemporary female behavior. In addition to the performance, Su also extended the work into a photographic project, entitled Nipple Shooting Program,which aimed to initiate further discussions about gender and was done with ten participants gathered through an open call. With personal interviews and field research, she was able to gain insights into how Taiwanese people have perceived body and gender and gathered their individual experiences.
About the Artist
Su Pin-Wen
First majored in philosophy in college, Su Pin-Wen later moved onto performing arts and received her MFA in Dance, Performance and Choreography from Taipei National University of the Arts. She is now Artistic Director of Kua Bo Dance Theatre. Since 2013, touching and improvisation have formed the base of her body training to enhance the ability of multidimensional senses, and she is currently developing a one-on-one method of “Touch Treatment.” Su’s works revolve around gender equality and feminist issues, perceiving dance in a conceptual way rather than only from an aesthetic viewpoint. Her works have been featured in various art festivals, including the 2018 Grasstraw Festival, Chiayi Dance Festival and Taipei Fringe Festival, etc.
Production Team
Producer｜SU PinWen
Choreographer｜SU PinWen
Dancer｜SU PinWen
【Instant Fringe Encores】Lighting Designer｜Ún Sìn Hiông
編舞家 蘇品文
「少女須知」原是書名，書籍版本還不只一個，跨越80、90年代，從戀愛、婚姻、心理、打扮、言行為少女養成提供全面指南。蘇品文偶然在二手書店翻到這樣一本1984年出版的《少女須知》，書封寫著：「少女情懷總是詩」，書內句子現在看來仍有趣，「要知道許多事情，不應在戀愛時候做的，像接吻、愛撫、性行為等等。」「每個男人都有唯我獨尊的自大狂，希望女人依賴他。雖然妳是個能幹的女子，但妳仍舊要常常做出孤苦無助的表情。」後來蘇品文前往歐洲時，隨身書便只有這本小冊。「那時單純覺得想看些輕鬆、好笑的東西，雖說那本書其實不輕鬆。」
2017年，蘇品文在歐洲參與編舞平台，同時加入了Performing Gender: Dance Makes Differences工作坊。「我在那裡無時無刻都非常愉快，所有問題討論都非常喜歡。我發現工作坊中的成員都是性別性模糊的人，同時發現這是我非常嚮往的藝術氛圍。」這給她的指標意義是，從那時起，她確定積極以「女性主義」性別議題（Gender）作為未來的身體研究及創作方向。行囊中的小冊，後來便成了她第一個完整的獨立編舞創作。
女性主義者的「創業」之姿
《少女須知》是以「女性主義」為核心價值的初試啼聲，蘇品文坦言，此作以前幾個案子都未得到演出或發表機會，自嘲「就是一個中年失業的婦女，《少女須知》其實是失業狀態下的創業之作。」然而，與職涯路徑共在，是生命經驗隨足跡翻動後，更深刻思索自身所為何來的渴望。從台灣、歐洲、北京再返台，蘇品文感受過全球化下各地不同的速度感與藝術性，回到自身所熟悉的環境，七年舞者身份再難滿足她對人生探索與藝術實踐的渴望。「如果要在台灣生活，意味著必須為自己do something。」那就是她一直以來關注的性別議題。
「要說出『我是女性主義者』這句話，對我不難，但身邊自稱『女性主義』者卻非常少。我就想，女性主義是不再被這個社會需要還是不受歡迎？」女性主義從20世紀至今經歷無數波思潮與內部論戰，來自外部的敵意或刻板印象也不曾減弱，蘇品文說，「女性主義」一詞常與特定偏頗形象或粗暴文字身體語言聯想，美國文化甚至造出feminazi（女權納粹）一詞，戲謔女權份子的極端激進。「女性身份在當代社會的確有些尷尬處境，所以我在想，如何提供可能，讓觀眾了解how feminists behave？而要說的終究是，女性主義者就是一般人。」
《少女須知》是獨舞，但蘇品文更希望稱之為女性主義「實踐」，或「以身體發表書評」。首演場地於思劇場書牆前，她頭頂《美的歷史》一書，褪去身上服飾，微笑望向觀眾，在蕭邦的鋼琴曲中，緩慢進行日常：煮咖啡、行走坐臥、擺動身體、閱讀，以及使用情趣玩具：她將按摩棒緊貼頸間，一手視覺化各種在身體內外移動的意象。她也朗讀《少女須知》文句，聲音從麥克風傳出，成了低沈與輕柔同體雙聲；演出末尾，所有物件收起，她高舉雙手，表情傳達喜怒哀樂，嘟嘴、皺眉、跺腳、彆扭，恰似當代女性情感與情緒的總和。
創作時作品構思早早完成，但她仍想尋找直接影響動作與身體感的元素，「剛開始把《少女須知》頂在頭上，身體馬上就有不一樣的運動模式，我就去書櫃找本最厚重的書，最後找到《美的歷史》，覺得真是天註定。」頭頂上的書本不算沈重，剛好同時達成平衡與限制，巧妙串起全作。「如何在限制中完成每一天的每件事，我認為就是當代女性的處境。」另外，蘇品文刻意不過度訓練與減肥，「我想呈現一個35歲的女性主義者，而非女性職業舞者，她身體該長怎麼樣。」觀眾眼前的唯一符號，是未經過度裝飾、非經行銷包裝的自然裸體，演出過程的對望，更是平等的精神交流分享，最終，作品仍回歸個人主體的本質存在。
演出到策展平台的未來延續
演出之外，蘇品文另進行「奶頭拍攝計畫」，公開號召十位對象完成「男女不拘」、「只拍奶頭不拍乳房」的攝影，同時進行身體性別觀點與個人經驗的短訪田調，既是概念延伸，也為《少女須知》下階段奠基。她期許自己做個「24/7的全時女性主義者」——無時無刻貫徹女權信念，因此也預計一年進行一個正式以女性主義為完整出發點、動機、內容、形式的作品，更希望《少女須知》化成策展平台與公眾論述，提供女性主義作品與藝術家發表機會，開展出新的藝術社群。
對外文宣中，蘇品文常稱自己是台灣（歹）查某，拒絕某種社會性別認定，括弧內的字又似帶著存而不論的質疑；除藝術家、女權主義者，她還附上：自由意志、單身女人、吃素、熱愛騎檔車、超驗主義者 、skoliosexual（超性戀）⋯⋯當清單越列越長，把個體標籤化的偏狹也就碎化減弱。蘇品文說自己眼中的女性主義者其實就是個人主義者跟自由主義者，「如果可以的話，我其實就只想提倡這個。」帶著自身信念，創業之作一路奔向未來，要鬆動世界的僵硬歸類。
（採訪撰文／許祐綸）
