A DELUSIONAL CONTEXT OF THE CHUSAN PALM
Mixed Media Projrct
综合媒介项目
Keywords:
Photography, Video, Installtion, Archive, Fiber Based Material
Episodes(Click to Locate):
Overture: No Palm in Chusan
Episode I: Define a Chusan Palm
Episode II: The Chusan Wandering
Episode III: Flow & Rewrite
Episode IV: In the Name of Botany
综合媒介项目
Keywords:
Photography, Video, Installtion, Archive, Fiber Based Material
Episodes(Click to Locate):
Overture: No Palm in Chusan
Episode I: Define a Chusan Palm
Episode II: The Chusan Wandering
Episode III: Flow & Rewrite
Episode IV: In the Name of Botany
In 1849, Scottish plant hunter Robert Fortune (1812–1880) wandered along the coastlines of the Far East. On a Chinese island with a climate resembling that of the British Isles, he discovered a hardy palm species and smuggled six seedlings back to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Over the next half-century, Western botanists conducted comprehensive studies on this palm species. To honor Fortune's discovery, they named it after the island, "Chusan." The successful transplantation of the Chusan Palm led to its widespread cultivation across Europe and North America for nearly 200 years. However, in China, almost no record of this English common name can be found.
A Delusional Context of the Chusan Palm originates from the artist's discovery of a palm species referred to as the Chusan Palm while searching online for "Chusan," the name used by Westerners prior to the 20th century to refer to Zhoushan Archipelago, which is also the artist’s hometown. The Zhoushan Archipelago is not the stereotypical tropical environment suited for palm trees, and in the artist’s lived experience, no palms have ever existed in their hometown. The unfamiliar and counterintuitive naming of the plant sparked a series of visual explorations and investigations. Beginning with a questioning of the Chusan Palm’s local authenticity, the work delves into extensive 19th- and 20th-century Western botanical archives. Through the process of deconstructing the knowledge produced by the West, the artist reexamines this native plant and its identity through multiple perspectives, interweaving photography, video, archive and installations to construct a conceptual guide to the Chusan Palm.
1849年，苏格兰裔植物猎人罗伯特·福琼（Robert Fortune, 1812-1880）正漫游于远东的海岸线。在一座与不列颠群岛具有相似气候特质的中国岛屿上，他发现了一种在欧洲极为罕见的耐寒棕榈，意识到这种异域风情的植物具备引种到英国的可能性之后，他将六棵幼苗走私到了英国皇家植物园——邱园。此后的半个世纪，西方对这一物种开展了大量的植物学研究。同时，为了纪念福琼在那座中国岛屿的发现，他们将这种植物俗称为“楚山棕榈（Chusan Palm）”。楚山棕榈的引种大获成功，时至今日，它仍然是欧美地区最为流行的棕榈科植物之一；然而在中国，或是各类中文植物学档案中，却几乎找不到关于楚山棕榈这一俗名的任何记载。
《楚山没有棕榈》源自创作者检索家乡舟山（Zhoushan）在西方的曾用名楚山（Chusan）时偶然发现的一种俗名为Chusan Palm的棕榈科植物，这一陌生且反直觉的植物品种触发了他一系列的视觉实践与研究。作品以创作者对楚山棕榈其在地真实性的质疑作为出发点，围绕着19-20世纪大量关于楚山棕榈的西方植物学档案展开，对楚山当地长期的野外调查与文献收集，创作者将尘封的档案与当下的实践相结合，试图再现这种被西方熟知却在本土失语的原生植物，探究其原境并重写一部关于楚山棕榈的指南法则。
序曲：楚山没有棕榈
This episode is composed of photography, fiber based installations, and moving images. From installations of leaf-sheath fibers—artificial objects that appear to regress into a primordial order—to the artist’s embodied drifting across the islands once referred to as “Chusan” by modern Western empires in search of palms, the work unfolds as a layered visual narrative.
Through deliberately blurred visual strategies, the artist calls into question the viewer’s assumptions about “nature” and “reality.” Plants, as emblematic representations of the natural world, are redefined through human intervention and activity. Within the work, the disordered interplay of positive and negative images of the Chusan Palm symbolizes the ambiguity between nature and knowledge, transforming it into a sign that continuously shifts across time, space, and culture.
《序曲：楚山没有棕榈》由摄影、植物装置和动态影像构成。从由人造物退化为原始秩序的叶鞘纤维装置，到创作者具身漫游于被近代西方帝国称之为楚山的岛屿之上寻找棕榈的影像叙事。创作者通过模糊化的视觉手段来质疑观众对于“自然”和“真实”的认知。植物，作为自然的代表物，在人类活动与行为干预下被重新定义，作品中楚山棕榈错乱的正负像形态象征着自然与知识的模糊不清，它成为随着时间、空间和文化不断流动的符号。
Through deliberately blurred visual strategies, the artist calls into question the viewer’s assumptions about “nature” and “reality.” Plants, as emblematic representations of the natural world, are redefined through human intervention and activity. Within the work, the disordered interplay of positive and negative images of the Chusan Palm symbolizes the ambiguity between nature and knowledge, transforming it into a sign that continuously shifts across time, space, and culture.
《序曲：楚山没有棕榈》由摄影、植物装置和动态影像构成。从由人造物退化为原始秩序的叶鞘纤维装置，到创作者具身漫游于被近代西方帝国称之为楚山的岛屿之上寻找棕榈的影像叙事。创作者通过模糊化的视觉手段来质疑观众对于“自然”和“真实”的认知。植物，作为自然的代表物，在人类活动与行为干预下被重新定义，作品中楚山棕榈错乱的正负像形态象征着自然与知识的模糊不清，它成为随着时间、空间和文化不断流动的符号。
List of Works
1. Anonymous Chusan Palm #01 Photography
2. Overture: No Palm in Chusan
Video
3. Reversed Weave
Installation
本章作品清单
1.匿名楚山棕榈#1
2.序曲：楚山没有棕榈
3.逆向编织
1. Anonymous Chusan Palm #01 Photography
2. Overture: No Palm in Chusan
Video
3. Reversed Weave
Installation
本章作品清单
1.匿名楚山棕榈#1
2.序曲：楚山没有棕榈
3.逆向编织
Anonymous Chusan Palm #1, Zhoushan, Zhejiang, China
2024
Pseudo solarization, Digital intermediate, Lightbox
Edition of 5 + 2AP
100 x 50 x 40 cm
匿名楚山棕榈 #1，浙江舟山
2024
摄影、中途曝光印相、数字中间底、灯箱
版数1/5+2AP
100 x 50 x 40 cm
Overture: No Palm in Chusan
2024
Single-channel HD video, Color, Sound
16’49’’
Variable sizes
序曲：楚山没有棕榈
2024
单频高清影像、彩色、有声
16分49秒
尺寸可变
2024
单频高清影像、彩色、有声
16分49秒
尺寸可变
（VPN Required）
Reversed Weave
2024
Palm fiber mattress, Trunk fiber from Chusan palm, Nails, Hot-melt adhesive
Unique edition
600 x 270 x 200 cm
逆向编织
2024
植物纤维装置、棕绷床垫、楚山棕榈叶鞘纤维、钉子、热熔胶
独版
600 x 270 x 200 cm
第一章：定义楚山棕榈
Episode I: Define A Chusan Palm brings together historical archives buried deep within 19th- and 20th-century botanical literature and the artist’s photographic practice. By sorting and reorganizing hundreds of fragmented and disordered documents, the artist presents to the viewer—through five distinct steps—how the Chusan Palm can be identified and understood from the perspective of Western botanical research.
The archives related to the Chusan Palm are excerpted, classified, and reconstructed through an image-based, quasi-taxonomic methodology. Within this framework, the Chusan Palm signifies not only a plant species, but also simulates the imperial conquest and re-coding of nature and culture in the Far East. These materials are categorized and standardized within drawers—drawers, as the primary medium for storing and concealing archives, are here conspicuously suspended on the exhibition wall, transforming what was once hidden into something overtly revealed.
《第一章：定义楚山棕榈》将深埋于19-20世纪植物学文献库的历史档案与创作者的摄影实践相结合。通过对上百份杂乱无序的档案进行归类与重组，创作者以五个步骤，向观者呈现在西方植物学的研究视点下，该如何辨认并深入了解楚山棕榈。有关楚山棕榈的档案被创作者以图像志的工作方式截取、分类与重构，在这种语境中，楚山棕榈不仅标志着一种植物，也模拟了帝国对远东自然和文化的征服与重新编码。他们被分类并规范在抽屉中，抽屉——这一存放并隐藏档案的原始载体，在此刻以昭然若揭的态势被悬置于展墙之上。
2024 Photography, Document prints, Wooden drawers, Thumbtacks Unique edition 70 x 60 cm
步骤一：辨认一棵楚山棕榈
2024 摄影、现成档案手工纸印刷、木质抽屉柜、图钉 独版 70 x 60 cm
2024 Photography, Document prints, Wooden drawers, Thumbtacks Unique edition 65 x 30 cm
步骤二：生长过程与形态变化
2024 摄影、现成档案手工纸印刷、木质抽屉柜、图钉 独版 65 x 30 cm
2024 Document prints, Wooden drawers, Thumbtacks Unique edition 50 x 60 cm
步骤三：器官与细节
2024 现成档案手工纸印刷、木质抽屉柜、图钉 独版 50 x 60 cm
2024 Document prints, Wooden drawers, Thumbtacks Unique edition 90 x 40 cm
步骤四：用途与价值
2024 现成档案手工纸印刷、木质抽屉柜、图钉 独版 90 x 40 cm
2024 Document prints, Wooden drawers, Thumbtacks Unique edition 40 x 70 cm
步骤五：“楚山”谜题
2024 现成档案手工纸印刷、木质抽屉柜、图钉 独版 40 x 70 cm
第二章：楚山漫游
At the end of Episode I, the artist redirects the viewer’s attention away from the plant itself and toward its common name, “Chusan Palm.” The term “Chusan”—a transliterated place name used exclusively by the West in the modern period to refer to present-day Zhoushan in Zhejiang Province—conceals within it the colonial strategies of the West during the context of the First Opium War.
Episode II: The Chusan Wandering unfolds across four dimensions to trace the origins of the botanical common name “Chusan Palm.” It begins with the sustained Western surveying and mapping of China’s eastern coastline since the 16th century, moving to the British occupation of Dinghai, Zhoushan in 1840, and further to the so-called “legitimate” collection and investigation conducted by stationed troops and their affiliates under the guise of knowledge production.
After the renowned Scottish plant hunter Robert Fortune visited Zhoushan and first identified specimens of the Chusan Palm, he smuggled them back to Britain, to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and the Royal Gardens of Prince Albert. In later years, the plant was named “Chusan Palm” in commemoration of his discovery.
Several years afterward, Fortune repeatedly referenced the Chusan Palm in his published travel writings. The seemingly casual term “wandering” in the title of his travelogue poetically obscures—and almost erases—his identity as an imperial plant hunter.
在第一章的末尾，创作者将人们的视线从植物本身牵引到了其俗名“Chusan Palm”之中，“Chusan”，这个只在近代且仅被西方所使用的指代当下浙江省舟山市的音译地名背后，暗藏了第一次鸦片战争背景下的西方殖民策略。
《第二章：楚山漫游》从四个维度展开“楚山棕榈”这个植物学俗名的由来，自16世纪以来西方对中国东部沿海持续进行的勘查与测绘，到1840年英军对舟山定海的攻占，再到驻军及随从人员以知识生产为名对当地进行的“合法”采集与调查。著名的苏格兰裔植物猎人罗伯特·福琼（Robert Fortune）到访舟山并第一次发现楚山棕榈样本之后，将其走私回了英国皇家园艺园邱园和阿尔伯特亲王皇家花园。后人为了纪念福琼的发现，将其命名为楚山棕榈。几年后，福琼出版的游记上多次提到楚山棕榈，书名中轻描淡写的“漫游”以一种近乎诗意的方式取消了其帝国主义植物猎人的身份。
Installation View
Step 1: Mapmaking —— The Ambition
2024
Document prints, Overhead projector
Unique edition
Variable Sizes
制图学——帝国的野心
2024
老式投影幻灯机、现成档案手工纸印刷
独版
尺寸可变
Step 2: Capture of Chusan
2024
Document prints, Nails
Unique edition
Variable Sizes
攻占楚山
2024
现成档案手工纸印刷，图钉
独版
尺寸可变
2024
Document prints, Nails
Unique edition
Variable Sizes
攻占楚山
2024
现成档案手工纸印刷，图钉
独版
尺寸可变
Step 3: Legitimate Collection
2024
Document prints, 77% Nitrate of potash, 13% Sulphur, 9% Charcoal, 1% H2O
Unique edition
Variable Sizes
合法采集
2024
现成档案纸面印刷、77%硝酸钾、13%硫磺、9%木炭、1%水
独版
尺寸可变
2024
Document prints, 77% Nitrate of potash, 13% Sulphur, 9% Charcoal, 1% H2O
Unique edition
Variable Sizes
合法采集
2024
现成档案纸面印刷、77%硝酸钾、13%硫磺、9%木炭、1%水
独版
尺寸可变
Step 4: The Chusan Palm Hunting
2024
Photography, Document prints, Replica of Wardian case, Chusan Palm
Unique edition
Variable Sizes
2024
Photography, Document prints, Replica of Wardian case, Chusan Palm
Unique edition
Variable Sizes
狩猎楚山棕榈
2024
摄影、现成档案手工纸印刷、沃德箱手工复制品、活体移植楚山棕榈
独版
尺寸可变
2024
摄影、现成档案手工纸印刷、沃德箱手工复制品、活体移植楚山棕榈
独版
尺寸可变
第三章：流动与重写
In 1849, Robert Fortune smuggled six seedlings of the Chusan Palm to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Over the following century, the species became the subject of sustained botanical research in the West. Within this extended historical trajectory, the scientific naming of the Chusan Palm was repeatedly defined and redefined. Four different scientific names emerged across various botanical texts, intersecting and overlapping, resulting for a long period in a state of confusion: the Chusan Palm simultaneously possessed multiple scientific names, which were frequently conflated and misapplied by botanists.
Episode III: Flow & Rewrite traces the evolution of the Chusan Palm within Western systems of knowledge production through the botanists associated with its naming and their respective writings. At the same time, the artist processes palm sheath fibers collected locally in Zhoushan—boiling, softening, grinding, and remaking them into handmade paper. Upon this material, palm images photographed in Zhoushan are printed using the cyanotype process.
As a 19th-century, camera-less method of botanical study, cyanotype images gradually emerge through sunlight and chemical reactions, metaphorically echoing the way botanical knowledge is produced—through observation, classification, and documentation. When these images are printed onto paper made from palm sheath fibers and placed within vintage drawer cabinets, historical documents, low-fidelity images, and their containers together construct a fictionalized micro-field.
The juxtaposition of authentic archival materials with seemingly aged images and substrates mirrors how cyanotype fixes the form of plants onto paper; likewise, imperial botany sought to incorporate the natural resources of the East into Western systems of knowledge through naming and classification. Yet, when this technique is applied to local materials, it begins to unsettle the unidirectional flow of power and knowledge, revealing an undercurrent beneath the authority that Western botany has attempted to establish.
1849年，罗伯特·福琼（Robert Fortune）将六棵楚山棕榈幼苗走私回英国邱园，自此之后的一个世纪，西方对该物种开展了深入的植物学研究。楚山棕榈的学名在绵长的历史脉络中被不断定义与改写，四个学名在各类植物学文献中不断涌现并互相交错，使得很长一段时间内，呈现出了一种错乱的景象：楚山棕榈同时拥有多个学名，并被植物学研究者们长期混用、误用。 《第三章：流动与重写》以与楚山棕榈命名相关的植物学家和他们的相关文献为线索，展示了楚山棕榈在西方的知识生产体系下是如何不断流动与演变的；同时，创作者将楚山当地的棕榈叶鞘纤维煮沸、软化、研磨并抄制为手工纸，并在上面以蓝晒工艺印制了楚山当地拍摄的棕榈照片，蓝晒作为19世纪无相机植物学研究的方法体系，通过阳光和化学反应逐步显现，隐喻了植物学研究中通过观察、分类和记录来逐步揭示自然奥秘的过程。而当这些影像被印制在棕榈叶鞘纤维制成的纸张上并装载入老式抽屉柜中时，历史文献、低质量图像与容器构成了一个虚构的小型场域：真实的历史文献和看似老旧的照片与载体的并置，正如蓝晒技术将植物的形态固定在纸张上，帝国主义的植物学也试图通过命名与分类将东方的自然资源纳入西方的知识体系。然而，当这种工艺被用于本土材料时，它质疑了权力与知识的单向流动，象征着西方植物学试图树立的知识权威下的暗流。
Installation View (On Wall Version)
Carl Linnaeus' Binomial Names and the ‘Chamaerops’ Genus, 1753
2024 Photography， Document prints, Fiber trunk paper, Cyanotype, Wooden draw Unique edition Variable Sizes
双名法则与最早的棕榈属，1753
2024 摄影、楚山棕榈叶鞘纤维造纸、铁氰酸盐印相、木质抽屉柜、现成档案手工纸印刷 独版 尺寸可变
2024 Photography， Document prints, Fiber trunk paper, Cyanotype, Wooden draw Unique edition Variable Sizes
双名法则与最早的棕榈属，1753
2024 摄影、楚山棕榈叶鞘纤维造纸、铁氰酸盐印相、木质抽屉柜、现成档案手工纸印刷 独版 尺寸可变
Caroli Petri Thunberg and His Fake ‘Chusan Palm’, 1784
2024 Photography， Document prints, Fiber trunk paper, Cyanotype, Wooden draw Unique edition Variable Sizes
冒牌楚山棕榈，1784
2024 摄影、楚山棕榈叶鞘纤维造纸、铁氰酸盐印相、木质抽屉柜、现成档案手工纸印刷 独版 尺寸可变
2024 Photography， Document prints, Fiber trunk paper, Cyanotype, Wooden draw Unique edition Variable Sizes
冒牌楚山棕榈，1784
2024 摄影、楚山棕榈叶鞘纤维造纸、铁氰酸盐印相、木质抽屉柜、现成档案手工纸印刷 独版 尺寸可变
Chusan Palm’s First Binomial Name, 1830 - 1838
2024 Photography， Document prints, Fiber trunk paper, Cyanotype, Wooden draw Unique edition Variable Sizes
第一个学名，1830-1838
2024 摄影、楚山棕榈叶鞘纤维造纸、铁氰酸盐印相、木质抽屉柜、现成档案手工纸印刷 独版 尺寸可变
2024 Photography， Document prints, Fiber trunk paper, Cyanotype, Wooden draw Unique edition Variable Sizes
第一个学名，1830-1838
2024 摄影、楚山棕榈叶鞘纤维造纸、铁氰酸盐印相、木质抽屉柜、现成档案手工纸印刷 独版 尺寸可变
Robert Fortune and the Common Name ‘Chusan Palm’，1840s
2024 Photography， Document prints, Fiber trunk paper, Cyanotype, Wooden draw Unique edition Variable Sizes
福琼的楚山漫游，1840s
2024 摄影、楚山棕榈叶鞘纤维造纸、铁氰酸盐印相、木质抽屉柜、现成档案手工纸印刷 独版 尺寸可变
2024 Photography， Document prints, Fiber trunk paper, Cyanotype, Wooden draw Unique edition Variable Sizes
福琼的楚山漫游，1840s
2024 摄影、楚山棕榈叶鞘纤维造纸、铁氰酸盐印相、木质抽屉柜、现成档案手工纸印刷 独版 尺寸可变
Memorial Fortune - Second Binomial Name for the Chusan Palm，1860
2024 Photography， Document prints, Fiber trunk paper, Cyanotype, Wooden draw Unique edition Variable Sizes
纪念福琼——第二个学名，1860
2024 摄影、楚山棕榈叶鞘纤维造纸、铁氰酸盐印相、木质抽屉柜、现成档案手工纸印刷 独版 尺寸可变
2024 Photography， Document prints, Fiber trunk paper, Cyanotype, Wooden draw Unique edition Variable Sizes
纪念福琼——第二个学名，1860
2024 摄影、楚山棕榈叶鞘纤维造纸、铁氰酸盐印相、木质抽屉柜、现成档案手工纸印刷 独版 尺寸可变
Rewrite - Third Binomial Name of the Chusan Palm，1861
2024 Photography， Document prints, Fiber trunk paper, Cyanotype, Wooden draw Unique edition Variable Sizes
再归类——第三个学名，1861
2024 摄影、楚山棕榈叶鞘纤维造纸、铁氰酸盐印相、木质抽屉柜、现成档案手工纸印刷 独版 尺寸可变
2024 Photography， Document prints, Fiber trunk paper, Cyanotype, Wooden draw Unique edition Variable Sizes
再归类——第三个学名，1861
2024 摄影、楚山棕榈叶鞘纤维造纸、铁氰酸盐印相、木质抽屉柜、现成档案手工纸印刷 独版 尺寸可变
Quartet - The Closing of Odoardo Beccari，1901
2024 Photography， Document prints, Fiber trunk paper, Cyanotype, Wooden draw Unique edition Variable Sizes
四重唱——奥多阿多·贝卡利的收束，1901
2024 摄影、楚山棕榈叶鞘纤维造纸、铁氰酸盐印相、木质抽屉柜、现成档案手工纸印刷 独版 尺寸可变
2024 Photography， Document prints, Fiber trunk paper, Cyanotype, Wooden draw Unique edition Variable Sizes
四重唱——奥多阿多·贝卡利的收束，1901
2024 摄影、楚山棕榈叶鞘纤维造纸、铁氰酸盐印相、木质抽屉柜、现成档案手工纸印刷 独版 尺寸可变
第四章：植物学之名
Throughout the twentieth century, the inconsistent use of scientific names for the Chusan Palm permeated both academic discourse and popular botanical literature in the West. A particularly telling example can be found in early twentieth-century American garden book annual catalogues collected by the artist, where four different scientific names—Trachycarpus excelsus, Chamaerops excelsa, Chamaerops fortunei, and Trachycarpus fortunei—often appear simultaneously. Although all refer to the same species, they were marketed by merchants as four distinct types of palms. By exploiting the informational asymmetry inherent in botanical nomenclature, these dealers constructed an illusion of abundance within their product listings, reinforcing such perceptions year after year through continually updated “plant menus.”
The artist overlays multiple negatives and employs the technique of pseudo-solarization (Sabattier effect) to produce hallucinatory images of the Chusan Palm, which are then juxtaposed with archival materials misused in twentieth-century plant catalogues. Within this entangled forest of documents, the redefinition of nature and the rewriting of history operate at a slow yet persistent pace, shaping public perception over time. The visual disorientation created by the interwoven positive and negative images of the Chusan Palm not only challenges the viewer’s act of seeing, but also responds to the species’ complex and convoluted historical trajectory.
二十世纪，对于楚山棕榈学名的混用一直充斥在西方学术界和民间的各类植物学文献中，最为典型的一个例证就是在创作者收集到的美国20世纪初的植物商贩的年度手册中，往往会同时出现Trachycarpus excelsus、Chamaerops excelsa、Chamaerops fortunei与Trachycarpus fortunei这四个学名，他们指向的都是楚山棕榈，却被商家冠以四个不同种的棕榈来销售。商家利用了植物命名学的信息差，用以塑造自身琳琅满目的商品栏，并在年复一年持续更新的“植物菜单”中不断巩固人们的认知。 创作者将多张底片叠加并使用中途曝光（Pseudo-solarization）技术处理制作了致幻的楚山棕榈图像，并将其与20世纪植物商贩手册中被错误使用的档案相结合。在盘根错节的文献丛林当中，对于自然的再定义与对历史的重塑会以某种缓慢的速率对公众的认知产生影响。图像中楚山棕榈正负像的迷错不但质疑了观众的视觉，同时也是对楚山棕榈错综复杂的历史脉络的回应。
Disordered Index
2024
Document prints, Fishing line, Chusan Palm
Unique edition
Variable sizes
无序索引
2024
现成档案手工纸印刷、鱼线、活体楚山棕榈
独版
尺寸可变
2024 Pseudo Solarization, Digital intermediate, Lightbox Edition of 5 + 2AP 100 x 50 x 40 cm
匿名楚山棕榈 #2，浙江舟山
2024 摄影、中途曝光印相、数字中间底、灯箱 版数1/5+2AP 100 x 50 x 40 cm
2024 Pseudo Solarization, Digital intermediate, Lightbox Edition of 5 + 2AP 100 x 50 x 40 cm
匿名楚山棕榈 #3，浙江舟山
2024 摄影、中途曝光印相、数字中间底、灯箱 版数1/5+2AP 100 x 50 x 40 cm
2024 Pseudo Solarization, Digital intermediate, Lightbox Edition of 5 + 2AP 100 x 50 x 40 cm
匿名楚山棕榈 #4，浙江舟山
2024 摄影、中途曝光印相、数字中间底、灯箱 版数1/5+2AP 100 x 50 x 40 cm
2024 Pseudo Solarization, Digital intermediate, Lightbox Edition of 5 + 2AP 100 x 50 x 40 cm
匿名楚山棕榈 #5，浙江舟山
2024 摄影、中途曝光印相、数字中间底、灯箱 版数1/5+2AP 100 x 50 x 40 cm
Fruitland Nurseries, Augusta, Georgia
2024
Chusan palm, Document prints, Pencil
Unique Edition
Variable Sizes
弗鲁特兰植物苗圃
2024
植物装置、楚山棕榈活体、现成档案手工纸印刷，铅笔
独版
尺寸可变
幕后花絮
2024年，一次偶然的网络检索，使我第一次注意到“楚山棕榈”（Chusan Palm）这一名称。“楚山”所指向的，是今日的浙江舟山——这一称谓源于近代西方对于“舟山”的译写，或许可以追溯至16世纪以后西方航海者经由地方方言所形成的音译体系。彼时，基于我对于“棕榈”这一植物仍停留于模糊且刻板的认知之中，两个疑问随之浮现：其一，作为典型“热带意象”的棕榈，为何会生长于亚热带地区，并以外来命名进入植物学谱系；其二，又为何偏偏以“楚山”为前缀，被固定在这一物种的命名之中。围绕这两个问题，我逐渐展开了《楚山没有棕榈》的研究与实践。在2024至2025年间，我以田野调查与文献考据两条路径并行推进这一项目。一方面，我在舟山当地展开持续性的野外调查，试图寻找“楚山棕榈”作为一种地方性植物真实存在的痕迹；另一方面，我辗转于舟山的图书馆、地方档案馆与历史文献系统之中，希望能够找到关于“楚山棕榈”命名及传播的历史材料。然而事实证明，这两项工作的困难程度都远远超出了我最初的预期。
一个极易被公众忽视的事实在于：在汉语语境中，“棕榈”既可以指代棕榈科，也可以具体指向棕榈属乃至棕榈这一单一物种。正因如此，在大众经验与视觉文化长期塑造的印象里，“棕榈”往往意味着那些与热带海滨、椰子、海风、落日等符号紧密相连的羽状植物。与此同时，地产景观与城市营造也不断利用这种想象，通过种植凤凰棕榈、华盛顿棕榈等观赏性棕榈，建构一种关于“度假”“奢华”与“异域”的空间氛围。在这种视觉消费与文化想象的双重作用之下，至少对于我们这一代人而言，“棕榈”的形象几乎已经被彻底类型化。
然而，“楚山棕榈”并非上述那些高大、挺拔的羽状棕榈，而是一种扇叶型棕榈——其叶片如折扇般展开，也极少作为典型的景观植物被大规模栽植。正因如此，在最初两个月的田野调查中，我不断在城市道路、乡镇广场与海岛景观带中遭遇的，往往是凤凰棕榈与华盛顿棕榈；它们以挺拔而硕大的姿态，强化着舟山作为旅游海岛的现代形象。而我始终未能找到一棵真正意义上的“楚山棕榈”。意识到这一点之后，我开始将调查的重心从日常生活空间转向更为原始的山林与野外。
与此同时，档案与文献的检索工作同样陷入停滞。在中文植物学历史文献中，我始终无法找到“楚山棕榈”或“舟山棕榈”这样的命名痕迹，于是只能转而通过其英文名“Chusan Palm”以及学名“Trachycarpus fortunei”进行交叉检索，试图在中文植物学体系中寻找对应关系。当时的我尚未意识到，“楚山棕榈”在漫长的植物学命名史中曾经历过数次学名变更，信息的不对称使得检索工作异常缓慢。直到后续逐步接触更多历史文献之后，我才意识到：所谓“楚山棕榈”，在中文语境中所对应的，其实正是狭义上的“棕榈”。
这一发现使我开始重新理解这种植物在中国语境中的位置。一方面，它本就是中国长江流域广泛分布的原生植物；另一方面，在漫长的历史时期中，它始终作为一种兼具经济价值与日常功能性的植物存在——无论是纤维、编织，还是民间生产，它都深度嵌入普通人的生活经验之中。这种状态，直到20世纪80年代以后才逐渐发生改变。换言之，相比于我们印象中那些羽状、热带、充满异域情调的“棕榈树”，“楚山棕榈”其实一直生长在中国南方的山野、村落与河流之间。它从未真正消失，只是城市化进程与视觉景观的重构，使我们逐渐失去了辨认它的能力；或者说，是我们疏于进入田野，才最终在日常经验中“屏蔽”了它的存在。
此后的时间里，我开始深入舟山那些相对原始、尚未被完全开发的山野区域展开调查，例如普陀山、马目、里山、花鸟岛、翁家岙等地。不出所料，楚山棕榈出现的频率开始显著增加。尽管携带摄影设备与推车穿行于山地、荒坡与密林之间是一项极其耗费体力的工作，但每一次在杂乱无序的植物群落中重新辨认出楚山棕榈时，我依然会产生一种近乎“豁然开朗”的感受——仿佛一种长期被遮蔽的地方性经验，正在重新显现。
与此同时，我的文献搜集工作也逐渐从国内档案系统转向西方植物学原始资料的梳理。尤其需要感谢 Biodiversity Heritage Library 所开放的大量数字化馆藏，其丰富的历史资源帮助我陆续搜集到近两百份自18世纪以来与棕榈科植物相关的植物学文献。这些散落于不同历史时期的文本，不仅构成了“楚山棕榈”命名史的重要线索，也让我逐渐意识到：一种植物的命名、传播与观看方式，本身便深深嵌入殖民航海、植物学、帝国知识生产与地方经验之间复杂而隐秘的历史关系之中。
前期调研与构思阶段
2024年6月9日，在舟山市普陀区发现了第一棵楚山棕榈
持续近半年的田野调查与搜寻
、
用楚山棕榈纤维造纸过程中的不断试错与调配
伪曝光图像的暗房与后期处理
影像《序曲：楚山没有棕榈》拍摄花絮