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