X2 - 2011 MOCA Taipei version


"What is the most horrifying thing you can imagine to have two identical copies of in the world?" She suddenly asked me. She was a common looking woman who had a round face with black hair. The only special thing about her was gloomy shadow over her pale eyes. Until she came to talk to me, in the gallery, I had never especially noticed her, such a common looking woman. Anyway, she suddenly appeared in front of me and started to unfold a very strange story, which I have never imagined to hear. The rest of the story has been written exactly as she said it.  For convenience, I will call her just X.
It was five months ago when X started to invigilate a gallery space in MOCA. It was not a big deal for X to invigilate the space. All she had to do was spend her days sitting at the corner of the gallery. The only thing that she had to ensure was to be invisible in order to help spectators concentrate on the artworks - for example, she had to breathe as little as she could and make herself as small as possible, always wearing dark color dress- and to be inaudible so as to prevent spectators' unnecessarily misunderstanding a work- X was not to present her personal opinion in any situation, but she was allowed to say only 4 sentences, 'do not touch art works', 'no food, beverage and chewing gum', ‘no flashlight and tripod while photographing’, and ‘a large bag must be checked’. For 5 months, nothing special had happened to X, and it seemed doubtless that anything would not happen after as well. In this way, X had been spending her days more and more invisibly, in deep silence like a particle of dust in MOCA.
  "But, it was on the day when my life in the space of a moment was suddenly turned upside down", X said in quivering voice. 
One day, she accidentally looks around the gallery space and sees a woman who is sitting at the corner of the other side of the gallery. She looks bored and lonely. She must surely be another invigilator, X thinks. X watches her for a while. At that moment, the lonely looking woman lifts her head, so X can she her face. "aaahhhhk!" X makes a short and very sharp screams. The audiences in the gallery who did not even notice that she was there suddenly frown at her. However, they go back to their business of appreciating an artwork again. What astonished X was…  the face of the woman. Her. Face. Was. Exactly. Same. As. X's. Face! X cannot believe her eyes. There is no doubt she has exactly the same face as X's. The same round face and same black hair. Exactly, identically alike! X feels such a huge shock, unlike anyone has ever experienced. Now, she feels every single hair standing up on end and her legs begin to shake.   
  From that day, X has suffered from insomnia. X cannot begin to accept the fact that there are two of her in the same city, even working in the same space. X feels like she has had a heart attack and thinks that her existence means nothing anymore. She spends her days in agony and anxiety. X finally concludes that this is not something that she can ignore any longer. She believes it will be better for her to let the woman know X exists and to figure out who is a copy of whom.    

  The next day after she made the decision, she looks for a good time to go and talk to her. X isn’t still sure how to start conversation. It is at this moment that the woman at the other side corner of the gallery totally turns her head straight towards X and stares at her. Without any expression and without a single movement, she is just staring at X. She even begins to try and say something to X, who is shivering in horror and fear. X tries to read her lips. ' Fo.O.?' After a while, X understands what is going on between them; the same looking woman with X has already known X's existence, and she is now saying to X ' Fuck. Off.' Now, X feels like everything is being absorbed into shinning white light. And then her head aches heavily, as if somebody is hammering a nail into her head. She thinks she may throw up.
"So, I decided to finish everything...." X said to me with empty eyes.
X now is facing a man sitting in the café next to MOCA, who has strong sharp eyes. "You must do this for me. Please attack her face. Do not make a mistake. Squash her face like mashed potatoes. Crush it... Crush it... Until there is nothing left. So that no one will see her face again..." As X talks to him, she bites her lips nervously. And then, after long silence, she opens her mouth again. "Look at my face carefully. This woman has exactly the same face as mine. She even does the same job as me. Imprint my face on your mind and never forget what I look like. Remember, there will be no room for a mistake." X stands up after he nods to show he understands everything and slowly staggers out from the cafe.
"It was yesterday that I met him and asked him to eliminate her. I guess everything will be back to normal as before soon..." X said, giving a cold look to a corner of the gallery. She murmured again, "things just happened... there was nothing else that I could do..."
  What X had told me left me very confused, so I wanted to talk with her one more time. I also thought I should ask what happened after. However, unfortunately, I could not meet her again. She seemed to have completely disappeared. However none of the people in MOCA noticed her absence. They didn't even seem to remember who X was. Some people said they saw her a while ago, but no one was not sure it was when and it was her.
After that, whenever I see invigilators in MOCA, I try to check their face. Where has X gone? What happened to the two women? Have you ever seen anybody who looks like her or them? Can you see something? Can you find her?


X2 - 2011台北當代藝術館版  

 

"這世界上什麼東西如果有兩個一模一樣的,你會覺得最恐怖?"突然她這樣問我。她是一個圓臉黑髮,看似普通的女性,唯一特別的是她蒼白雙眼中的憂鬱陰影。在她走過來和我說話之前,我甚至沒發現她在展場裡,就是這麼普通的女性。總之,她突然出現在我面前並開始展開一段奇異的故事,一段我從未想像能聽到的故事。以下的故事完全源自她所說的,為了方便,讓我稱她為X。

大概是五個月前,X開始在當代館的某個展場顧展,顧展對X來說並不是什麼大不了的事,要做的也不過就是整天坐在展間的一角,然後注意自己得隱形別妨礙觀眾對作品的專注。比如說,她得盡可能小聲地呼吸、縮小身體、穿著暗色的服裝,盡量無聲無息好避免觀眾對作品不必要的誤會。X不能在任何場合表達自己的看法,除了四個句子:「請勿碰觸作品」、「請勿飲食或嚼食口香糖」、「請勿使用閃光燈或三角架攝影」以及「A4以上包包請放至寄物處」。五個月以來,沒什麼特別的事發生在X身上,無疑地之後也不會發生任何事。就這樣,X的日子變得越來越悄然無息,彷彿她將化身為當代館的一粒灰塵。

"但是,那天我在展場裡的生活瞬間突然有了劇烈轉變。"X用顫抖的聲音說。

有一天,當她環視展場意外地看見在另一端坐了一個女子,她看起來無聊又孤單。X心想她可能是另一個顧展人員,她看了對方一會兒。突然,那孤單的女人抬起頭來,X看見了她的臉。"呀啊啊!"X發出了一聲短而銳利的尖叫,那些沒注意到她在展場裡的觀眾皺起眉頭盯著她,然後又繼續回去欣賞作品。嚇了X一大跳的是...那女人的臉,跟.X.的.一.模.一.樣。X不敢相信自己的眼睛,無庸置疑那是一張跟X一樣的臉,一樣的圓臉,一樣的黑髮,完全一致! X全身一震,他人完全無法想像。此刻她感覺到全身寒毛直立,雙腳開始發抖。
那天起X開始失眠,她完全無法想像這城市裡竟然有兩個她,而且還在同一個地方工作。她覺得好像心臟病發一樣而且開始覺得自己的存在失去了意義。日子變得令人煩惱又焦慮,最後她知道自己已經無法再無視這件事,她決定讓對方知道自己的存在並確認究竟誰是誰的複製品,這樣會比較好。

當她下定決心,隔天便想找個好時機告訴對方,X不太確定該怎麼開啟對話。當坐在另一端的女子抬起頭來盯著X看的時候,她既沒表情也沒動作地看著。而或她似乎想對X說什麼,X感到恐懼而發抖,並試著想讀她的唇,"Fo. O.?"過了一會兒,X明白發生什麼事了,對方已經知道了她的存在而且還跟她說了"Fuck. Off." 此刻,X覺得好像所有事情都被吸進一道白色光芒之中,她的頭劇烈疼痛,好像有人拿鐵鎚想把釘子敲進她腦裡,她覺得快吐了。

"然後,我決定要結束這一切..."她眼神空洞地對我說。

X現在正坐在當代館旁邊的咖啡裡,面對一個男人,他眼神銳利。"你得幫我做這件事,去攻擊她的臉,不要失誤,像馬鈴薯泥一樣打爛她的臉,敲碎...敲碎...直到沒有人能夠認出她是誰為止。" X一邊告訴他,一邊緊張地咬著嘴唇。然後,過了一陣漫長的沉默,她再次開口。"你好好看著我的臉,她的臉跟我一模一樣,還跟我做一樣的工作,把這張臉植入你腦海裡,永遠別忘記我長什麼樣子,記得! 絕對不可以失誤!" X起身,男人點頭表示自己的理解然後錯身緩緩步出咖啡。

"就在昨天我和那男人見面並要求他把她除掉,我想一切很快就會恢復原狀了..." X一邊說,一邊冷冷地看著展場的另一端,又開始喃喃自語。"這種事就是會發生,我也沒辦法..."

X所跟我說的讓我非常困惑,我想要再和她談談,同時我也覺得該問問後續發展。然而,不幸地,我再也沒見過她,她好像完全消失了。不過,當代館裡都沒有人發現她不在了,甚至也不記得X是誰,有人說前陣子好像有看到她,但也說不清楚究竟是何時、到底是不是她。

自那之後,當我看到當代館的顧展人員,我都會確認他們的臉。X去哪裡了?那兩個女人發生了什麼事?你有沒有看到長得像她或她們的人?有看到什麼嗎?找得到她嗎?

 

Zoe Yeh 譯

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