Viruses, semi-living entities that not just affect human health, but also evolve via the medium of the human body. Throughout history viruses have integrated themselves into our genome and became a part of the ‘human’. They evolve, and we evolve with them. Our immune system as well as our technology evolves and they evolve with us. This deeply intertwined relationship between humans and viruses, and the blurred line of living and non-living is one of the deepest driving forces of evolution.

 

Meanwhile, mankind treats viruses as enemies. The language of virology and public health is the language of warfare. Individuals who carry the virus are considered the vehicle of the enemy and should be quarantined. Our sole goal is to eradicate the viruses. Smallpox and Rinderpest are the only viruses that were successfully eradicated, but not without risks. Viruses remain present in the storage of some labs and represent a potential threat because we no longer vaccinate ourselves and nobody in the world has immunity towards it.

 

Within this project the artist and the scientist try to find out if we can treat the viruses, that are not likely to be eradicated, as if they are wild animals and build a controllable bond with them. In other words - to tame them. Domestication of wild animals not only changed the animals, but also human culture. Is it possible to befriend/observe viruses that remain dangerous from a safe distance, like the virologists have been doing for decades? Can this relationship be extended to the general public?

 

‘Tame is to Tame’ is a conceptual dance between viruses and human beings manifested through the fictional training program that trains human beings to be rigorous virus-tamers. These tamers will learn to build a relationship with viruses, rather than combatting them.  

 

The artist and scientist join force to become the very first two virus-tamers in the world to embark a thought experiment through this fictional program to explore an alternative human-to-virus, human-to-human relationship. This project borrows the framework of fiction to initiate a discussion between the east and the west, the ignorant and the professional, where the artist and scientist go through stages of speculative and imaginative thought experiments, each stage proposes a novel idea for exploration as a trigger to re-adjust our attitude towards viruses.

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In Collaboration with

Miranda de Graaf

Viroscience Lab, Erasmus MC

 

Dance Film Director: Yen-An Chen

Choreographer & Dancer: Hsin Yu Chang

Sound: Po-Hao Chi

3D Modeling: MinShu Huang

Associate Designer: Rachel Jui Chi Chang

Virus Doll Production: Ling-Li Chen

Model: Yi-Ling Wu

Lighting: Li-Wei Chen

Photo Studio: FrenchFries.tw

Game Design: MinShu Huang

 

Sponsor by

NWO

ZonMW

Viroscience Lab, Erasmus MC

De Ontdekfabriek

 

Facilitated by

MU Artspace

 

Special Thanks to

Paul Huber, Chia-Lin He, William Myers, Jasper van Es, Cheng Guo, Paul Gong, Chun-Chi Lin, Kaung-Yi Ku, Spela Petric, Mike Thompson, Susana Camara Leret, Waag Society, 光點工坊, 立祥彫刻工藝社

 

As part of the

Bio Art and Design Award

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 病毒本身不具有生命，僅在進入人體的時候獲得行動能力而得以傳宗接代。病毒借用人體的複製機制作為自己生命的來源。人類是病毒的載體，也是它們演化的基石。而另一方面，在歷史上病毒也曾多次進入我們的遺傳基因中，成為「人類」的一部份。同時，因為病毒在人類身體裡演化，我們的科技也為了防堵它們而演化。

 

 人類將病毒視為敵人。在醫療系統與病毒防治監視系統中對待病毒的語言與態度彷彿這樣的關係是戰爭。感染病毒的人們被視為敵人的載體，而必須被隔離、失去行動自由。人類對於病毒的目標就是讓他們絕跡（eradicate），但在醫療史上僅有天花與牛瘟兩種病毒成功絕跡。時常被忽略的是，絕跡不代表這兩種病毒不見了。在俄國與美國的軍事實驗室中仍保有天花病毒，而成為可能生化武器的隱憂，因為在這個世界上已經沒有人有這種病毒的抗體了。

 

 這個計畫嘗試提議，除了讓病毒絕跡，是否有可能讓人類與病毒某種程度上的和平共存？讓所有人都有計畫性的與病毒維持「好像有點危險但其實不危險」的距離？

 

 病毒馴服師計畫是一個思緒編舞計畫，經由藝術家與病毒學家共同建立一套完善的病毒馴服師訓練課程，帶領新手病毒馴服師們共同探索與病毒的距離拿捏，同時挑戰東方與西方思維的結合、探測專業病毒學家與一般人對於相同世界的不同觀點。

 

Credits

此計畫由荷蘭Bioart and Design Award 贊助

合作單位：荷蘭NWO、荷蘭ZonMV、荷蘭Erasmus MC、荷蘭MU Artspace

其他贊助單位：荷蘭De Ontdekfabriek

舞蹈影片製作：陳彥安

編舞與演出：張心瑜

聲音：紀柏豪

3D建模：黃敏書

遊戲設計：黃敏書

協同設計：張芮琦

病毒娃娃製作：陳伶俐

燈光：陳立緯與法國炸影像工作室

模特兒：吳倚伶

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特別感謝

Paul Huber、陳思涵、 Chris Cooper、何佳霖、William Myers、Jasper van Es、郭城、宮保睿、林俊吉、顧廣毅、Spela Petric, Mike Thompson, Susana Camara Leret、Waag Society、光點工坊、立祥彫刻工藝社