由林成森｜온라인 전시실｜ARTOGO 전시 관람 플랫폼

自建都以來，嘉義除了「畫都」美譽，亦因日治時期三大林場之首阿里山林業的蓬勃發展，而有「木都」的名號。彼時，除了貫穿臺灣南北向的鐵道，在嘉義這個城市，還有著獨特東西向的森林鐵路，也因此，隨著木業，攘來熙往的人與林木在這座城市交錯。在森林鐵路東西向的移動路徑上，木業不僅塑造了奮起湖的榮景，更為嘉義帶來大量的商業活動，許多原始林木在此經歷製程與販售，而鐵路、杉池、製材所與木材街（今林森西路）更是交織出嘉義市地景獨特的紋理。山林裡豐富的物產造就了市區內相關產業蓬勃發展，帶來了全市曾高達十分之一人口皆從事與林業相關活動的榮光。今日，雖然阿里山與其林業文化已轉為觀光產業，不過相關的產業遺跡及精神，仍然鮮明地存在城市的不同角落裡，也逐步地朝向重新建立文化景觀與遺產的目標邁進。「由林成森」這個展覽名稱一方面像是呼應著曾經充滿木頭產業的林森路，回應嘉義曾經的林業榮景以及阿里山上綿密森林的想像，另一方面也透過帶有次序性與聚合狀態的動態描述，如東西向鐵路所連結的森林（阿里山）與木材（嘉義市），藉此，將這片山林與人類的活動編織成一片文化風景。乘著火車，博物學家、企業、政府、林業工人以及藝術家們往東上到了山林裡，無論是為了研究、經濟或創作而探索，人們同時帶來了聚落、生機與毀滅；而長居於山裡頭巨大芳香的紅檜與扁柏，原生之地逐漸與被殖民者帶來的柳杉共享。樹木們隨蒸汽朝西方移動到城市中，成為了陪伴在人們生活四周的神社、鳥居、房屋、電線桿與各式傢俱。本展覽於嘉義市立美術館的一樓至三樓，以山林風景為靈感的作品作為起始，帶領觀眾走入山林間，逐漸開展人與森林和高山的關係，最後進到了產業創造以及遺留的痕跡；而館外的嘉義製材所和沼平公園的展出內容，則是在歷史場域上層層疊疊地創造今日與過去的拼接與想像。「由林成森」同時透過前輩藝術家筆下的阿里山與嘉義市林木風景，以及當代藝術創作者的思考、觀察與回應，試圖追隨著林木與森林，觀看地貌與人文景觀在近百年的時光裡與自然關係的樣貌；同時亦站在回望歷史的角度，透過多樣的取徑來重新探索嘉義林業、山林文化、城市景觀及生活歷史與嘉義這座城市的關係。 Since its establishment, Chiayi has been known as the City of Paintings. Chiayi is also known as the City of Wood because of the prosperity of the forestry in Alishan during the Japanese occupation period, when it was the top amongst the three forest farms in Taiwan. Back in the time, most trains in Taiwan ran in the north-south direction. Chiayi, however, was home to the unique forest railway that ran east-to-west, which brought a bustling traffic of wood and people to cross paths in the city. Along the east-west forest railway, the forest industry gave rise to the success of the Fenqihu settlement and brought an enormous amount of business activities to Chiayi, where vast numbers of timber from primary forests are processed and sold. The railway, log pond, sawmill, and lumber street (Linsen West Rd. today), make up the unique texture of Chiayi City landscape. The mountain forest's abundance of natural resources was the driving force behind the rapid development of related businesses in the city, which reached its glorious peak when as much as one tenth of the citizens participated in forestry-related activities. Today, although Alishan and its culture of forestry has been remodeled into a part of the tourism sector, its remnants and spirit can still be found in the various corners of the city as it gradually marches toward its goal of re-establishing a cultural landscape and heritage. The title of this exhibition, A Rhythm of Tree Forming the Forest, on the one hand, seemingly resonates with the local Linsen (in Chinese, lin and sen are two characters standing for trees and forest) Road once bustling with wood industry activity for imagining the past glory of Chiayi's forest industry and the mystique of Alishan's dense forests. On the other hand, the flowing, dynamic description of the clustering state is analogous to the east-west railway that connects the lumber (Chiayi City) and the forest (Alishan) and weaves the forest and human activities into an intertwined cultural landscape. On the train, naturalists, businessmen, government staff, forestry workers, and artists are all heading east into the forested mountains. Whether they are exploring for research, economy, or creativity, people have brought settlement, livelihood, and destruction. The towering and fragrant Taiwan red false cypress and Taiwan yellow cedar have been gradually forced to share their habitat with Japanese cypress introduced by the Japanese during the occupation period. All the trees followed the steam as it moved into the city to become the Shinto shrines, toriis, houses, utility poles, and various furnitures ubiquitous in people's lives. From the first to third floor of the Chiayi Art Museum, the exhibition begins with works inspired by the natural scenery of the mountain forests. The audiences are taken into the woods to see the relationship between people, the forests, and the mountains gradually unfold on the second floor before finally being taken to witness the rise of an industry and its remaining legacy on the third floor. At the Chiayi Sawmill and the Zhaoping Park, exhibits stitch together the past and present through fragments of history and imagination piece-by-piece, layer-by-layer. A Rhythm of Tree Forming the Forest attempts to view the relationship between humanity and nature as it evolved through the past hundred years through the scenery of trees and forests of Alishan and Chiayi depicted by the elder artists and the responses of contemporary artists. Meanwhile, the exhibition also attempts to re-explore the relationship between forest industry, forest culture, city landscape, history of living, and the city of Chiayi itself through multiple approaches as a reflection on the history.