The Absent Tugboat

缺席的拖船

2026 | Ink, colour and silver leaf on paper | 98 x 77 cm

這幅作品以第一人稱視角展開,將觀者置於船艙內,透過船窗向外凝視。窗外是波濤洶湧的風暴,多艘躉船懸浮於危險之中,象徵彻底的無助與被動。躉船本無自行推進能力,只能仰賴拖船牽引,此刻,窗外並無一艘拖船,它們只能任由狂風巨浪摧殘,隨波逐流。觀者被置於一個安全卻無援的空間,觀看著外部世界即將被毀壞。

室內空間放置了一架拖船的微型模型,孤獨地擺放,彷彿一種紀念、一種被封存的希望——將現實中不存在的救援力量收納起來,成為唯一可觸及的慰藉。窗外景觀大量運用氧化銀箔,隨著時間推移,銀色逐漸黯淡、轉為暗灰,象徵躉船將長久處於險境之中,卻仍在無聲祈求:或許有一天,某種力量會出現,將它們拖離這片風暴。

Unfolding from a first-person perspective, this work positions the viewer within a ship's cabin, gazing outward through a portlight. Outside, a turbulent storm rages, suspending multiple barges in peril, symbolising complete helplessness and passive fate. Incapable of self-propulsion and reliant solely on tugboats for traction, the barges are here deserted, left at the mercy of the tempest and adrift. The viewer is situated within a space that is safe yet powerless to intervene, a spectator to the impending destruction of the outer world.

Within the interior space rests a solitary miniature model of a tugboat, isolated as a memorial, a preserved hope—it encapsulates a saving force that is absent from reality, serving as the sole tangible consolation. The exterior vista heavily utilises silver foil; over time, the bright silver dims and darkens to dull grey, symbolising the barges' protracted predicament, yet they remain in silent prayer: that one day, perhaps, a certain power will emerge to tow them away from this storm.