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stepbackforward.art（彳亍以行）由李繼忠與沈軍發起，是一個共同生成的藝術項目，聚集新晉藝術家散落在公共領域的檔案與思想碎片，透過特定的標籤與圖譜系統，逐漸生成一個網上檔案庫。項目第一階段，我們向介乎於21-35歲的本地新晉藝術家（不論是視覺、文字、聲音、影像、展演的藝術工作者）公開徵集研究、創作、生存的方法，並邀請參與者展開對話，共同探索「我們」的聯結。項目將於2021年6月30日正式發佈第一階段的網絡平台。

在2020年全球疫症之下，隔離成為新的日常，隱藏的全球邊界重新浮現，我們愈發感受到時代的凝滯和靜止，個體在現實中步步為營。我們深知這一切早已埋下伏筆，只是今時今日我們更無法再獨善其身。無論是主動避世或是被動隔絕，面對面接觸成為一種新的恐懼，數碼化似乎是一種必然的應對方式。然而，藝術可以像網絡社交媒體狀態般被編碼成一條條訊息，但網絡媒介不應只是解決疫症帶來的阻礙，我們更需要思考怎樣在困境中連結彼此，重新啟動人與人之間的真實聯繫。作為藝術家與藝術工作者，我們始終相信藝術帶來的感知與想象不能被替代。於是我們將stepbackforward.art視作一系列的練習，在這裡，對話催生出檔案，思想碎片漂浮在網際，隨機算法取代前設，不確定性轉化為期待。一切關於生存、持續、破而後立。

stepbackforward.art始於一個嚮往「公共性」的念頭，它並非一個被機構化的中間角色（agency），而是自下而上逐漸發展出的「共有平台」。stepbackforward.art的創作團隊同樣是個體藝術工作者，我們深諳所獲資源之有限，同時也從中尋找相當的自由度與開放潛能。因此，我們嘗試建造一種替代性的藝術「介面」（interface），在善用公共資源的前提下，透過再次分配的努力，推動個體與個體之間的漣漪激蕩出最大限度的「公共性」，創造一個平行、浮動於現實世界的藝術時空（spatiotemporality）。

區別於現行網絡平台的展示方式，我們將stepbackforward.art設計為檔案碎片的隨機集合體。「藝術家」不是一則固定版塊的頁面，而是由不同檔案碎片組成的超連結；作品與其主題亦不再是接觸藝術家的通用標準，我們更關心藝術家在不盡如意的環境與機制下如何發展出持續創作的方法，擁抱一切對應當下的感知與思考，並將之轉化為視覺、聲音及文字檔案。項目會透過公開招募與邀請等方式徵集藝術家檔案，並展開一系列開放性對話，通過藝術家自我生成的關鍵字建立起標籤系統（tagging system）與關聯圖譜（relational mapping），構成一個不斷生成與集體構築的關係網絡。打開網頁，映入眼簾的是實時隨機調取和展示的檔案與多媒體碎片雲。觀者漫遊在介面中漂浮的資料偶遇不定時彈出的雜音，似在暢遊一個不會被噤聲的思想世界。

我們相信，彳亍是為著前行。stepbackforward.art希望構築一個碎片檔案的縫隙，在時代過渡與人事變遷之時，於網絡時空中盡力保留一部分「當下」。

互助

由於本計劃的資金主要來自社會資源，我們希望在各方之間建立一種禮物經濟關係，使有限資源在困難時期亦可重新分配給有需要的人。

選擇参與問卷、對話及出版的藝術家將報以薄酬。網上資源和教學法將會刊製出版，同時亦供網上免費下載，以達致資源共享。

 

共同學習

stepbackforward.art將發展成一個可持續的檔案庫、供創檔者與網際觀者共同學習的搜尋引擎和方法交流平台——以視覺材料實時展示了數據、關鍵詞與人的聯繫，像把一本書的每一頁拆解再重新鋪陳在書桌上。並列的工作方法亦有助觀者解讀藝術家的實踐，同時有助藝術家之間的互動和共同協作學習。

 

連結

對藝術界而言，疫症除了嚴重影響本土實體活動和展覽外，國際性的實體交流亦因為遠行的必要成本而被迫取消。在此前提下，藝術家須因時制宜改變他們的實踐。對於這種改變的記錄，或將為國際交流拓展創造性與可能性。stepbackforward.art將不同藝術家提供的關鍵詞標籤和工作方法通過演算法排列組合，梳理展現個人與時代脈絡的呼應。項目最終會呈現一套兼具展示、關聯與搜尋功能的線上索引、檔案庫和搜索引擎，檔案材料含括藝術家資訊、藝術實踐與藝術家的工作方法論等等。

那重新建立的個人與群體的聯繫超越現有藝術系統的時空限制，也許展現了一個動態的香港藝術生態，同時開拓一種替代性的參與模式。

鳴謝：此項目由香港藝術發展局「Arts Go Digital藝術數碼平台計劃」支持。

Initiated by LEE Kai Chung and SHEN Jun, stepbackforward.art is a collective art project that gathers the fragments of emerging artists’ archives and ideas scattered in the public domain, and gradually generates an online archives by weaving into a specific tagging and mapping system. An open call was launched for local emerging artists (Visual, text, sound, image, and performing artists) between the ages of 21-35, to recruit their methodologies of researching, artmaking and surviving, then to engage all participants in a dialogue to explore the connection of the local art community. The project will be presented as an online platform at the first stage, which will be released on 30th June 2021.

Under the shade of global epidemic in 2020, isolation has become a new normal, the seemingly invisible global borders have resurfaced. We deeply feel the stagnation and stasis of our times, whereas individuals become scrupulous than ever before. It is not that we are scarcely aware of the undercurrent conditions or the long-existing unsolved, only now one can no longer remain exclusive and ignorant, No Man is an Island. No matter being secluded or self-isolating, face-to-face contact has drawn fear, and digitisation seems to be the inevitable solution. However, despite that art can be encoded into strands of messages in the same way as one’s social media status, the Internet as a medium could be more than a solution to the obstacles posed by the pandemics, but contributes to rekindle real connections with each other in the midst of our predicament. As artists and art practitioners, we believe that there is no substitute for the perception and imagination that art brings. Thus, we regard stepbackforward.art as a series of exercises where conversations generate archives, fragments of ideas float across the internet, random algorithms replace preconceptions, and uncertainty turns into expectation. Everything is about surviving, continuing, breaking through, and reconstructing.

It is a yearning for ‘publicness’ that brings about stepbackforward.art, not as an institutionalised agency, but as an ‘open platform’ developed in a bottom-up approach. stepbackforward.art’s team also comprises individual art practitioners, knowing that limited resources and potential of openness are two sides of a coin. Given that the project is funded by public resources, by the same token, through reallocation of the granted resources, we expect collective effort maximises ‘publicness’. Our attempt is to outline an alternative art ‘interface’, that unfolds into a more flexible spatiotemporality of art scene paralleled to the existing.

Distinguished from the interface demonstration of conventional platforms, stepbackforward.art is designed to emphasise the performance of random retrieval of archival fragments. Rather than lining up standard artists pages composed by fixed components, the ‘artist’ appears as a comprehensive hyperlink defined by the fragments; artwork and its subject matter are no longer a universal criterion for accessing artists, we concern more about how artists develop substantial productive practices in challenging situation and system, embracing diverse perceptions and reflections of the moment and transform them into visual, audio and textual archives. The project will recruit artists by open calls and invitations then follow up with a series of dialogues, generating a tagging system and relational mapping through the keywords and archives provided by the participating artists, which develops into a continuously expanding network of collectively constructed relationships. Once diving into the website, one will be greeted by a cloud of archives and multimedia fragments randomly delivered and displayed in real time. Users can browse through the floating materials in the interface, encountering occasional pop-ups of noise, as if they are navigating a world of thoughts that will not be silenced.

It is believed that moving forward is always the destination of stepping back. Through stepbackforward.art, we strive to preserve part of the ‘present’, a narrow rift stretched by fragmented archives in the online space-time and an interstice in the transition of generations and the times.

Mutual Aid

As the project is mainly funded by community resources, we hope to create a gift economy between the parties, even limited resources can be redistributed to those in need during difficult times.

Honorarium will be paid to participating artists that choose to contribute in questionnaires, dialogues and publication. Online resources and pedagogies will be published and made available for free online download.

 

Cooperative Learning

stepbackforward.art will be developed into a sustainable archives, search engine and pedagogy exchange platform for archive creators and web users to learn together – demonstrating the link between data, keywords and people in real time generative visuals, like breaking down each page of a book and laying it out again on a desk; the juxtaposed methodologies also help web users to interpret artists’ practices, while facilitating interaction and collaborative learning among artists.

 

Connectivity

Regarding the art world, the pandemic has not only severely affected local physical events and exhibitions, but has also forced the cancellation of international physical exchanges due to the necessary costs of travelling. Under this circumstance, artists have to adapt their practice accordingly; by documenting those changes, it will open up the possibilities and creativity of international exchange. stepbackforward.art algorithmically regroups the keywords tagging and methodologies provided by the artists, as a result, personal and contemporary contexts will be sorted out. The project will culminate in an online index and archives that will serve as both a showcase, relational map and search engine for artist information, artistic practices and methodologies.

This reinforced connection between individuals and communities transcends the spatiotemporal limitations of the existing art system, would somewhat reveal a dynamic art ecology derived from Hong Kong and open up a potential mode of participation.

Credits: This project is supported by Hong Kong Arts Development Council “Arts Go Digital Platform Scheme”.