Sewbrella Machine, 2020

Single Channel HD Video, 24:10min

'Sewbrella Machine' is a video project concerned with an imaginary radio broadcast, produced when coronavirus first started spreading across China.

Chen happened to be in China to celebrate Chinese New Year with her family during this period. As a measure to decrease the chance of being infected or of spreading the virus, the Chinese government asked people to stay at home as much as possible. Consequentially, Chen decided to invite her friends in China, who were also trapped at home during Chinese New Year, to be the audience of her radio broadcasting. She invited them to write and send stories to her and to ask her any questions via an online platform. As the host of this fictional broadcasting channel, Chen used her personal interpretation to respond to the messages she received.

The name of Chen's broadcast 'Sewbrella Machine', was inspired by a quote from the 1869 novel, Les Chants de Maldoror, by Comte de Lautreamont: 'as beautiful as the chance encounter of a sewing machine and an umbrella on an operating table'. Chen's fictional broadcasting channel functions like a sewing machine; it brings together different people's stories in order to make a collaged piece.

The work demonstrates the significance of the internet in contemporary culture, as a platform to maintain, tighten, and strengthen our social relationships, during times when we are unable to meet face to face.

This work was first exhibited in the exhibition ‘Across the Haze’ at Trocadero Art Space, Melbourne, and later exhibited again in the exhibition ‘Bidirectional Intervention’ at JCAS, Nanjing. It was also nominated for ACCIDENTING, CSSA-Goldsmiths International Youth Art & Design Exhibition in 2020, and selected in the Longlist for BBA Artist Prize 2021.

^{《缝伞台》是2020年初，我回到中国过春节期间创作的一个“虚拟电台”作品。当时中国新冠疫情刚刚爆发，我刚下飞机的第二天，武汉便封城了。而2020年的整个春节，我都不得不呆在家里，除了家人之外，见不到想见的好友，吃不到想吃的火锅。于是我便萌生了一个念头，就是在这大家都得自我隔离的特殊日子里，搞一个虚拟的电台节目，每天在朋友圈更新，邀请我的好友们通过提问箱匿名给我投稿。这些投稿里，有些是他们自己创作的故事，有些是他们的心情写照，更有些是他们对这段日子的一些想法与看法。有些我一眼就能看得出是谁，而有些我到现在都不知道是谁的投稿。一开始我也不太确定这个项目是否能做的起来，但是幸运的是，似乎大家在家里也都没什么事儿干，收到的投稿数量也超出了我的想象。这些故事和投稿也体现了中国年轻一代在疫情期间的思想和想象力，展示了互联网在当代文化中的重要性，在我们无法面对面交流时，互联网成了维持我们友谊与关系网最重要的平台。

由于时长原因，我无法把每个投稿都放入这个最终的影片里，但是在中国被迫隔离的两个月，这个项目也的确让我感受到了很多，作为一个倾听者，收到的这些投稿也觉得很有意思。

“缝伞台 ”这个名字来源于法国诗人洛特雷阿蒙的作品《马尔多罗之歌》中的一句话：“美丽的机会，就像在缝纫机和雨伞邂逅于手术台。” 我希望《缝伞台》能够把在这疫情期间大家的想法与创造都拼接在一起，成为一种特殊的记录方式。

背景歌单也是我自己在那时候一直听的，喜欢的歌曲，希望大家在看（听）这个影片的时候，把他当做一个工作，学习时候的背景音乐，收音机播放的电台节目，轻松地，无压力地去享受它。

《缝伞台》于2020第一次在墨尔本的Trocadero Art Space展出，并于2021入围了BBA Art Prize 2021。

访谈：JC Talking｜陈东彦与洛特雷阿蒙的邂逅——《缝伞台》, 锦创艺术中心}

Sewbrella Machine, 2020
Single Channel HD Video, 24:10min

Installation at Trocadero Art Space, photo credit @jacintaeefphotography

DONGYAN CHEN

Sewbrella Machine, 2020