Eileen Chang: Tierce of Life "Desire & Rivalry"
AUDIO GUIDE (THE HISTORY OF EILEEN CHANG in Part Two) IS AVAILABLE IN 2 LANGUAGES: CHINESE & ENGLISH, SCROLL DOWN TO THE PAGE BOTTOM, SELECT LANGUAGE AND TAP 'READ CONTENTS'.
Part Two: Desire & Rivalry
The inverted arrangement of this work represents the turbulent time of war with a curiously silent imagery.
This work is based on Chang's statement: “In fact, all I really write about are some of the trivial things that happen between men and women. There is no war and no revolution in my works. I think that people are more straightforward and unguarded in love than they are in war or revolution”. Eileen Chang
Inkjet prints on Rice paper
2 photographs, Photo size: 53cm(w) x 194cm(h)
Historical Background:
Eileen Chang was awarded a study grant by the University of London in 1938, but she could not go to London because of the Sino-Japanese war. Instead, Chang went to study at the University of Hong Kong in 1939. Chang’s time in Hong Kong was also cut short due to the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong and she returned to Shanghai in 1942.
Although Chang didn’t complete her studies, she found work as a writer in Shanghai and became famous early in her career. Her iconic novel, “Love in a Fallen City”, written in 1943, reflects her experience in Hong Kong and Shanghai during the Sino-Japanese war.
At about the same time, she met her first love Hu Lan Cheng in Shanghai, who is a known Japanese conspirator. She married him under public controversy. They broke up in 1947 because Hu was having an affair. In the 1950s, she began writing the novel “Lust, Caution” which was not published until 1970s. The story took place in Hong Kong and Shanghai, describing a sexual relationship between a young woman and a Japanese conspirator. Again Chang probably drew much inspirations from her own experience in this novel. In 2007, the internationally acclaimed director Ang Lee made an award winning film from this novel.
第二段: 素丶樸
女性胴體代表沈默的戰爭，倒轉了兩張作品表現了翻天覆地的意思。
“我甚至只是寫些男女間的小事情, 我的作品裡沒有戰爭, 也沒有革命。我以為人在戀愛的時候, 是比在戰爭或革命的時候更素樸, 也更放恣的”
文：張愛玲
噴墨打印, 米紙
2 張, 尺吋: 53厘米(寛) X 194厘米(高)
歷史背景:
張愛玲於1939年獲得倫敦大學的獎學金, 由於第二次世界大戰爆發, 英國去不成, 改到香港入讀香港大學文學院。 後來, 因太平洋戰爭爆發, 日軍佔領香港, 遂於1942年返回上海, 固未能完成大學課程。張在上海從事寫作, 很快就成名,早期代表作有1943年的 《傾城之戀》。其內容大多反映中日戰爭下她在香港和上海的經歷。同時張跟日本間諜胡蘭成有一段感情和短暫的婚恩。
AUDIO GUIDE (THE HISTORY OF EILEEN CHANG in Part Two) IS AVAILABLE IN 2 LANGUAGES: CHINESE & ENGLISH, SELECT LANGUAGE AND TAP 'READ CONTENTS'.
