COLLECTION 02
这是哪里的城市?
亚洲,也许是欧洲亦未可知。
从风景依稀可以断定,
这是一座摩登都市。
∉
飞机着陆时夜已深。
走过空桥来到到达大厅,
机场无机制的空气里透着淡绿色的光。
乘客们的梦被飞机降落的撞击声吵醒,
睡眼惺忪如梦游一般,拖着行李移步海关。
只有广播和游客的脚步声闲散地在空间里回响。
所有店门都已紧闭,
一个陌生的符号在白色霓虹下闪烁着微光,
营业中。
人们匆匆地在微光下的橱窗边走过,
深夜机场里只有我察觉到它的存在。
随着光影走进店内,迎接我的是银色世界,墙壁地面屋顶都裹着铝箔一般。
白光无处不在,不禁想起旧时的科幻电影。
我拿起银色橱柜上的提包,
长发店员带着银色手套,对我莞尔一笑,那是一双琥珀色的深眸。
我选定一个手袋,想象着下一场旅行。
离开小店时店员对我轻语:
“WELCOME TO BIEDE”
∉
不知在机场行走了多久,
我察觉到手袋上挂着黑色的锁,
上面刻着与白色霓虹一样的陌生符号。
可却找不见钥匙。
离天亮还有时间,出租车内能够看见远方的天空已经开始泛白。
城市还在沉睡中。
回到家,黑猫带着陌生的黑色项圈趴在沙发上。
项圈上摇晃着黑色迷你钥匙,
猫开始朝着沙发上的手袋鸣叫。
我解开项圈上的钥匙,打开手袋。
锁头发出古老钟表行进时的干燥声响。
一张地图静静地躺在里面:
“WELCOME TO BIEDE”
∉
我拿起包和地图出门,
清晨的高速公路,整个城市裹着淡红的光,这是温柔的滤镜。
跟随地图的指引,抵达一座古老的大楼。
没有牌子的楼里,四处飘荡着烘焙蛋糕的香味,那是怀乡的味道。
灰色的大门里,隐隐听到各国语言交错的声音,那是机场内再熟悉不过的声音。
我缓缓地打开那扇门。
∉
远处传来机场大厅的广播,
我站在出发大厅前,等待换乘的飞机。
余光里白色霓虹若隐若现。
COLLECTION 01
She does not know where it is, but it seems to be a city in Asia, or perhaps in a city in Europe. Anyway, this story is about one of the modern megalopolis in contemporary society.
One night, she had a dream.
In the dream, she opened the iron door of an old building covered in fog and ivy. The walls of the room were lit by a faint moonlight, and there was something like a symbol floating on the wall.
She was not sure what that meant.
Then a few days passed.
It was around midnight after work. She decided to take a little detour home.
She chose an alleyway that she didn't usually go through.
All the shops were closed, but she could see one shop with a faint light on.
The shop window was decorated with bags and looked like a boutique.
She looked into the store from the outside and saw a strange-looking clerk dressed in black. The clerk smiled at her. She could not tell the gender or age of the clerk, but she thought the black-dressed clerk looked very attractive. She walked into the store with some curiosity.
She picked up a bag emblazoned with a symbol she had seen before.
She was not sure if it was a symbol from her dream of a few days ago.
Thinking that this might be a déjà vu, she looked at herself in the mirror.
She decided to buy that bag.
The next night.
She walked down the alleyway to the boutique again.
When she walked to the location of the boutique where she had picked out her bag last night, she found an empty lot.
The boutique she had visited yesterday was nowhere to be found.
The store vanished.
A black cat was looking at her from the middle of the empty place.
A year later.
She had not seen the boutique in the alleyway since then.
But she always carried the bag, as if someone who likes books always carried them. The vacant lot where the boutique would have once existed had turned into a bar.
One day, as she walked past the bar, a lithe, cat-like person walked in.
Strangely enough, the bag the person was carrying was the one she had seen in that vanished boutique. Seeing the bag, she decided to go into the bar.
The room was dark, and she could not see well.
The bar was quiet, but there seemed to be seven or eight people sitting at the counter.
A whisper and a faint sound of the piano drifted quietly in the room.
She closed her eyes, then listened and focused her attention on the whisper of the people there.
Apparently, the guests did not know each other.
She felt as if she had been to this place a few times in her dreams.
The gold embossed print on her bag reflected the light of the room, which was faintly lit in the dark space.
Story by BIÉDE
English version is supervised by Wayne Conti of Mercer Street Books & Records, New York
Chinese version is translated by Hui QUAN (権慧) of The Waseda International House of Literature (The Haruki Murakami Library)
Photography by Quentin Shih
Quentin Shih (a.k.a. Shi Xiaofan) is a visual artist and a film director based in Beijing, China. His photography work is represented by international galleries in Beijing Art Now Gallery (Beijing)、Inception Gallery(Paris)、Galerie XII Los Angeles (LA). He has also participated with various art projects of Dior and Louis Vuitton. His recent work includes photo collection "FAMILIARS" (2019) and a feature film "The Café by the Highway" (2020). He participates in the exhibition "ART'N DIOR" by Dior at Shenzhen Museum of Contemporary Art and Urban Planning from September 26 to October 26, 2021.
@quentin_shih
quentinshih.com