East of Moonlight  月光之東

2021 / Freedom Men Art Apartments，Taichung，Taiwan。台中 自由人藝術公寓 / 謝榕蔚個展 

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In Eastern aesthetics, there is a fascination with the subtle and elusive. Unlike the directness often found in the West, the East engages with the world as if through a veil—mysterious, soft, and reflective, like a faint glimmer in the dark. It is not a pursuit of clarity or full illumination, but rather a reverence for what hides in shadow—where even opulence dissolves into darkness, leaving behind an indescribable, lingering emotion.

The exhibition title is taken from East of the Moonlight, a novel by Teru Miyamoto. In the story, a letter from an unseen woman reads: "Come find me. Come find me, east of the moonlight." Though the novel revolves around this message, it never offers a clear resolution. Instead, it unfolds like a quiet search for Eastern radiance within the brightly lit present—a search that may seem futile.

Yet I believe that light has not vanished. The subtle glow of the East still lives on, within the gentleness and ambiguity of its cultural spirit. Perhaps, as the saying goes, if you see all forms as no-form, that is when you begin to glimpse the true light of the East.

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東方美學中，對於幽微的事物特別著迷，比起西方的直接，東方人在各個層面都像隔了層紗，神秘而輕柔，如暗中反射的「微光」。那不是追求明亮的一覽無遺，而是在暗處，豪華絢爛的大半細節都隱沒在黑暗中，反而勾起難以言喻的未了餘情。

 

展覽名稱源自宮本輝同名小說「月光之東」。故事圍繞在不曾出現過的女主角留下的一封信「來找我。到月光之東，來找我。」小說中看似重要的提問，最後得到的都是若有似無，彷彿燈火通明的現今尋找東方的陰翳靈光；皆是虛妄。但我想它並未消逝，東方的靈光依然存在於婉轉迂迴的民族性中。若見諸相非相，或許那即是東方的靈光。