後殖民情境下的主體認同：John Pule的藝術與想像

The Subject Identity in the Post-Colonial Condition: John Pule’s Artworks and Imagination

當代的太平洋社會是一個複雜而變動的場域，來自不同的部族與文化的藝術家們成長或是移居至紐西蘭展開創作生涯，並在現代都會生活中探索自我與故鄉的連結。本文以Polynesia的紐西蘭(New Zealand)當代藝術家John Pule為對象，透過後殖民與離散經驗的角度觀察藝術家如何透過作品在當代藝術中建構出一套新的視覺系統。
在研究的過程中，本文發現太平洋群島的殖民歷史對於樹皮布的製作影響甚深，不同的花紋與編織方式反映了不同文化與宗教相互衝擊過後所留下的痕跡，其吸收、轉譯、再生的過程就如同Pule選擇樹皮布作為創作的原點，結合傳統文化與個人的敘事方式來回應對故鄉的想像，並進一步建構出Polynesia當代藝術的主體性。除了對歷史或殖民傷痕的反省，本文認為Pule的作品所建構出的世界觀裡包含了一種不斷變形、恆定流動的離散認同，並隨時對觀者保持一種開放式的隱喻；而樹皮布在作品中扮演的角色也不僅僅是創作素材，而成為一種能夠傳達「我是誰」與生命歷程的媒介物。

The Pacific society in the contemporary era is a complex and changing field. Artists from different tribes and cultures have migrated to or grown up in New Zealand to start their creative career, exploring the connection between themselves-identity and hometown in the modern urban life. In this study, the contemporary Polynesian immigrant artist John Pule is taken as the subject to observe how the artists construct a new visual system in contemporary art through their artworks from the perspectives of post-colonialism and diaspora.
During the research process of this study, it is found that the colonial history of the Pacific Islands has exerted a profound influence on the production of bark cloth. Its different patterns and weaving methods reflect the traces of the impacts between different cultures and religions, and the process of absorption, translation and regeneration is similar to the original reason that Pule chose bark cloth as his creation material. He combines traditional cultures with personal narratives to respond the imagination of his hometown, and further constructs the subjectivity of Polynesia’s contemporary art. In addition to the introspection of history or colonial trauma, this study also suggests that the world view constructed in Pule’s artworks contains a diaspora identity that is continuously changing and constantly flowing, and always keeps an open metaphor for the viewers. More than a material of creation, the bark cloth in his artworks also plays as a medium to convey the concept of“Who I Am”and the course of life.