Nicolei Buendia Gupit’s Vessels That Carry Life
Translated by Anli Cheng
Nicolei Buendia Gupit’s solo exhibition Vessels That Carry Life captures collective hope and outrage amid the global water crisis. In regions like the Philippines—the artist’s motherland and a close neighbor of Taiwan—water scarcity remains a critical issue, forcing communities to rely on informal water sources for daily needs. Recent government-led deforestation and mishandled flood control projects in the Philippines have also sparked public scrutiny and environmental activism. Channeling collective stories of Filipinos in the diaspora, Vessels That Carry Life offers a global perspective on the co-dependence of water and human and non-human life.
Among the featured works in Vessels That Carry Life are ceramic sculptures, created with support from Versammeln Ceramic Studio, which reimagine the common plastic water bottle as fired clay. Other mixed-media works probe the relationship between deforestation and water scarcity. Presented at Treasure Hill, Vessels That Carry Life also engages with the exhibition site’s layered histories and their connection to water. In 1909, Gongguan District—home to Treasure Hill—became the birthplace of Taipei’s first water supply system. Originally a religious community centered around a temple along the Xindian River, Treasure Hill later served as a water facility and fortified artillery unit under Japanese rule. After 1949, it transformed into makeshift settlements, as Kuomintang military families built hillside dwellings while relying on the river for drinking water, fishing, and gravel for construction.
Climate change, pollution, deforestation, and fossil fuel dependency have caused significant biodiversity loss globally, with thirty percent of the world’s freshwater ecosystems disappearing since 1970. Human activity has also led to the loss of thirty percent of Earth’s glaciers, its largest water reservoirs. Vessels That Carry Life is a reminder that water is a vital yet finite resource sustaining both human and non-human life. It calls on viewers to cherish water, for water is life itself.
妮可萊・布恩迪亞・古皮《生命的載體》
妮可萊・布恩迪亞・古皮《生命的載體》個展中捕捉了面對全球水資源危機的集體希望及憤怒。作為台灣重要的鄰國，藝術家的家鄉菲律賓持續面對水資源短缺的艱難處境，許多社群被迫依賴非正式水源來滿足日常用水需求。近年來菲律賓政府主導的森林砍伐政策及管理失當的防洪工程引發環保團體及群眾質疑。《生命的載體》搜集了離散海外的菲律賓人集體故事，並以全球化的視角探討水資源與人及非人生命之間的依存關係。
本次展覽展出的作品包含與抱瓶庵陶藝事空間協作的陶瓷雕塑，此作品將常見的塑膠瓶裝水重新構想並轉化為陶瓷媒材。其他複合媒材作品則近一步探討了森林砍伐與水資源短缺之間的關聯。《生命的載體》於寶藏巖國際藝術村展出的同時，也回應了寶藏巖的歷史及其與水之間的密切連結。1909年，寶藏巖所在的公館地區成為台北第一套供水系統的發源地。寶藏巖最初是一個以新店溪畔廟宇為核心的宗教聚落，後於日治時期轉變為供水設施以及高炮部隊據點。1949年國民政府遷臺後，許多軍人家庭於山坡上興建住宅形成臨時聚落，並依賴新店溪提供飲用水源、漁獲及建築所需的碎石。
氣候變遷、污染、森林砍伐、以及對化石燃料的依賴，造成全球生物多樣性嚴重流失。自1970年以來，全球已有百分之三十的淡水生態系統消失；人類活動也導致作為最大的淡水儲存庫的冰河消失百分之三十。《生命的載體》提醒我們：水是維繫人類及非人生命不可或缺的資源，但同時也是非常有限的資源，呼籲觀者珍惜水資源，水即是生命。