Voyage to the Lower World

Fish Mask, 2024

The kid with the Faas face, Shetland museum

Note："Faas Face" is part of the traditional Shetland festival known as "Up Helly Aa," which is celebrated annually in the Shetland Islands. "faas face" tradition emphasizes the importance of disguise, transformation, and performance.

London/Edinburgh

Representation has only a single centre, a unique and receding perspective and in consequence a false depth. It mediates everything, but mobilizes and move nothing. Movement, for its part, implies a plurality of centres, a superposition of perspectives, a tangle of points of view, a coexistence of moments whic essentially distort representation

— Deleuze, in Difference and Repetition, 1968

Keywords

Fish, Mask, Non-human, Built environment

Abstract

This is an ongoing PhD research project. Currently, my work draws from archival materials and partial field research on fishing communities in Shetland and Wuhan. Inspired by Shetland's "Faas Face" tradition, I created large fish masks as a way to delve into the underworld. Through the projection of images from the Si-ji-mei Market, the research site shifts from site to unsite, with the fish masks serving as a means to amplify non-human presence and facilitate communication between human and non-human worlds.

In addition, I invited several professionals from the field of architecture to explore two key questions: Can non-human entities participate in architectural theory and practice? And if so, how should they participate? While this is not a traditional approach for architects, this empathetic method encourages researchers and designers to think and design in a more post-humanist manner. It sparks discussions and reflections, challenging conventional thinking and opening up new perspectives. My work invites people to reconsider the roles and impacts of fish and other non-human beings within these environments, fostering a greater understanding and respect for non-human entities in the built environment.

I have invited others to contribute their ideas and texts, and I plan to continue this collaboration in the future. This "Fish Book," much like the fish masks, is a record of my dialogue with fish, a chronicle of my research journey, and a collaborative effort. It also serves as a scaffold for critically examining fishing communities and market environments.