The Cheng Long Wetlands, located in Kouhu Township, Yunlin County, and the land
used to be farmland. After the saltwater intrusion caused by typhoon Wayne in 1986 and
typhoon Herb in1996, along with land subsidence issue, there were about 100 hectares of
farmland completely flooded, hence, the farmland had become now the Cheng Long
Wetlands.
It has been 9 years since the Forestry Bureau and the Kuan Shu Educational
Foundation cooperated together to execute "Cheng Long Wetlands International
Environmental Art Project" in 2010. This project aims to start a conversation between
people and the environment. Through environmental art, villagers are acquainted with the
subsidence land from past to present. Also, environmental art is gradually blends into their
daily life and gather them together annually. Time changed not only the appearance of land,
but also our attitude toward nature, which makes our heart softer. Therefore, we cherish
what we have now and truly experience the nature co-exist with us. In addition,
environmental art is like a spiritual bridge which link the villagers and the land. Though this
bridge, the villagers can walk through to the wetland where they used to live, look at the
historical trace with a grateful heart, then, understand these are all gifts from mother nature.
The Cheng Long Wetlands is caused by the saltwater intrusion and land subsidence,
so the main element--wind and water are added to this piece. I chose a subsidence zone to
be the location of my piece. As tides and the switch of the sluice, the place changes the
water stage every day, and we have different ways to appreciate this piece also. When the
land is dry, we can walk around my piece to see it as a whole; When seawater enters, we
can see the clear ball shape from the reflection of water, like our Earth surrounded by wind
zone; When sea water completely submerges the entire area, it’s a period of climatic
regulation.
Life is a process of spiral movement which is the very fundamental form in nature. For
example, interplanetary, typhoon, earth revolution, DNA sequence, plant growth, and the
process of reincarnation and so on, these are all samples existing in the way of spiral
movement. The spiral movement plays an enlightenment and revealing role to help us to
understand the universe, it is a physical space-time view. This natural sculpture is like a
spiral that grows out of the wetland, with a quiet and flowing space in the middle. Slowly, we
walk into this spiral space from outside to the middle. It’s like going from the external to the
inner. In this process, we can feel the land, listen to the sound of bamboo and oyster shells,
linking the nature and the villagers’ blessing. Moreover, this year is the ninth year of the
environmental art project. And this spiral shape is similar to the number 9. Also, the
pronunciation of the number 9 in Taiwanese sounds like long and good fortune which
usually be used for blessing people.
Through the nine years’ art projects, some pieces have gradually disappeared over
time; some pieces you can still recognize the remaining parts; and some pieces are on their
path to fully disintegration. To respond to the spirit of the environmental art project." Cheng
Long Shelter " built by 99%recycled natural materials, try to reduce waste, purchases, and
carbon emissions as much as possible. Hope this artwork could shelter not only the people
and the environment, but also the co-exist relationship between human and nature.