在路易吉•伽伐尼*1的實驗以前，人類並不知道使自己的身體能夠運動的秘密，存在於閃電之中。18世紀科學家無意間以金屬觸碰到青蛙神經，死去青蛙的大腿肌肉猶如復活一般地踢動，單純的電生理反應，在尚未進入原子世界的時代，是死而復生，是深淵的靈魂被電召喚，回到了肉身之中。

 

隨著電學的發展，電生理學的研究也一併深入，人類從未停止追尋生命的本質，在實驗室中重現自然界裡與電相關的現象，並一再地召喚出足以代表(represent)生命的現象。18世紀的科學讓人類在文藝復興後，再次發現自己最具神性的奧秘是如此地接近，而透過技術與知識操作生命，因為電化學的加入，使生命與電的距離更為接近，構築出更為完整的理論想像，人造生命(artificial life)較上個世紀更顯得輕而易舉，也是在這樂觀的氛圍中，瑪麗‧雪萊*2寫下現代的普羅米修斯，表達人類在疏忽之中，將會被自身所造之物徹底摧毀的焦慮。

 

《生猛海產店》試圖呈現一段不存在於所處時空中的歷史，並賦予電生理學在文化中的新意。生物科學與新媒體藝術的結合，連結KTV與海產店的在地性，將海鮮食材轉化為實驗材料，以及音樂的電訊號，讓技術得以脫離原生的歷史情境，在自身文化培基中找到根源。

 

透過科學實驗方法的轉化與跨媒體結合，與反身觀看科學實驗作為展演的表現形式，是當代藝術與科學的發展方向之一。透過影像、裝置與文件，《生猛海產店》計畫將再現古典生物學的電生理裝置與實驗，探討18世紀以降的生物機械論對於聲音、電與生命等因素連結的影響，以及技術性知識如何跳脫普遍性的抽象，成為與日常生活更為緊密的一種文化。

 

*1: 路易吉•伽伐尼（Luigi Galvani，1737－1798），義大利醫生和物理學家，1771年發現死青蛙的肌肉接觸電火花時會顫動，從而發現神經元和肌肉會產生電力。他是第一批涉足生物電(Bioelectricity)領域研究的人物之一，為今日神經生物學與電生理學研究的先驅。

*2: 瑪莉•雪萊（Mary Shelley，原名Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin，1797－1851）為英國著名小說家、散文與旅遊作家，因其1818年創作之《科學怪人》（Frankenstein）而被譽為科幻小說之母。

 

<Live Live Seafood> addresses the dominant distribution of occidental culture that lies in the content of the history of scientific developments in modern biology, a common subject in different civilizations, and questions the absence of the diversity of historical narratives in science, and the possible scenario of multiregional origin of knowledge and techniques in the modern era. The discovery that led to modern electrophysiology was originated from Luigi Galvani's popular legend of the incident in his experiment on static electricity. In the age when the existence of atomic particles were yet to be confirmed, vitalism was regarded as the explanation for the cause of the living form, and to this holistic perspective, Galvanism - the kicking legs of the dead frog and the resurrection of the executed murderer was perceived as a monument of mankind manipulating life through electricity, crossing the boundary between man and god. The subject in science eventually spread into other fields, resulting indirectly in cultural products such as Mary Shelly's "Frankenstein".

 

Cultivating new ideas and creative approaches would remain in vain without a cultural content as the medium, and modern scientific methods has been grown out of the heterogeneous soil. In an attempt to cultivate a translative basis for grafting the techniques to a different context, the project presents several documents and a set of videos to articulate a narrative of a fictional incident in a seafood restaurant seen in Southeast Asia. Like the discovery by Galvani, elements of surprise in everyday life often plays a critical role in scientific research throughout time, and a reinvention of an alternative history of science would perhaps lead to one as well.