走進第一層空間，這裡是文物進入庫房的中繼站——碼頭區。在碼頭月池中央，散落數個善教堂廟宇建築部件，他們是祭祀場域建築結構的重要元素之一，然而，隨著進入博物館的收藏機制，這些歷史物件形同被肢解成一個個獨立的單體原件，已不再是完整而全面的真實「場域」。

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循著環形步道，走進第二層正在進行消毒清潔作業的空間——修復室。空間逐漸被白噪音所佔據，空氣裡瀰漫著濃濃的殺菌氣味，這是擬仿太陽光作用的UVC紫外線，經照射在空氣作用產生的臭氧，可有效殺滅細菌。縱使這項光學清潔普遍應用於醫療設備，或家庭日常清潔中，然而清潔形同破壞，人眼不宜直視，也不建議長時間嗅聞。

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除了氣味，空間也被來自不同向度、不同頻率的噪音所籠罩，這是一種助眠新科技，藉以穩定的噪音音頻，覆蓋、消彌造成睡眠中斷的突發聲響，作為「以噪音歇止噪音污染」的淨化器，使人更容易進入穩定睡眠、耳根清靜之狀。同時伴隨著的，還有正在執行清潔程序的語音說明，每一個清潔註釋嚴謹的表述著每個修復程序中應遵守的條件。

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來到修復工作檯的前方，檯上一尊透著光的3D列印文物複製品——神像，以及文物複製品經真空成型，再次複製的透明殼膜，在UVA黑燈管的照射下，局部顯示出異質的螢光反應，彷彿是煙燻塵垢，抑或是神聖的靈光。

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語音中所陳述的11個清潔註腳，集結了這次在進行駐館調研，所發現兩個場域（人與非人）不同的想像與理解的尺度。內容對應著空間裝置所預設的物質條件，折射出一個不單只是視覺感知的空間場域。藉由搭造一座典藏庫與修復室兩個空間一隅，分別疊合物件在不同脈絡中被看待的情境，使觀眾置身博物館清潔的過程，透過光、空氣、時間與物質，召喚對日常的清潔記憶，凸顯人們對於保存自己歷史的重視與弔詭。

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當神像脫離祭祀場域走進博物館的新秩序，也反應出人們看待物質價值的移轉與唐突。將原本指稱木雕神像「裝臟」的入神概念，延伸提問了由人所賦予物在「神/靈性」意義上，有別於科學檢測所能解釋的內容，試圖透過再現博物館對文物的去污行動，觸探關乎物質與精神的縫隙，無形的泛靈意識。信仰與歷史如何在檔案中再度被顯影？

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The first area at the entrance of the exhibition—the Dock—is an interim station before documents enter the archive. Different parts of the building of Shan Temple (in Dongshi District, Taichung City) are scattered in the half-moon-shaped pool at the Dock. Once bearing the significance as important architectural elements of a place of worship, these historical objects, upon entering museum collection, are dissembled and treated by the archival mechanism as one after another independent, separate component instead of a complete, comprehensive, real “field” in relation to its organic context. 

 

Walking along a circular pathway, one enters the second area where disinfection and cleaning happen—the Conservation Room. White noise gradually takes over the room. A strong scent of disinfection work permeates the air. Here, ozone is produced through a simple procedure where ultraviolet light shines on the air—like what sunshine does— in order to kill germs effectively. Even though UVC disinfection is widely used in medical equipment or in our everyday cleaning at home, such cleaning could cause considerable damage. Staring at it with naked eyes is inadvisable, nor is exposing to its odor for a long time.

 

In addition to the smells, the room is shrouded by noises coming from different angles and at different frequencies. This is a new sleep-aid technology that helps people fall into a stable sleep more easily and stay away from other noises that could disrupt the sleep. By creating a masking effect and blocking out sudden changes in noise through the use of a consistent sound at a stable frequency, it can be seen as a purifier “to restrain noise by noise.” Meanwhile, an audio file explaining the ongoing procedures is played, in which every note on the cleaning solemnly affirms the conditions and rules to be observed during each step of the conservation.

 

Coming to the conservation work station, one sees a glowing 3D-printed replica of a sacred statue on the station. Some fluorescent agents visible under black light can be seen on some parts of a transparent membrane-shell created after a vacuum form mold of a replica of the artifact as if they were smoke-smeared dust and grease, or a sacred aura.

 

The 11 notes about cleaning included in the audio file summarize the research of the artist-in-residence program and discuss the finding of different standards of imagination and understanding of two categories (human and non-human), which speaks well to the material condition presumed by the installation. The complex refraction of the narrative, therefore, creates a spatial situation not limited to visual perception. By constructing two rooms— an archive and a conservation room—an intersection is created between two specific situations in which objects are read and viewed in respective contexts. This allows the audience to witness the conservation procedure in museums. Through different elements, such as lighting, air, time, and substances, it also recalls one’s memory about daily cleanings and highlights the emphasis and absurdity to preserve our own history as human beings. 

 

When sacred statues leave the place of worship and become part of a new order in museums, it indicates an awkward and sudden shift of human beings’ views on the values of material objects. By including the ritual of “filling” in the consecration of wooden statues, this work addresses the complexities of the act of human beings ascribing “sacredness / spirituality” to an object, in contrast to explanations science provides. Attempts to explore obscurities between material and spirit, as well as inconspicuous animism, are shown in the representation of decontamination procedures exercised on objects by museums. How do faiths and history find their presence again in archives

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