Drawing on the invitation letter
of Guangzhou Triennial 2008, wood, a photo and pencils from Guangzhou Triennial
2008
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While working as an assistant to a participating artist in the Guangzhou Triennial 2008, I stayed in a hotel arranged by the organizers. There, I met a prostitute who worked in the hotel’s massage parlor. We spoke in a separate room.
The room was bathed in an odd red light. She entered and said, “I can serve you now.” The atmosphere shifted unexpectedly, becoming awkward. I pretended not to understand the underlying meaning of her words and simply asked her to knead my shoulders. From the touch of her palm, I could tell she didn’t actually know how to give a massage. I decided to learn more about her story. I invited her to sit down, and we talked—about her birth, her background, and how she had been deceived into working there. We spoke about many aspects of life, though I could not tell how much of it was true. Regardless, prostitution is generally regarded as low‑status work.
When I learned she could sketch, I took out my invitation letter to the Guangzhou Triennial 2008 and wrote her name in the opening paragraph. Using a pencil provided by the Triennial organizers, she drew my portrait on the back of the letter. I paid her the equivalent of one service fee.
We never met again. The last time we spoke, she called me from Guangzhou to tell me she had just quit the job.
因作為2008年一位廣州三年展參展藝術家的助手，偶然於大會安排的酒店遇上一位在按摩店樓層工作的妓女。跟她在房間內單獨相處的時間，以對話與奇異的經歷取代肉體交流。
當天剛完成作品裝置，該新加坡藝術家與我便前往按摩店，各自進了房間。燈異樣的紅，她一進門甫開口：「我現在可以為你服務。」令我醒覺到，原來在毫無召妓打算的情況下，一霎眼便跌入這種極端尷尬場面。我裝作不知道說話含意，只著她按按肩膀。手指傳達的觸感告訴我，她好像並不太懂。只忽然想了解一下她的故事，便讓她坐下來談談。由其出生，背景，直至被欺騙到這工作的經歷，真假的部分雖然難分，但作為妓女，這份職業本身就被普遍認定為低賤的工作。恰巧聽她曾習過素描，因此從背包取出廣州三年展邀請信及大會送贈的鉛筆，於上款加入她的代名，再讓她於信件背面替我畫一張人像畫，付她一次服務的價錢。
我們沒有再見過面，最後一次聯絡是她從廣州撥過電話來，說已經沒再從事那份工作了。
