NARSTALGIA

《角鯨之殤 Narstalgia》是個從2019年開始並仍在持續進行的長期藝術研究計畫，與在不同研究階段產出的相關系列創作，其中包含同名實驗電影短片、音像、錄像與Full Dome沈浸式實驗作品；其核心內容講述北極地區的環境悲痛（Eco-grief）相關現象，包括「環北極自殺現象」、「格陵蘭為全世界自殺率最高之國家」、「冰島居民因冰川融化而為其舉行葬禮」等多個因環境或氣候變遷產生的多個事件。」“Narstalgia” 是導演張簡長倫根據其研究創造之詞彙，為獨角鯨(Narwhal)與鄉痛(Solastalgia)的組合字；根據Barry Lopez的《Arctic Dream》一書，獨角鯨之名自古就有人類死亡的內涵；有些北歐人仍稱獨角鯨為「屍體鯨」，並認為其是人類死亡的原因。因此藝術家使用獨角鯨作為隱喻來暗示與北極居民的心理議題，希望具象化那些無形卻深刻的故事與感受。

上述鄉痛（Solastalgia）一詞出自環境哲學家Glenn Albrecht，用來描述氣候變遷與生活在環境變化中的人們心理健康之間的關係：「當你人就在家鄉，卻感到鄉愁」。2019年得知冰島為其冰川舉行葬禮後，導演前往冰島進行田野調查，拍攝並錄製、採訪當地居民，又於2022年再前往冰島駐村研究，於現場收集更多影音資料，以期了解人們的感受、劇烈環境變化帶給人們的影響，並將繁瑣資料與研究內容轉化爲具詩意的視覺藝術形式邀請大眾共感。本電影結合冰島實拍影像、3D動畫與視覺特效合成，聲音設計結合現場環境錄音、訪問錄音與模擬虛無之境的音效，試圖打造出交織於現實、夢境與精神世界之間的動態情感關係。
      “Narstalgia" is an experimental short film concerning the phenomena related to the eco-grief happening in the Arctic, including that 'Greenland has the world's highest suicide rate', and 'Iceland holds funeral for melted glacier due to Climate Change. The title itself is also a word coined by Director Robert based on his artistic research, which is a combination of 'Narwhal' and ‘Solastalgia’, with the name of narwhal having a connotation of human death in Old Norse.

‘Solastalgia’ mentioned above is a term coined by an Australian environmental philosopher Glenn Albrecht, to describe the relationship between climate change and the mental health of people who live in rapidly changing environments; it also means feeling homesick when you are at home. Knowing that Iceland holds a funeral for its glacier, Robert went there for a field study in 2019 to film footage and record sounds, plus interview local people and researchers in order to understand how these people feel about the dramatic changes in their home environments.

“I am really afraid that Iceland would not be habitable in the near future.” Says an Icelander that he interviewed in the field study.

Besides, according to the book ’Arctic Dreams’ written by Barry Lopez, the name Narwhal has the connotation of human death since the old time; some still call the narwhal “the corpse whale,” and the unfounded belief that it is a cause of human death, or symbol to be associated with human death. Thus, we used narwhal as the metaphor in our project to indicate those significant issues related to solastalgia in the Arctic, using multiple media including 3D animation, visual effects, and the footage and sound we filmed and recorded in Iceland, trying to visualise and audiolise the notion of Narstalgia.