NASTALGIA
1080 full HD | Stereo | 7 mins
Director | Robert Chang Chien
Actress | Yo Bi
Voice | Þórhildur Heimisdóttir
DOP | Robert Chang Chien
Camera Assistant | Sam Cho
VFX Artist | Robert Chang Chien
Colourist | Robert Chang Chien
Animation Consultant | Aco Chang
3D Animator | Robert Chang Chien
Sound Consultant | Andrew Ford
Sound Designer | Robert Chang Chien
Composer | Robert Chang Chien
Grapghic Disgner | Bo-Yu Chen
Special Thanks | Debbie Anzalone, Yiyun Kang, Hjalti Björnsson
《角鯨之殤》是個長期藝術研究計畫與同名實驗電影短片，其講述北極地區的環境悲痛（Eco-grief）相關現象，包括「格陵蘭的自殺率是世界上最高」、「冰島居民因冰川融化而為其舉行葬禮”等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，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。因此我們使用獨角鯨作為隱喻來暗示與北極居民的心理議題，望具象化那些無形又遙遠的故事與感受。
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，以了解人們的感受，並以具詩意的視覺藝術形式邀請大眾共感。
“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.
“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.
Link to references: