▐ 藝術家自述 紐約是一座足以改寫自然尺度的城市。在一次偶然的機緣下，我參與了當地公園舉辦的賞鳥活動。賞鳥的過程中，我們意外發現了一隻死去的浣熊。原本所有人都心情愉悅地抬頭尋找生命，但當他們低頭看見那隻浣熊時，臉上不約而同浮現出一絲陰影。那一刻，我對這隻死去的浣熊產生了好奇。之後我每天都前往那座公園看他。幾天後他消失在公園裡。我將他躺過的那片土壤帶走製成餐盤。每天使用這個餐盤吃飯。他是我在紐約的第一個動物朋友，陪伴我度過了漫長的駐村時光。 「七日談」結合臺灣葬禮中「作七」的概念，以及薄伽丘（Giovanni Boccaccio）的《十日談》（Decameron），從這隻浣熊的死亡出發，探討城市中的動物——牠們生活在人類社會與自然世界的界線之間。展覽作品除錄像作品《七日談》外，另一部分為《The Birds of New York》與陶藝裝置。《The Birds of New York》來自我在紐約舊書店中發現的一批經典動物圖鑑《美國鳥類》（The Birds of America）的復刻版本，被書商裁切為單張販售；依尺寸與紙質推測，應為1960年代的版本。對我而言，這些插圖極具吸引力——鳥類與牠們所處的自然，被凝結在畫面之中。然而在現實生活裡，紐約的鳥類早已不屬於這樣的自然。牠們生活在由水泥構成的城市之中。因此，我修改了這些圖鑑的背景，讓鳥類回到牠們實際所處的環境。 這些繪畫以動畫的形式，成為《七日談》各章節中的敘事。所有作品彼此獨立卻相互交融，最終共同指向同一片天空——一個仍在生成中的自然。 ▐ 藝術家介紹—蔡咅璟 蔡咅璟，1986年出生於嘉義，現工作生活於臺南，從小就喜歡動物，近年創作主要處理人與動物之間的關係，認為現今的世界人類發展出極其複雜的生存模式與動物的關係也變得極其複雜，在這樣的結構底下該如何去思考或者產生與動物之間例外的關係似乎有其必要性。 曾於2022年榮獲高雄藝術獎大獎，同年在伊日藝術計畫舉辦的個展入圍第21屆新藝術獎決選。作品曾於臺北市立美術館、台北當代藝術館、高雄市立美術館、臺南市美術館、嘉義市立美術館和釜山市立美術館等機構展出。2025年於紐約國際工作室與策展人計畫（ISCP）駐村。 「七日談—蔡咅璟個展」 2026/4/25(六) - 7/5(日) 展覽場地：MoCA Studio 台北當代藝術館實驗展場 參展藝術家：蔡咅璟 ▐ Exhibition Introduction Artist Statement New York is a city capable of transforming nature’s scale. Serendipitously, I attended a birdwatching event hosted by a local park, where we unexpectedly found a dead raccoon during the outing. At first, everyone was happily looking up and searching for birds, but when they looked down and saw the raccoon, a shadow crossed their faces. In that moment, my curiosity about the dead raccoon was sparked. Since then, I visited the park daily to see him. After some days, he disappeared. I collected soil from where he had lain and made it into a dinner plate, which I used every day for my meals. He became my first animal friend in New York, accompanying me throughout my long residency in the city. In the Course of Seven Days combines the Taiwanese funeral tradition of the “seven-day funeral rituals,” or “zuò qī” (作七), with Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decameron, beginning with this raccoon’s death to explore urban animals living at the edge of human society and nature. The exhibition features the video work In the Course of Seven Days, along with a series of works on paper titled The Birds of New York and ceramic installations. The Birds of New York draws inspiration from the classical animal atlas called The Birds of America, found in a used bookstore in New York. These reprints were cut into individual sheets by the seller for separate sale. Based on size and paper, they are likely from the 1960s. To me, these illustrations are deeply captivating—the birds and their natural surroundings, frozen within the frame. In reality, however, New York’s birds no longer live in such natural settings. They now inhabit a concrete city. So, I changed the background to reflect their actual environments. These drawings, presented as animation, serve as narrative elements throughout the chapters of In the Course of Seven Days. While each piece stands alone, they are interconnected, eventually coming together under the same sky—a nature still in the process of becoming. ▐ Artist Biography Tsai Pou-Ching Tsai Pou-Ching (b. 1986) lives and works in Tainan, Taiwan. Drawing on a lifelong attentiveness to animals, Tsai’s practice examines human–animal relationships through research-driven approaches informed by amateur biology. Working with video, installation, and archival materials, his projects explore how contemporary modes of survival reshape interspecies relations and generate new forms of connection. Tsai received the Grand Prize of the Kaohsiung Art Award in 2022, and his solo exhibition at YIRI ARTS was shortlisted for the 21st Taishin Arts Award the same year. His work has been exhibited at institutions including Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei, Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Tainan Art Museum, Chiayi Art Museum, and Busan Museum of Art. He participated in the International Studio ＆ Curatorial Program (ISCP), New York, in 2025. In the Course of Seven Days－Tsai Pou-Ching Solo Exhibition 2026/4/25 Sat.- 7/5 Sun. Venue：MoCA Studio Artist：Tsai Pou-Ching