Nation of Scatterbrain
October 15 — 20, 2024
Tzu-Yun Wei

Skin-Cell Temporary #1

Closing Performance and Open Studio Reception
Sunday, October 20th, 6pm

Nation of Scatterbrain is a five-day live performance at Living Skin. Building on the artist’s previous confessional work involving note-taking and drawing, this residency will explore everyday note-taking as a means of memorizing a speculative, fictional self—a Taiwanese civil servant. By transforming Living Skin into a study room, Tzu-Yun Wei will turn their notes on preparing for the Taiwanese civil servant application into a flag-raising installation.

‘A note is still.  A note is a hole.
A note is unbounded.  A note is horizontal. 
A note is a container. A note collects glances
 A note just passed by. 

A note remembers what has happened, what needs to happen, what may happen, what we hope to happen, and the how of it all. A note is a third space for resting, for breathing, for asking, “Do we need this?”

 A note is disposable proof of all of them.’

Residency Diaries

Day 1: Daily Meeting Notes

Meeting start 8:10pm

In their first day of residing in the corner room, the artist desires to assemble particular scenes, settings, and moments inspired by their notes and experimentations of their wandering mind as they navigate the new room and environment.

An island springs up on the north coast of the Nation.
It seems The Nation can only be reactive.

“I want to practice stay silent but I cant do it right now. I will keep trying but I don’t know if I can make it. A good listener can stay silent but make the audience feel comfortable, but I am not comfortable now so it’s weird. I dont want to make people uncomfortable, purpose of tea talk is be a tree hole.”

Today’s topic of study: the recent Chinese Military drills that surrounded Taiwan. Using 125 warplanes, China’s Navy outlined the shape of a heart around Tzu’s mainland. Tzu recreated these forms using everyday consumables.

The Nation dreams of sweet potato and cucumber.
Meeting end 8:32pm

Day 2: Daily Meeting Notes
Start at 8:27PM

What would you do if someone threw a punch at your face but stopped just an inch short of hitting you? What would you do if it was on your birthday and everyone watched silent and complicit around you?   When does it become normalized?

As the immigrant colonizes and then leads, they experience doubts around domination. As they would soon learn, it’s easier to write the rules than follow it themselves. Saying sorry is a form of kindness not expected from today’s global leaders.

War is imminent, violence bleeds through the Skin. J fighter jets are tucked behind the radiator. hanging from the ceiling. clenched in fists

.

End 8:57PM

Day 3: (Written by Tzu)

I projected the recording of my note-taking onto the wall while I was sleeping last night.

...
twins in Room A and Room B:
when they separate, when they meet.

twins take turns attacking and defending:
when they separate, when they meet.

twins sleep when they’re awake:
when they separate, when they meet.

twins act when they’re alive:
when they separate, when they meet.

twins meet at the midpoint on the journey toward the end of life. they gather to explore the wound as a space for breathing, being (back and forth), living as twins.
...
Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ):
The demarcation of an Air Defense Identification Zone is entirely determined by individual countries, as it falls within their national discretion. Taiwan’s ADIZ is rectangular, with a missing corner in the southeast.

After World War II, the U.S. divided Taiwan and Japan’s ADIZ along the 123rd meridian east, using it as the boundary. This line splits the airspace of Yonaguni Island in half: the area to the east belongs to Japan’s ADIZ, while the area to the west belongs to Taiwan’s ADIZ.

In 2010, Japan extended its ADIZ from the baseline of Yonaguni Island by 12 nautical miles, with an additional 2 nautical miles serving as a buffer zone. Taiwan does not accept this change but tacitly acknowledges it.

—22:09 Oct 17/2024

Day 4: Daily Meeting Notes

Following a beautiful moon, the nation has plastered its written history on the town walls and continued building its military. Indoctrination of the young are being considered. Learn from all, even the enemies. Drills are being practiced and refined for its final glorious performance on Sunday.

Day 5: Daily Meeting Notes

8:31 meeting start

Heineken Non-Alcoholic beer. The flag billows in the wind, square in form.

“50% of this project is randomness. Based on how you feel. Sometimes I see Jerome/Austin come back tired and I see that and get a sense of that feeling and change base off that.”

It’s time to think about community, the sidewalk, upsetting people, discomfort, neighborhood intersections. Defense strategies, cautious offense. How to frighten. Today’s study: blurring lines and listening to the process. Maybe we have to overlap because we are scared of the differences. Maybe we can only listen through vulnerability.

We were interrupted by the abyss today.
We traded songs and listened to each other’s minds.
All minds of the scatterbrained.
Tomorrow marks the end.

8:53 meeting end

Day 6: Closing Performance, Open Studio, Q&A

61 Wyckoff AveBrooklyn, NY 11237 Est. 2023