The Three-week Residency in San Francisco’s Chinatown

helpful easy to satisfy mobile friendly Chinese nice China ? honest
worry-free reticent funny nice general love-that-everyone-is-good ordinary
introverted happy ordinary American-Chinese adventurous nice & loud special
Chinese-American independent very cool patient selfish positive
biddings-of-Heaven following normal very simple good very tough mother
respectful special working every day multi-faceted layered nice kind mobile
happy (don’t know how to answer) happy good lazy hard-working kind
normal Chinese American Male interesting Hong Kong shy quiet good
blessed enthusiastic (don’t know) nice China China Nepalis good
troublesome not much self-confidence Hoi Jee Doi human tri-state

person

69 of them whom I came across with, and other
passers-by,
the residency-related ones, and
those who stay shortly

in
41 Ross,
Ross Alley.
In Chinatown, there are 8 streets and 11 alleys.

People’s words
their native languages
at a particular time and place
or intentionally gathered and recorded

(can be served in a fortune cookie – a paper strip and 6 numbers)

Everyone came (to Chinatown) from abroad, stayed till now, with an unknown future.

In performing arts, performances exist only for a fleeting moment, while field recordings record the vibrations of sound waves, and therefore their time can be repeated in different spaces. A community gathers people – who are they, and how are they creating the here-and-now (these three weeks)? Over my three-week stay in San Francisco, most of my time was spent and my memories are of Chinatown. I was curious about the people – as most had migrated from abroad, why they have came and stayed, and how would they introduce themselves to me, a passer-by?

People in stores / performers / students and youths / sellers and buyers in the wet market / a senator / lion dance performers and dancers / painters / traffic wardens / … I tried to start conversations with people whom I met in these 8 streets and 11 alleys with a fill-in-the-blank statement: “I am a _______ person”, and drew their outlines on the walls of the residency space.

Together the emigrants and the following-generation face the barrier of language, their communication lost in translation. Cantonese / Vietnamese / Taishanese / English / … each might understand most things but hardly say much. On the last day of the residency, during the sharing session, I invited the audiences to leave their nonverbal voices at 41 Ross.

Non-language sounds in 41 Ross

Other happenings left in the ears:

Temples’ Bells and Drums and Church’s Piano
The Hustle and Bustle in Bars and an Erhu Solo on the Street Corner
Remix of Twins’ Pop Song and Cantonese Opera
Happy Birthday Song A cappella (last line)
4 ways of saying “It’s time to eat”

Waverly Street Bells and Drums

Old Saint Mary’s Cathedral’s Piano

Vesuvio Bar

Erhu Solo on Street Corner

Remix of Twins Pop Song and Cantonese Opera

Happy Birthday Song A cappella (last line)

4 ways of saying “It’s time to eat”

was pregnant & helpless before, now I want to help the newbies There is freedom in the US
Worker Can do anything you like Migrated from Guangzhou for 30 years I can say
thank you in Cantonese Migrated from Guangdong for 40 years I’m 100 years old I
say what I think Laughing auntie Seldom talk Friends said I’m funny People
here are united Average & incompetent Worry-free, happy & no sufferings Never join
an army & did not do other things Seldom talk Art is living & life Not a big boss
Learning Cantonese through TVB Came alone from South Africa When I wake up
I yawn very loudly Not to be defined Art is essential for the soul Do stuff myself
Hold on till you make it A lot of capacity for waiting for people Self is always the first priority
Prefer looking on the bright side God knows, no revenge ‘Normal’ has a wide frame
Life is good, I’m good Look out for other people Raised my children on my own
Treating every person with respect Distinct & different Not telling any personal
stuff People can’t be defined in one word Thinking a lot about life
Trying to be a more considerate person Will help for 90% of the neighbors’ requests
Aren’t workers mobile? Happiest to look at the parks’ workers flowers Followed the trend
yet not knowing why I came here Happy living here Good Everyone is lazy We need
to adapt to the place If one is rude to me, I won’t do the same Everybody’s the
same I’m who I am, I’m a male Will find the fun stuff in everything Come to work
from Hong Kong My core can feel the need to be alone Do not like talking Good
tempered, good personality Got a lot of opportunity Always think about the good side of things
Self-claimed good, others oppose, who’s right? Nice is good I’m Chinese,
definitely not Vietnamese I came by plane, not swimming Parents are Nepalis
Helping others Tired of selling things, customers are troublesome Start not knowing who
I am… ABC in Taishanese (no explanation) New York, New Jersey, San Francisco

–

在三藩市華埠駐留的三個星期

喜歡幫助 容易滿足 流動 友善 華人 好 中國 ? 老實 無愁無憂
沈默 搞笑 好 一般 好鍾意每個人都過得好 普通 內向 快樂 平凡 美國華人
富冒險精神 好與響亮 特別 中華美 獨立 很酷 有耐性 自私 樂觀 樂知天命
普通 好簡單 好 好堅強的媽媽 尊重他人 特別 每天工作 多元 多面 好
善良 流動 開心 （唔識答） 開心 好 懶惰 勤力做事 善良 正常
華裔美國男人 有趣 香港 害羞 安靜 好 幸福 充滿熱情 （不知道） 好
中國 中國 尼泊爾 好 好麻煩 不是很有自信 土子仔 人類 三地

的人

69 個在地遇上的 與其他
經過駐留空間的
負責駐留空間與機構的
短暫駐留的

在
41 Ross
舊呂宋巷
華埠 8 街 11 巷

各人的話
各地的語言
特定時間地點發生的
特意聚集而錄下的

（或可配幸運曲奇、紙條與 6 個數字）

各人從各地走到這裏（華埠），留下直至現在，未知未來。

在表演藝術裏，作品只存在於發生的那𣊬間；田野錄音將𣊬間的聲音震動記下，時間便可重複於不同的空間。社區是人的聚集，他們是誰，又如何構成此刻（三個星期）的這裏？在三藩市的三個星期裏，我大部份的時間與記憶都在華埠，想知道這些從各地而來又選擇定居於此的人們，為何來又為何留下，他們又會如何向我這個外來人言說自己。

店裏的人、演奏的人、學生與小朋友、買菜賣菜的人、美國參議員、跳舞與舞獅的人、畫畫的人、維持交通的人… 我嘗試以「我是一個＿＿的人」這填充題開展對話，再於駐留空間的牆上刻劃在 8 街 11 巷遇到的他們的輪廓。

移民與移民的二代共同面對語言上的隔膜與缺失，難以完整表達的溝通，說廣東話的繼續說廣東話、越南話的越南話、台山話的台山話、英語的英語，互相聽得懂不少卻有很多說不出。在駐留的最後一天，我嘗試在「藝術家分享」的活動中邀請參與者留下他們在駐留空間裏非語言的發聲。

41 Ross 內非語言的發聲

其他耳朵遊走過而留下來發生過的：

寺廟的鈴鼓聲與教堂的琴聲
酒吧的喧鬧與街角的二胡獨奏
Twins 的風箏與風與粵劇唱曲 Remix
生日快樂歌合唱（最後一句）
4 位各自叫食飯的方式

天后廟街鈴鼓聲

聖母升天主教座堂琴聲

Vesuvio Bar

街角二胡獨奏

Twins 風箏與風與粵劇唱曲 Remix

生日快樂歌合唱（最後一句）

4 位各自叫食飯的方式

以前懷孕時到來沒人幫，想幫來的人 美國較自由 做工的人 任何人都可以做想做的事
從廣州移民 30 年 會廣東話的多謝 從廣東移民 40 年 我今年 100 歲了
心講那句，口講那句 大笑姑婆 平常不會說話 朋友說我搞笑 大家同聲同氣
普普通通、無本事 無憂無慮、開心唔捱苦 沒參軍、沒做過其他事 少說話
藝術是生活和生命 又不是大老闆 看 TVB 學廣東話 自己一個從南非到美國
起床時我都大聲打哈欠 不被定義的 藝術是靈魂的必需品 自己的事自己做
堅持直至做到為止 等人能等很久 很多事情先考慮自己 喜歡看事情好的一面
人在做天在看，千萬不要記仇 普通的框架好闊 生活好就好 會照顧其他人
一個人帶大仔女 尊重每一個人 不一樣與不同 私人的東西不說了
不能用一個字定義 常思考人生 嘗試做一個更體貼的人
街坊有甚麼要求 90% 都幫忙 做工不是流動嗎？ 行公園看花最開心
不知道為何跟風來了 住在這裡開心 好 每個人都這樣 我們要適應這個地方
當他人對我無禮，我不會以牙還牙 每個人都一樣 我是我，我是一個男人
會在一件事裏發掘有趣的東西 從香港過來工作 開放自己後都需要安靜的時間
不太喜歡講話 脾氣好人品好 獲得很多機會 會看事情好的一面
你說自己好，他人說你不好，如何說？ 好是好 一定是中國，我不是越南人
我不是游泳過來的 父母是尼泊爾人 幫助他人 賣東西好勞氣，客人都好麻煩
我都開始不太知道自己是… 台山話的番仔 （不解釋） 紐約、新澤西、三藩市