Wang Yu-Song

王煜松 

Keelung is a city shaped by constant movement.

Cargo, fish, fishing nets, birds, and the people passing through the harbor all exist here only temporarily. They arrive, leave behind subtle traces, and move on. Like a vast distribution hub, the city continuously accumulates its own history through cycles of gathering and dispersal.

The installation is constructed primarily from expanded polystyrene (EPS) fish boxes commonly found in local fish markets. Originally used to transport seafood, each box bears printed names of fish species, commercial markings, and traces of previous use. Some of the boxes are filled with concrete, transforming these lightweight, temporary containers into objects of weight while preserving rainwater marks, pigeon footprints, and other traces formed naturally during the construction process. These unpredictable imprints resemble archaeological remnants, preserving fragments of events that once occurred but have gradually faded from memory.

Rather than relying on conventional construction methods, the work is built through a manual and additive process. After filling each EPS fish box with concrete, I carried and stacked every unit by hand, allowing the installation to gradually emerge through repeated acts of lifting, transporting, and assembling. In this process, my body functions simultaneously as builder and transporter, and the work takes shape through accumulated physical labor. This slow and repetitive method of construction echoes the formation of archaeological sites and ancient settlements, which are not created in a single moment but gradually built through countless acts of labor, habitation, and accumulation over time.

The completed installation forms a landscape situated somewhere between a city, an archaeological site, and a fish market. From a distance, it resembles stacks of cargo waiting to be unloaded at the harbor. Up close, it begins to read like a three-dimensional architectural drawing of a city under construction. Composed of EPS boxes, concrete, and plants, the work simultaneously evokes architecture, ruins, and archaeological remains, allowing different layers of time to coexist within a single space.

Rather than recreating Zhengbin Fishing Harbor, Layer by Layer reflects on how a port city gradually constructs its history through the circulation, accumulation, and temporary presence of materials. What appears to be transient ultimately becomes part of the city's collective memory. Likewise, every act of carrying and stacking becomes both a gesture of construction and a way of understanding the city through the body.