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We began to realize that the changes brought about by the earthquake existed not only in collapsed buildings and altered landscapes, but had also entered the bodies of those who live here. We did not know exactly what had changed, so we chose once again to approach these questions through our bodies.

Following the path of driftwood, we traced the journey of these trees from the mountains to the coast. We collected driftwood along the shoreline and carried it upstream, returning to the water source where the landscape had been dramatically transformed after the earthquake. There, on the riverbed, we began to sketch. We turned the driftwood into makeshift easels on site. Some works were made on paper, while others were painted directly onto stones gathered from the stream.

A Forest Without Leaves describes the landscape found along the coast, where large numbers of trees accumulate on the beach. They once grew in the mountains, but have since lost their leaves and their original place. Carried away by the water, they gather elsewhere and form another kind of forest.

We attempted to retrace the routes from which they had come. Through walking, carrying, observing, and drawing, we sought to experience the complex relationship between natural disaster, the environment, and the human body. In this process, we gradually came to understand that physically arriving at a site and sketching there was not simply a means of documentation, but also a process through which we could begin to heal and understand ourselves.

When the work was exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei, we transported a large quantity of driftwood collected from the coast of Hualien to Taipei. The driftwood covered the exhibition space, extending through the corridor and across the walls. Several large pieces stood vertically from floor to ceiling. At the center of the installation, a video documented the process of the action. The scent of the wood lingered in the air. Through these elements, we attempted to regenerate within the exhibition space a physical and sensory experience of the landscape.