Raxal Mu, Glitch Me (My land, glitched Me)
Interactive Webpage
2021
In pan-Atayal language, raxal mu means my land, and glitch me, as its literal meaning suggests, refers to a malfunction (glitched) self. Raxal Mu, Glitch Me (https://raxal-mu.glitch.me) is part of the art project Perhaps She comes from/to ______Alang. The artist develops an entire webVR space (presented on the website) to realize Cyber Ethnography. Meanwhile, Raxal Mu Glitch Me also attempt to resonate with the theme of Digital Art Festival Taipei with the artist’s profound website creation; perhaps the pandemic allows a conventional escape-route to the digital space, but those forced to separate their loved ones due to historical and social forces have no other choice than the digital space.
Perhaps, she comes from/to ____ Alang combines three narratives of the artist to re-examine her identity, gender, ethnicity, oral storytelling, land loss, and the displacement from land loss. The work's inspiration draws from the oral narrative describing Temahahoi, a tribe and a place where only women live. The artist fused the narrative with a story she heard from her tribal elders: a tale that speaks of the colonizers' brass pot and its mystical ability to cause infertility in the tribes. Combining the two oral narratives, the work reflects identity (ethnicity and gender) and the experience of forced displacement. The work that relies on a virtual space, an actual internet address (https://raxal-mu.glitch.me), hence becomes an embodiment of the artist's most profound desire of finding a personal belonging, a "sense of place," and her "cultural landscape." The internet address will expand as Lin's cultural knowledge grows; it will be a long and prosperous journey.
