眷村為台灣歷史結構下所產生的獨特文化，乃1949年國民黨來臺灣後的圈地型軍眷住所，從暫時性聚落、再因政治因素與時代氛圍成為久居之地，然而在1996年的改建條例實行後，大量眷村面臨搬遷、拆除，逐漸從移民聚落轉變成為都市異質邊緣空間，最終成為一片破碎荒地。

《在熱帶，》收錄了由呂易倫與林羿綺在2011到2016年間「左營計劃」駐地紀錄，這是一個生活於位在熱帶的左營眷村所經歷的一段遷徙敘事。在這五年間，藝術家們完整見證多個村落興衰，從住戶眾多到搬遷成為空城，再到拆除時刻，面對幾近於荒地的遺址中，透過日記式散記與大量影像紀錄，體現了創作上的變化與在荒地所觸及的異質田野經驗。

而「熱帶」的概念突顯台灣境內跨越了兩種氣候類型，型塑南北截然不同的生活樣態，跨越到熱帶除了地理相對位置的改變外，身體的適應感知調整也讓作者和左營有著無法言說之親密感知。

Military dependents’ village is a unique cultural landscape and a product of structural historical factors in Taiwan. After the Kuomintang (KMT) party retreated to Taiwan in 1949, housing for soldiers and their dependents were built hastily in enclosed areas. These provisional communities ended up becoming permanent settlements due to political and historical circumstances. Since the passage of the Act for Rebuilding Old Quarters for Military Dependents in 1996, however, many of them faced being relocated or torn down. These immigrant communities slowly turned into marginalized urban heterotopias, eventually becoming fragmented wastelands.  

The book In Tropical, documents artists Lu Yi-Lun and Lin Yi-Chi’s “Zuoying Project,” a long-term project running from 2011 to 2016 in which a migration narrative about life in a military dependents’ village in tropical Zuoying is presented. During these five years, artists witness the rise and fall of many villages —from populated communities to ghost towns as people move away; from ghost towns to desolate historical sites after teardowns. Their creative trajectories and fieldwork in heterotopic wastelands are reflected in their journaling and a large amount of visual documentation.

Moreover, the idea, “tropical,” highlights the range of two climates in Taiwan. Tropical and subtropical climates shape different ways of life in the South and the North. When someone travels into the tropical area, not only their geographical location changes but also their bodily senses adapt, which results in an indescribable intimate resonance between artists and Zuoying.