Participating Artists
Chou Yu-Cheng, Joyce Ho, Chen Ching-Yuan
Routine Displacement
In this seemingly diverse and mundane daily life, lurking below the surface is often an atmosphere of reluctant submission. Such an atmosphere will eventually silence and suppress our society in the face of crisis.Contemporary artists have created a gap, using art as a means to denote and approach aspects of reality that are concealed by mechanisms of order and status, allowing viewers to view a situation from an objective, unprejudiced perspective. In this year's Taipei Dangdai, TKG+ is pleased to present works by Chou Yu-Cheng, Joyce Ho, and Chen Ching-Yuan. These three artists explore themes pertaining to living conditions, daily perceptions, and political metaphors to discuss the anxieties and unseen crises that underlie contemporary life.
For example, in his new work Electroplating, Flowing, Soil, Fusion, Rice, Malformation, Toxins, Care, Regulations, Chou Yu-Cheng (b. 1976) continues his practice of developing titles as a list of core concepts addressed in a particular work, a method which allows the concepts to resonate and be reinforced through language. In this work, massive grains of white rice appear scattered upon a background of electroplated gold. By conflating these two common but conflicting substances — one being edible and the other highly toxic — Chou unearths complex relations between economics, social norms, and health regulations surrounding the topic of land pollution.
As for Joyce Ho (b. 1983), who garnered critical acclaim earlier this year for her solo exhibition at the OzAsia Festival in Australia, she presents new work Animalized, where the artist uses her left ring finger to deposit and smear bright blue ink on a white tabletop in a series of pensive, ritualistic gestures. The stark white background, anxious movements, and unsettling noises evoke the anxieties of modern people as we vacillate between our desires to maintain regularity and freedom. This tendency to probe into the discomforts and disturbances hidden in everyday actions has long defined Ho’s artistic philosophy.
Finally, in continuation of his “Card Stunt” series, Chen Ching-Yuan (b. 1984) brings a new work that depicts a type of collective performance often staged during major national sporting events. However, by portraying only one small section of the crowd, the artist reveals the disorder which lurks beneath the surface of these carefully choreographed performances. Drawing upon his childhood memories of participating in similar productions, Chen conveys how these spectacular displays of individualism dissolving into collectivism reflect how authoritarian ethics still exist at different levels of culture in modern society.
For Taipei Dangdai 2020, TKG+ brings together the works of three artists, each of whom presents a unique interpretation of contemporary living conditions, to describe the shifting roles and functions of contemporary art in everyday life. By dissecting familiar and ordinary phenomena and magnifying the discomforts hidden within them, artists Chou Yu-Cheng, Joyce Ho, and Chen Ching-Yuan prompt viewers to question and reflect upon the limitations of their perceptions and expand our notions of reality.
During Taipei Dangdai, PLUS X, a group exhibition, is also on view at TKG+ in Neihu, which runs until January 22, 2020. The commemorative show features 13 artists — including Chou Yu-Cheng, Joyce Ho, and Chen Ching-Yuan — who have collaborated with TKG+ over the past decade to create a richer network of art by presenting the aesthetic expressions of contemporary art through multiple perspectives.
