Finalist
Refresh, Sacrifice, New Hygiene, Infection, Clean, Robot, Air, Housekeeping, jackercleaning.com, Cigarette, Dyson, Modern People III
Date
2018.05.12–2018.07.08
Venue
TKG+
Commentator
WANG Sheng-Hung
Comments on the Finalist
Chou Yu-Cheng’s highly precise conceptual approach expands how the forms and types of artworks are defined in the present-day field of art, and discovers a route of practice that is truly inspiring. Reminiscent of the unique “infectious agent” in social relations, the artist creates works that combine material resources, labor, service and even commercial brands in one space and form an atypical “cross-industry alliance.” Whether it is the handmade noodles from the mountainous area of Shiding in Taipei or the cleaning robot sponsored by a home appliance brand, all these elements encounter with each other in harmony within the framework of the exhibition, forming an ingenious mode of resource management and exchange. His distinctive problematic not only enables him to freely express his talents in art practice, but also continuously stirs the prevailing conception of the relations in art production.
Finalist
NIU Jun-Qiang Solo Exhibition 2018
Date
2018.12.08–2019.01.20
Venue
TKG+ Projects
Commentator
SING Song-Yong
Comments on the Finalist
The allure of NIU Jun-Qiang Solo Exhibition 2018 lies in its display of an ingenious tug-of-war between two forces: when a single-channel video is transformed into a misleading scheme, the arrangement that the exhibition claims to show creates an absent artwork. What is a visible artwork, or in this case, one that is present? The answer to this question is intricately linked with the artist’s personal religious belief and his anxiety about losing his eyesight. The image and sound of the video, which is meticulously and thoroughly thought out, connects the space within and without the exhibition, and merges reality and imagination as well as the tactile world and that of the spiritual. The arrangement of a particular corner in the exhibition drains the anticipation of the audience: does the described motion image really exist? Or, does it only exist in one’s imagination, memory and consciousness? Oscillating between blindness and bearing witness, NIU Jun-Qiang Solo Exhibition 2018 reveals a brilliant debate on the elusive and changing relations between religion and art, the church and the white box, as well as presence and illusion.
