Shadow Puppeteer: Jam Wu Solo Exhibition
Dates
7 OCTOBER 2023 - 27 JANUARY 2024
Reception
7 OCTOBER (SAT.) 4:30 P.M.
Venue
TKG+ B1, No. 15, Ln. 548, Ruiguang Rd., Neihu Dist., Taipei 11492, Taiwan
Mysterious shadows lurking in various scenes in life; we catch a glimpse and lose sight of them in the next moment, somehow still able to decipher their physical form. Taking place in an underground exhibition venue, Jam Wu: Shadow Puppeteer employs shadows as puppets, rendering the core of subconsciousness in the human body. Shadow Puppeteer (2023), the main installation in this exhibition, comprises lofty screens scattered in the space, where the “shadow puppets” ritualistically guide the viewer around, evoking the monochromatic environment from Through the Walls (2021), his previous solo exhibition at TKG+ Projects. Artificial color spectrums are refracted in this desolate altered state, while agile silhouettes alternate between dance moves and instinctive motions, becoming shadows steeped in symbolic intent. Under Sunlight (2023), on the other hand, documents the performers’ forms under natural light. Each of these bodies embarks on a journey of their own life, as if emerging from a wormhole towards the end of the exhibition space, encountering an everyday moment of sunset.
The artist’s notes during rehearsals of these works are as follows:
Shadow Puppeteer: The twilight of a mystic
Cave Digger: Before a new kind of despair comes in a renewed form
Nomad: Futuristic ruins, synchronously logging out
Soul Harbinger: In harmony with the mundane
Alter Ego and I in the Eyes of Others: Hence a visceral depression
Grandmother: Just like that, the scene was switched
.
Wallwalker: The others involved in the others
Puppeteer: Sea of chaos, coming with empty hands
Vagabond: I freshen up, I unfold
Aphasic: Crevice, backlight, and wall of authority
Angel of Suffering: Reality and imagery perplexingly entwined
The Stateless: A sentient spirit that has been extracted
.
Pattern Cutter: I once gently touched the warm sand
Well Digger: Deep into the woods linger the haunting shadows
Sound Mimicker: God’s Meta Eye
Ferryman: An inverted sentence made of imagery
Draftsman: The inevitable fusion of voiceprints and hoofbeats
Snow Shoveler: If dreams are the reassembly of memories
About the Performers:
Wei Cheng - Shadow Puppeteer
Wei Cheng graduated from the School of Dance, Taipei National University of the Arts. A dance teacher and a freelance performer, she is petite with explosive energy, blending multiple disciplines, while evoking the viewer’s emotion with her precision of movement.
She has been in Leigh Warren’s Esprit de Corps and Of Any If And, Bryan Arias’ The Sky Seen from the Moon, Renaissance of Its Ashes by Meiimage Dance, The Wind Rises by WCdance, and Eat History by Dashing Theater. In 2022, Cheng created her first solo performance 1997 Cheng Ya Wen.
Wei-Han Li - Shadow Puppeteer
Wei-Han Li studied at the School of Dance, Taipei National University of the Arts. He was a dancer in WCdance and Cloud Gate. Known for his grace and agility, he is focused on the essence of performance and the underlying philosophical intention. He is engaged in different creative fields as an independent performer.
He has been in Lunar Halo by Cloud Gate, Dimensions Variable by Ming-Cheng Lee in NEXT: Taishin Arts Award 20th Anniversary Exhibition, Current/y by Yi Chen x Hsiao-Tsi Tian, as well as Freesteps — Sunlight, Trajectory, Figures by Wei-Chia Su.
Chien-Yao Liao - Under Sunlight
A freelance performer, Chien-Yao Liao graduated from the School of Dance, Taipei National University of the Arts. With a fondness for improvisation, he finds grace and power across diverse styles in cross-disciplinary performance.
He has been in The Landless Events by Ghost Mountain Ghost Shovel; Formless Erosion by Hung Dance; Unintentional by George Liang of Dance Shoe; Monster by Po-Hsiang Chuang, Art Makers Project of Cloud Gate Foundation; Anonymous by Ming-Long Yang of Focus Dance Company; Unfold Unpaid by Chen-Wei Lee. His independent choreography projects include Self-Awareness, Unknown Creation, and It is not true. He received a gold medal for the 2021 Korea International Contemporary Dance Competition.
Sunteck Yao - Under Sunlight
Sunteck Yao graduated from the Department of Foreign Language and Literature, National Chung Cheng University, Chiayi, Taiwan; and Department of Theater Studies, Sorbonne Nouvelle University, Paris, France. He received training of corporeal mime founded by Étienne Decroux at centers such as Hippocampe and L’Atelier de Belleville.
In 2011, he embarked on a Journey of Mime in rural China on a grant from the Wanderer project of Cloud Gate Foundation. He founded L'Enfant S. Physical Theatre in 2012, through which he brings mime performance to the rural parts of Taiwan. In recent years, he has been devoted to children and youth welfare and education. He has produced and created projects, such as Children, Flesh and Blood, and The Museum.
Mei-Hua Hsueh - Under Sunlight
Mei-Hua Hsueh graduated from National Taiwan College of Performing Arts and National Taiwan University of Arts. A seasoned puppeteer, puppetry director, and theater teacher, she has extensive experience in directing, having directed over 30 productions. She has participated in over 20 international art festivals. She studied wayang kulit, or traditional Indonesian puppet-shadow play, and wayang golek, or rod puppetry, at STSI Art School in Surakarta, Indonesia on a grant from the Wanderer project of Cloud Gate Foundation.
