English

The Dream of Zeng Zi Liao／2017-2018／ performance,mix media

The Dream of Zeng Zi Liao was a mockumentary which began with a Taiwanese Imperial Japan Serviceman played by Chen bought a melon in the market. The story was based on the imagination of past and Zeng Zi Liao’s local legend. In the end, a woman as a storyteller who told her dream about Japan Serviceman and her indicated the subjectivity of Taiwan and identify thinking.

Jin Man Sheng 2.0 & Fan Hai Fu Meng／2016／ performance,mix media

Jin Man Sheng 2.0 is an art project launched by Chen Kuan-Ying, artist Ni Shiang, and artist Chiou Tz-Yan in Juwan, Penghu. Local people, shipbuilders, and foreign workers in Juwan were strongly connected to shipbuilding industries. They showed how they lived with the ocean from past till now. We rebuilt the boat Jin Man Sheng docked at Juwan harbor which was about to be scrapped, giving it a new life between death and rebirth.
Fan Hai Fu Meng is a video work of Chen Kuan-Ying extended from Jin Man Sheng 2.0. Pretended himself as a foreign worker, Chen recorded his dreams every day. Furthermore, he invited foreign workers who worked in local shipbuilding factory to write down their life experience on the clothes. Combine foreign workers’ life experience and Chen’s dream, an experience story between local people and foreign people has been created.

Hidden Artist／2015／performance,video,printmaking

Hidden Artist is a creation plan extended from Here Is The Artist. Co-op with the homeless people, the author recorded every event took place. These records were not only descriptions of events and emotion. It’s like the spirit of a documentary which put the emphasis on the recording process. By re-examining the co-op process and relationship with an outcast, the author reflected on himself and the society, exploring the status of the artist in society. Then, it became a dialogue creation, a conversation between inside and outside of the art system.
The form of creation can be divided into two parts, print and video performance. There were 8 pieces of print which formed a serial story. The background of the story is based on Here Is The Artist. It records the emotion between the author and the homeless people he met. The combination of past photos and graffiti drawn by homeless people made the pictures full of stories. The print was made of photopolymer board and oily ink with chromaticity printing. Video performance is based on the imagination of homeless people (Jeng Li-Yi) who used to work for paper play. Jeng, acted as a storyteller, combined the handmade wood box stage with modified bicycle, told the story Here Is The Artist.

Here Is The Artist／2014-2015／performance,video

Here Is The Artist is a co-op art project with homeless people. During the military service, I met a homeless person who had wandered in the streets several years. I discovered the way he thought and the pure emotion he had in our conversation. His life attitude was far away from socialization. The way he lived was full of original power strongly attracted me, as an academic artist. To me, he is a live art, reminding me to rethink many things. What’s the breakthrough of non-academic art? What is “Art” to the public? What character is the artist in the society? Therefore, I accompanied my homeless friend to visit the museum and art museum he had never been to in this project, in order to show him what was so called “Art” nowadays. And, we held the placard “The Artist Is Here” in front of the museum. Moreover, I invited him to attend the exhibition “1st Free Art Fair”. He played the role as an artist during the exhibition, creating artworks right there. And me, as his assistant, I helped to sell the works he made (money belongs to him). That means I jumped out of the artist identity and my homeless friend became the artist. By blurring the identity, I try to find a dialogue creation, a conversation between inside and outside of the art system

Turn it on: Scavengers／2013／performance,video

Whether an artist is completed under the artistic frame? Should art be appreciated at certain places? There is no doubt that an old grandma seldom visits places like museums and galleries, where only certain artists and well-educated people would visit. To me, I care more about how the public faces the fine art. Because they think totally different from the field, there are more chances to have critical thinking among them. All in all, I devoted to find out novel possibility outside the frame.
Thus, I designed a flowing exhibition. The used bicycle (as described previously) was reformed into a <white box> like any art place. This moving gallery needed no application and requirement. Anyone could complete independently. From the proceeding by individuals, one could get anywhere to perform the exhibition.

Recycling Plan- A Box／2013／performance,video

When artworks walk into the system, is it no longer “ART”?
Recycling Plan- A Box is a mobile art project. At first, the origin idea of A Box was a big box developed diagram constructed of several little boxes which were put in the exhibition. It’s like a dead body cover by art lay in the cold art mortuary with soul disappeared. Remain the empty body for people to use and watch. Second, the expiration date of A Box was seven days. After 7 days, the edge of the box would be attached by a tape as a tradition rite for the first seven days after death. In the end, the box was sold to the recycling field, returning to the origin. It was the dialectic relations from the art system to recycling system. The paper boxes were totally sold 25 dollars during the transaction and received the hand-writing receipt and the business card from the recycling field. The receipt, the money I got, and the record were presented in the exhibition again. Therefore, the process of this recycling plan and re-exhibition completed Recycling Plan- A Box.

Daily Commodities Series／2013／readymade,printmaking

Daily Commodities Series are derived from my living habit. I collect all beverage cans I’ve drunk such as bottles, retort pouches, and aluminum cans. Crushed by the print machine, the beverage cans became an object blook. Through gravure printing namely viscosity intaglio printmaking skill, I printed the object blook on hand sheets, generating a new visual vocabulary. Then, I started to collect the commodities’ packing paper box like biscuit box, tissue paper box, and medicine box, replacing hand sheets with unfolded boxes. That meant I printed the beverage can as an object blook on the unfolded boxes. During the creation, I cared more about the way I turned the waste to the art craft, not just the visual vocabulary I got after printed. In other words, art became a power to “restart” these wastes, making them no longer wastes but dialectical medium.

Yuan-Fu-Ling program-Sonata／2013／performance,video

The idea of Sonata comes from the narrow country road. When cars pass the road, the driver has to honk the horn in order to avoid the traffic jam. So, I used the sound as a medium, inviting the villagers to form a band. Motorcycles were the instruments and the industrial zone was the stage. The villagers performed a rebel song. It was a symbolization of people to stand up and defend their right against the powerful industrial zone which stationed there. Also, it reexamined the urbanization, the problems between humans and the environment. Furthermore, I went back to the voice itself, trying to create a new conversation.

Yuan-Fu-Ling program-Landscaping／2013／performance,photography

Landscaping is a photography and painting activity. I found a common dictionary, XINHUA ZIDIAN, in the village. It became a material in my creation process. I cut the word “Qiang” and “Quan” out, which meant strong power in English. That was villagers’ feeling toward the industrial zone and government. Different to normal painting which overlaps the original image, I used two skills “fill in” and “make up”. I pasted the words “Qiang” and “Quan” on my hand, tampering the slogan “Drugs are the hazards of human society” to “Strong powers are the hazards of human society” with the dislocation photograph. Also, I made up the holes left in the dictionary with the photo of the industrial zone. This two photography and painting activities convey the anger to the industrial zone and the super power of Chinese government’ politic with sarcasm and re-think the possibility of conversation and authority relationship between villagers and the industrial zone. What does the word “strong power” mean?

Yuan-Fu-Ling program-The Road／2013／performance,video

During a three-week artist-in-residence, I interviewed the land and collected a waste carpet from every family. I requested everyone to sign on it and took a picture in front of their homes. 31 carpets were gathered, which in total were 70 meters long. I talked to them tried to figure out their opinion toward the entering of factory. Finally, with the help of villagers, the old carpets were sewed in one, which belonged to a historic path.

Treasure Hunting／2012／performance,video

To me, artist is a kind of flowing vendor. We pick up the waste, and using it as material to create artwork. From the process of discarding and refusing, it could be transferred into an acceptable artwork. Furthermore, the ‘waste’ exists through the business in museum and gallery. The relationship between collector, artist and gallery is pretty similar to consumer, vendor and market. The difference is that the vendor is prohibited.

Those People／2012／video

Those People is a short documentary. I’ve met some scavengers sold the recycling and some people bought second-hand goods when I stayed in the recycling field in Kaohsiung. I met a store owner in flea market through serendipity. And, I got to know how flea market on the Shiquan Rd., Kaohsiung has survived.
These mobile vendors have stayed in the gray area for long times. But, it also became a special local culture. However, because of the government’s urban planning, these people can’t stay there anymore. The original vendor culture was about to disappear. Therefore, I started a five-month field research, asking the mobile vendors about their future plan and how to survive through interviewing, video recording, photographing, recording, and shooting sneaky. In observer’s perspective, I tried to understand vendors’ situation and the consumption systems between vendors, customers, and cops.

The Temperature of Sofa／2012／cans, installation

The Temperature of Sofa is about selling the recycling to recycling field with scavengers. I did some research with action. I found out that some people were truly poor, they had to make some extra money after work through recycling; some people did the recycling because of the early working habit; only few people live on recycling. In the course of observation, I started thinking the meaning of wastes. Is it any possibility for art?
I’ve collected many cans and squashed them into aluminum bricks after I saw the crushing machine which helped to save the space in the recycling field. Those bricks became my materials. I constructed an object, a hard sofa in Dogpig Art Café with aluminum bricks and invited the attendance to feel the object. Furthermore, when people sit on the sofa which made of recycling, it connected with underprivileged people. The interaction between people and the object.