Sounding like the name of a breakfast cereal, Post-e Era is the second part of a group show curated by artist Wong Chi-Feng (翁基峰), currently on view at Dimension Endowment of Art.
In both installments, focus is brought on how the artist utilizes new technology such as computer-generated imagery and on video installations. The exhibition also emphasizes the commonplace position of video technology in our lives.
PHOTO: MANRAY HSU
Upon entering the darkened space of Peng Anne-Anne's (彭安安) installation the viewer is overcome by a jumble of large projected images on the three walls. Taking a moment to get your bearings, the randomness of flickering imagery begins to merge into a comprehensible pattern. On the far left wall, close-ups of an inquisitive eyeball and a rising and falling navel flow into images of a woman doing yoga exercises and another person smoking, all to be replaced by images of rushing water.
PHOTO: MANRAY HSU
On the floor nearby is a small white mattress. On this are projected images of a baby sleeping or a man floating face down in a swimming pool conveying an impression of the bed and a pool as places for floating reveries.
On the main wall, projected on broken fragments of rustic French furniture, is a speeded-up video of a man engaged in common activities such as sitting, typing, talking and walking. Connecting the man's filmed daily activities with the pieces of domestic furniture which are also shown does not require too big a leap into the metaphorical pond.
Three mannequin torsos stand against the right wall with projected scenes of shoppers at a clothing boutique. The video images are shown at various speeds, with the mattress section containing the least amount of movement. Peng's depictions of daily life, from its mundane movements such as blinking to its more engaging elements such as shopping, are mimicked by the varying speeds of the projections. Peng seems to tell us to bring wakeful mindfulness to our everyday activities whether they are fast or slow, tedious or fun.
Artist Chou Hsin-Hung (周信宏) mostly works in video and as a result, is amassing a sizable collection of television sets. For his installation in the downstairs of the gallery, the viewer enters a darkened room, which is filled with the unintelligible sound of many voices. Arrayed in a circle like relics are 12 television monitors perched atop black columns. In the center of this arena twirls a glittering mirrored ball. It feels at once like walking into an ancient pagan ritual or a deranged version of karaoke. The monitors each display the image of a large singing mouth surrounded by beads of sweat. Even though all 12 monitors show the same face, the colors are different ranging from acid green to muted blue.
At first, one hears a man crooning only numbers -- "san, chi, wu," (three, seven, five) -- but soon other voices join him in loud unison. Some of the voices have been distorted but one can clearly hear a woman's and an old man's voice.
The installation is visually striking, simple, yet bold. Recently, karaoke has been a popular theme in the avant-garde art world, partly because it touches on themes of originality, authorship and celebrity. For Chou, he has made his paean to technology seem futuristic and anciently mystical at the same time.
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