Seeing between the lines

An installation at the Whashang Art District explores notions of space and emptiness

Two dynamic solo exhibitions, currently on view in Taipei, challenge the viewer to look not at the obvious, but at the space between objects. Since we are trained to consume media images, it takes a slight shift of perception for us to pay full attention to the non-image. The two featured artists, Chen Chun-ming (陳俊明) and Walis Wu (吳鼎武), guide us on a delightful journey of enhanced perception through space and time.

The cluster of abandoned liquor factories that now make up the Whashang Art District (華山藝術特區) provides a cavernous exhibition space for Chen, who also teaches spatial design. For his installation titled In-between, Chen achieves a balance of empty and full, simple and complex.

Playing off the factory's architecture and its set of arched doorways, Chen has also divided his installation into three parts: a video projection of two electric fans, an interactive seesaw installation, and words projected on three screens. The edges of the space are immersed in darkness, while the central portion is bathed in glowing light with a shiny, reflective metal floor on which are placed five 4.5m seesaws. These are not mere toys. Their large size distorts the normal experience of gravity, giving the sensation of being simultaneously rooted in the ground and flying.

The video projection at the far end of the space -- adapted from a previous exhibition -- shows rotating, noisy fans. A large floor fan faces a smaller wall-mounted fan. Both are linked at the blades by three red cords. The different rotation speeds of the blades cause the cords to alternately become entangled and then disentangle.

At the opposing end of the space, contrasting words in English or Chinese such as "black" and "white," "import" and "export," or "home" and "homeless" are projected on panels attached to the wall. The center panel, however, remains empty, offering the viewer reflective space to ponder the juxtapositions presented by the words.

The exhibition consistently returns to the concept of "the middle" with situations or spaces that allow for reflection on the relationships between objects or ideas. In-between implies two opposing sides, so as we balance ourselves in life, Chen suggests that we focus, not on the extremes, but on the central areas.

At Chen's opening, two French dancers Maxime Iannarelli and Yasmine Hugonnet, improvised dance movements and precariously balanced themselves on the seesaws to create a focal point for Chen's exhibition. Their movements alluded to the uniting and unraveling of the fans' cords from the video.

The two dancers will be conducting a dance and movement workshop at Whashang Art District from Feb. 15 to Feb. 22. Call (02) 8809-1391 for further information and reservations.

Walis Wu reflects on his Aboriginal roots, but all he can see are shadows

Walis Wu (吳鼎武) draws on his own Aboriginal heritage for his conceptual art installations. For this poignant exhibition titled "The Invisible Project -- Y2K+1," Wu digitally altered hundred-year old ethnographic photographs of the "friendly natives" of Taiwan and he transformed the black, white and sepia-toned textbook images, hung scroll-like, into a pseudo-anthropological exhibition.

A Tayal Aboriginal Woman Working on her Weaving shows the handiwork in the foreground, while the weaver has disappeared; yet, her tools seem suspended in mid-air. In other photographs, only the stereotypical artifacts such as men's war toys like bows and clubs, and women's weaving instruments and adornments remain, while the human has been erased and obliterated from this history.