Come see the angels

In his current solo exhibition at IT Park, Erik Chen (陳正才) shows portraits of angels -- as he refers to the mentally impaired. "Hsi-haner (喜憨兒) [a modern Chinese euphemism for the mentally disabled] are all innocent and endowed with angelic qualities despite their human form," Chen said in an interview with Taipei Times.

Angelic Verses (天使詩篇) consists of two parts: Portraits of Angels -- Tokyo Version (天使的肖像 -- 東京版) and Exchange of Roses -- Angelic Verses (玫瑰交換計劃 -- 天使篇). Both parts can be seen as collaborated works whose creation relies as much on the hsi-haner as on Chen.

In the summer of 1999, Chen worked as an art instructor at a day center for the mentally impaired in Taipei. At the end of the three-month program, he made a 30-minute film of each of them sitting on a chair as a form of video portraiture. The tapes were then given them as a gift commemorating their encounter.

Three of the videos were later exhibited as Portraits of Angels in Taipei's Museum of Contemporary Art (當代藝術館) last year. The current Tokyo version is a continuation of that project.

In the dark gallery, two life-sized video portraits of hsi-haner are projected onto the opposing walls. For 30 minutes, they smile at something unknown, stare into the void, fall asleep, wake up, look around them, or even pick their ears.

Projected slightly above viewers' eye level, the portraits require the viewer to raise their head in order to look at them, like two guardian angels hovering above. However, these angels are apparently self-absorbed, not trying to present themselves to an invisible audience. "After some time of getting along with me before the shoot, they were free to show naturally the things about them that appeal to me," Chen said.

Exchange of Roses -- Angelic Verses consists of a photo collage of 40 portraits of Japanese hsi-haner, each holding a rose -- a symbol of love, and a photo collage pieced together with drawings of roses by the same people. Similar collages with subjects from Taiwan are placed in the same room.

The project started last year during Chen's stay in Japan for an artist exchange program. For the project, Chen first gave each hsi-haner a rose, took a photo of the person with the flower and then had him or her draw a picture of the rose blossom that was given to them.

Looking at the collages, one can clearly see the difference between hsi-haner in Taiwan and in Japan. Growing up and living in homes for the mentally impaired, Japan's hsi-haner seem more uninhibited in expressing their emotions. Some exhibit great excitement in posing for photos, flaunting their roses like newfound treasures.

By comparison, their Taiwanese counterparts, who are taught to live their lives like normal people with their families, appear quite somber and some even depressed.

Although not the first Taiwanese artist to make marginalized groups a subject matter, which is most famously exemplified by Chang Chien-chi's (張乾琦) The Chain photo series taken in Lungfatang mental asylum, his emphasis is more human than aesthetic. "It took a lot of communication between myself, the hsi-haner, their parents and the caretakers before the photo and video project could begin. They all first had to trust me," Chen said.

With genuine interaction in mind, Chen does not mean these portraits as social commentary. These works are more of a record of Chen's encounter with a group of people who are seldom seen as individuals.