Image art, according to Wang Chia-chi (王嘉驥), a prominent curator in Taiwan, is as prevalent and significant today as painting was in previous stages of art history. To give a sampling of how contemporary Taiwanese artists have used digital media to create their image art, Wang has gathered the works of six artists working in photography, video and computer imaging in Simulation -- the poetics of imaging in the technology age (造境 -- 科技年代的影像詩學).
The exhibition, currently on show at Hong-gah Museum (
The six artists include Gu Shih-yung (
PHOTO COURTESY OF HONG-GAH MUSEUM
A key word in traditional Chinese aesthetics, "simulation," refers to the landscape painters' attempts to create a poetic ambience based on the raw images that visible nature affords them.
"Using electronic and digital media, the artists create something out of nothing. Their virtual universes are not based on experience in the real world and are not making references to daily life. Neither are they reflections of society," Wang said.
Wang's words are most relevant to Wu Chi-tzung's Wire, a variation on his Taipei Arts Award-winning work of the same title. When adjusting the lens of a projector he put together, Wu discovered by accident the intriguing images a piece of twisted wire can project when the lens' focus is moved up and down.
Having previously worked on Chinese ink paintings, Wu found the partly blurred projections of the wire had a striking similarity to the atmosphere of traditional ink landscapes. Like the flowing outlines of mountains surrounded by blank space, the projections provoke a sense of wonder.
Next time, Wu wrapped the wire on a slowly running wheel with a fixed lens, to produce similar effects. By displaying the projector, which appears to be a stylish work of sculpture in its own right, in front of the screen, Wu's "simulation" is not just an effort to represent the natural world but to reveal the aesthetic aspects of mechanical devices.
Yuan Guang-ming shot his 2000 video Floating by attaching his camera -- around head height -- to a small boat. Yuan rocked, vertically rotated and even capsized the boat, allowing the camera to capture sights that could only be seen underwater. The unusual perspective makes the video a poetic simulation not of the world we see but of a hidden one visible only to the digital device.
For a brief mental trip assisted by techno sounds and digital images, viewers can lie down inside the human-size capsule that is Hung Tong-lu's (
`Simulation -- the poetics of imaging in the technology age' will run until Dec. 28 at Hong-gah Museum, 5F, No. 260 Dayei Rd, Peitou (台北市北投區大業路260號5樓).
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