Kaohsiung puts on a show, divides critics

Effort centers on imitating a broken junk-yard car engine. If this is a current trend, then is it meritorious for artists or juries to follow trends? Whither independence or taste?

Third prize went to Swiss potter Arnold Annen whoseTranslucent Porcelain Bowl invites light to shine through thin walls (1mm to 1.5mm) revealing abstract designs in graduated thickness. This is the anhua technique perfected in Song Dynasty China a millennium back, and is here given a handsome modern look, white on white in a natural asymmetrical balance.

There are a few other works of high originality that extol the qualities and capabilities unique to earth-fired art -- aspects not possible for other media -- but alas, these have been far too few, and not honored.

Exhibition notes:

What: Taiwan's first international ceramics biennale

Where: Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts Galleries, 101-103, 80 Meishukuan Road, Kaohsiung (高雄市鼓山區美術館路80號). Telephone: (07) 555 0331.

When: Until Sept. 12, 9am to 5pm (closed Mondays).