Wang Chi-sui’s (王綺穗) introspective paintings of rain are currently on display at Meet Art Space. But Gazing Breath (凝息) is not just a series of rainy day scenes. Rather, Wang imbues many of her own personal thoughts and emotions in each piece. The idea is that when we’re gazing out into a landscape, we’re not just admiring a pretty scene. Our minds are also processing our surroundings as we project our own thoughts onto what we see. In other words, it’s human nature to draw comparisons with other places we’ve seen in the past. Wang also explores the idea of memory, where rain underscores the idea that the further away from the past we get, the more our memory blurs.
■ Meet Art Space (藝聚空間), 4, Aly 17, Ln 170, Zhongxiao E Rd Sec 4, Taipei City (台北市忠孝東路四段170巷17弄4號), tel: (02) 8773-0633. Open daily from 11am to 7pm
■ Until Oct. 25
Photo courtesy of Klone Art
Huang Po-jen (黃柏仁) pays tribute to man’s best friend in his series of dog sculptures at Powen Gallery. The artist grew up surrounded by dogs and, at one point in his life, cared for more than 20 of them. The Dog’s Notes (狗札記), however, is not just about human-canine relations, but also what we can learn from them. Loyal, playful and happy — there’s a reason why they are called our best friends. Humans, on the other hand, are prone to deceit and destruction. The underlying message in Huang’s humorous and lively sculptures is simple: humans should learn how to be more like dogs. This is particularly striking, especially when alienation has come to define much of our society.
■ Powen Gallery (紅野畫廊), 11, Ln 164, Songjiang Rd, Taipei City (台北市松江路164巷11號), tel: (02) 2523-6009. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 10am to 7pm
■ Until Oct. 30
Photo courtesy of Project Fulfill Art Space
Sound artist Wang Fu-jui (王福瑞) challenges the way art is viewed in his latest solo exhibition, Transparent Imagery of Sound (透明響像), at Project Fulfill Art Space. Here, art is heard, not seen, as visitors stand in front of a blank canvas and rely solely on their sense of sound. Though Wang also uses visual aids such as flashing lights, they do not match up perfectly with the transmitted sound waves in terms of rhythms or beats, thus challenging the way we think of audio-visual dynamics.
■ Project Fulfill Art Space (就在藝術空間), 2, Alley 45, Ln 147, Xinyi Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市信義路三段147巷45弄2號), tel: (02) 2707-6942. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 1pm to 6pm
■ Until Nov. 20
Photo courtesy of Powen Gallery
An exhibition on the idea of depression may not sound appealing, but Chen An-an (陳安安) and Huang Shao-ying (黃韶瑩) explore the topic in ways that are complex, tragic and beautiful. Chen’s giant-sized sculptures of tunnels and roses made from tarry black aluminum foil serve as figurative motifs over her struggles with her sexuality. Though the color black usually connotes something sinister, it can also be viewed as being symbolic of putting up defense mechanisms or lying to yourself in order to blend in with mainstream society. Huang, who grew up on a farm in Pingtung, explores the negative aspects of consumerism and the monotony of going through the motions of daily life — or, “repetitive labor,” as she calls it. She uses a lot of farm imagery in her installations — fur, feathers, gunny sacks — and the results are gut-wrenching but powerful. The installations will be on display starting tomorrow at Pon Ding, in The Dynamic of Melancholia (憂鬱的反動力).
■ Pon Ding (朋丁), 3F, 6, Ln 53, Zhongshan N Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市中山北路一段53巷6號3樓), tel: (02) 2537 7281. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 11am to 8pm
■ Opens tomorrow. Until Nov. 22
Photo courtesy of Pon Ding
The Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts is currently exhibiting The Literature and the Art Practice of Chang Kuang-bin (潛思維‧逍遙遊-張光賓的學行記痕). The late Chang Kuang-bin (張光賓), who was born in China’s Sichuan Province and later moved to Taiwan, is most famous for his calligraphy. He painted until he was well into his 90s, altering his technique from time to time. While some of his work resembles ancient Chinese characters, others have more flow and are painted in cursive, with long and expressive brush strokes. When Chang was in his 80s, he started forming character strokes with tiny dabs of ink that resembled beads. His life philosophy was “stay calm and relax.” Apparently calligraphy is good for the soul as Chang lived to be 102 years old.
■ Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts (關渡美術館), 1 Xueyuan Rd, Taipei City (台北市學園路1號), tel: (02) 2896-1000 X 2432. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 10am to 5pm
■ Until Dec. 11
Photo courtesy of Pon Ding
In the mainstream view, the Philippines should be worried that a conflict over Taiwan between the superpowers will drag in Manila. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr observed in an interview in The Wall Street Journal last year, “I learned an African saying: When elephants fight, the only one that loses is the grass. We are the grass in this situation. We don’t want to get trampled.” Such sentiments are widespread. Few seem to have imagined the opposite: that a gray zone incursion of People’s Republic of China (PRC) ships into the Philippines’ waters could trigger a conflict that drags in Taiwan. Fewer
March 18 to March 24 Yasushi Noro knew that it was not the right time to scale Hehuan Mountain (合歡). It was March 1913 and the weather was still bitingly cold at high altitudes. But he knew he couldn’t afford to wait, either. Launched in 1910, the Japanese colonial government’s “five year plan to govern the savages” was going well. After numerous bloody battles, they had subdued almost all of the indigenous peoples in northeastern Taiwan, save for the Truku who held strong to their territory around the Liwu River (立霧溪) and Mugua River (木瓜溪) basins in today’s Hualien County (花蓮). The Japanese
Pei-Ru Ko (柯沛如) says her Taipei upbringing was a little different from her peers. “We lived near the National Palace Museum [north of Taipei] and our neighbors had rice paddies. They were growing food right next to us. There was a mountain and a river so people would say, ‘you live in the mountains,’ and my friends wouldn’t want to come and visit.” While her school friends remained a bus ride away, Ko’s semi-rural upbringing schooled her in other things, including where food comes from. “Most people living in Taipei wouldn’t have a neighbor that was growing food,” she says. “So
Whether you’re interested in the history of ceramics, the production process itself, creating your own pottery, shopping for ceramic vessels, or simply admiring beautiful handmade items, the Zhunan Snake Kiln (竹南蛇窯) in Jhunan Township (竹南), Miaoli County, is definitely worth a visit. For centuries, kiln products were an integral part of daily life in Taiwan: bricks for walls, tiles for roofs, pottery for the kitchen, jugs for fermenting alcoholic drinks, as well as decorative elements on temples, all came from kilns, and Miaoli was a major hub for the production of these items. The Zhunan Snake Kiln has a large area dedicated