I'm always apprehensive when I hear about any art exhibition at Huashan. That's because the arts district offers democratic, no-cost access to enormous spaces, thus its warehouses have turned into magnets for crap.
The 2003 Artists Expo (
"Charity? What charity?" I asked.
"The Association of the Visual Arts in Taiwan," she said.
"So you're telling me that most of the participants are members of the Association and that proceeds go to the Association, and that's charity?"
It doesn't bother me that they're trying to raise money, but lying about being a charity does. Then again, who knows? The government provides enough arts funding that artists may just consider it as their rightful dole. AVAT formed in 2000 as an independent association composed of member artists, though for some activities -- like this show -- it applies for government money. There are 70-odd artists in this the second ever Artists' Expo. Most but not all are members, and to be fair, some of them are accomplished. There's Akibo Lee (
The rest of the show is interesting only in the sense that it provides reasons to mock contemporary art -- category by category, in fact. There is process-based art that investigates weaving rope, and there is environmental art concerned with arranging dirt and broken stones in symmetrical piles. As for the art of petty iconoclasm and deconstruction, there is one installation where the artist's point seems to be: If I glue 1,000 sanitary napkins to the wall, I must be a feminist.
The most common and annoying mistake however, is the naive belief that you can make art by combining any two things at random. For example, one artist seems to assert that an oversized theater mask won't look dumb if a Chinese landscape is painted on top of it. Another thinks that a giant plaster cast of a German shepherd by itself is not art, but that a giant plaster cast of a German shepherd with a silver, sequined scarf tied around its neck is. It's an affront to the old Dadaist spirit that found inspiration in novel combinations. And now, because of exhibitions like this, we can conclusively say that the Dadaist theory of juxtapositions is defunct. As a final, thrilling proof, Japanese anime meets photos of skin disease. The Comte de Lautreamenet is turning in his grave.
Now if the Dada formula has truly been displaced, I must offer something to take its place. So let me propose this: When you think Huashan, think crap. If you feel like seeing some art this week, spend NT$50 on a museum.
But if you must, Huashan (
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