Wu Chi-Tsung’s solo exhibition ‘ECHO’
A reflection of rational inquiry and perceptual poetry
Date｜Jan 18, 2019 (Fri) – Jan 20, 2019 (Sun)
Opening hours｜Jan 18 17:00-19:00；Jan 19 & 20 17:00-22:00
Location｜MAK7 Studio, 2F., No.133, Sec. 3, Nangang Rd., Nangang Dist., Taipei
As a collage of sheet iron, concrete, and colorful posters brimming with unique and strong Taiwanese character, a glimpse of the exhibition site itself located in a film studio hidden in an industrial district inhabited by a driving school would have started the visitor’s journey of an unusual cultural experience. Taiwanese artist Wu Chi-Tsung’s solo exhibition ‘ECHO’ curated by Wu Chi-Tsung Studio and Galerie du Monde, a Hong Kong-based gallery of contemporary art, will be open to public from January 18th to 20th 2019 in parallel with Taipei Dangdai. The exhibition is a reflection of oriental aesthetics in the shape of contemporary art, presenting a new horizon in the spectrum of worldwide art practice.
The philosophy of Wu Chi-Tsung’s work is a fusion of conceptual approach of experimental contemporary art language and visual language from the cultivation of classical eastern aesthetics. The ‘ECHO’ refers to the mirroring culture between the East and the West. Hence, the eastern tradition and their pursuit of the intangibility is contrasted with the contemporary language and the depiction of the solid world of the West throughout the exhibition.
‘Trained by both eastern and western traditional art academia yet focusing on contemporary media and conceptual art, I always reflect on the difference between eastern and western culture, as well as the contradiction between traditional art and contemporary art. It is a shame to witness the decay of traditional cultures and aesthetics that are exclusive to eastern cultures,’ says Wu Chi-Tsung, ‘as a result, I fuse and accommodate new and old, the West and the East in my recent works. The multicultural environment in Taiwan has nourished me. Living in an era that pursuits the zeitgeist, I’d rather be fascinated by those that are timeless. It is the light, the base of visual sense, that illuminates the tangible world as well as the invisible spiritual field and unveils the hidden commonness that is shared by every object from an essential perspective.’
Immaterial landscape yet realistic atmosphere
Upon the visitors’ first step at the exhibition site, they would soon be impressed by the atmosphere of the faint-lighted room composed of environmental music and the sound of axles. Following the guide of the shimmering light, what comes to people is a phantom city like a set of crystal sculpture which is a continuation of the artist’s renowned Crystal City Series. This time, the exhibition presents the artist’s new work on this series, the Crystal City 008, which is inspired by Hong Kong’s city landscape and its pace of life. Numerous transparent plastic boxes constitute the geometrical, rational and ordered skyscrapers shadowed by a vertically moving light source. Corresponding to the Crystal City 008, an on site production is created using plastic sheet as stretching and undulating mountains, and is set with several branches. A mechanical construction with HID light on its forepart moving forwards and backwards is running on a track that passes through the ‘mountains’, casted from where the shadows of the ‘mountains’ and the branches entwine. The ordinary materials used in this art work remind viewers of the realistic world; however, it leads people to a further imaginary scene. The shadow is casted on thin veils built upon industrial steel frames. How romantic and vulnerable, yet enormous and fathomless it is when the shadow of the crystal city moves slowly on the veils, and the boundary between the reality and illusions is blurred when the shadow is overlapped with that of the visitors as they walk through the ‘city’.
Blending the tradition and the contemporariness
Another on-site production in the exhibition is the Wrinkled Texture Series that characteristically reinterprets the texturing methods (Cun-Fa) of traditional Chinese landscape painting (Shan Shui) by photography to render the mountains and rocks in a subjective way. Pluralism and liberal spirit are rooted in Wu Chi-Tsung’s art. This time, the mountains and cliffs are portrayed on a huge screen that is composed with few aged door sheets with different styles, and set in an open ‘bedroom’ setting. The artist utilizes and modernizes the classic photographic technique – Cyanotype. Paper was covered in the photosensitive solution and then continually reshaped and refolded while being exposed to sunlight. After the paper was washed, the image would be fixed, revealing the likeness of mountain precipices and cliffs. It applies Photogram technique to record the random variations of the folded paper during the exposure aiming to blend traditional Chinese landscape (Shan Shui) with experimental photography, conceptual art, and performance, and hence to eradicate the border between traditional and contemporary art.
Unveiling the exceptional aesthetic in ordinary objects
After stepping out of the bedroom setting, visitors would be guided by a plants lining pathway to a wilder space of ruins. Bringing a scene of magnificence, the 488cm x 244cm Cyano-collage is by far the largest piece of the Cyano-collage Series. Based on the technique of the Wrinkled Texture Series, the Cyano-collage Series cut and regroup dozens of cyanotype photographic papers before mounting them on a canvas. Layers of rice paper constitute a purposeful preservation of unpainted space on the canvas that echoes the crucial concept Liu Bai in classical Chinese paintings. Moreover, with the bodily participation of the artist, the landscape is constructed to be appreciated both statically and on the move. Thus, the viewers are led by the art work from a concrete and solid reality embodied by the random mountain-shaped wrinkles on the photographic paper to a microscopic and imaginary world where the shadows representing traditional Chinese landscape (Shan Shui) appear. Which mountain is the ‘real’ one between them? Carrying the idea of utilizing ordinary objects to create an exceptional visual experience, the Wire V stands at a corner of the ruin site. Based on the structure of the Magic Lantern slide projection work, the Wire Series use a mechanical control to repeatedly adjust the focal length to transform a regular piece of wire mesh into a moving image of a dynamic Chinese landscape (Shan Shui). This Dialectical alteration of the wire has composed a different layer and possibility to the traditional Chinese landscape as a new visual language under the digital age. The Cyano-collage and the Wire V both embody Wu Chi-Tsung’s recent focus, that is to salute to and reflect on eastern traditional aesthetics and literati spirits by machinery and photography mediums.
Kelvin Yang, director of Galerie du Monde, says ‘What is delivered throughout this exhibition is not simply nostalgia but also a personal manifesto from Taiwan to the world. To dig out the characteristic DNA in Wu Chi-Tsung’s art has been our premiere pursuit of this exhibition from the very beginning which can be seen from our unconventional exhibition site selection. Wu Chi-Tsung never limits himself in his talent on traditional subjects. His liberal spirit and his light-and-shadow philosophy make his works combine both sense and sensibility.’
Artist Talk｜inter : enter – International Networking of Art in an Asian Context
Date｜2019 Jan 20 (Sun) 17:30-19:00
Commentator｜Phenix Luk (Writer, former editorial director of The Art Newspaper China, co-founder of Beijing International Short Film Festival)
RSVP info@wuchitsung.com
*Lectures in Chinese
Organizers｜GALERIE DU MONDE, Wu Chi-Tsung Studio
Co-organizers｜ THE STUDIO
Special Sponsors｜HOMPRO
Event Sponsors｜Draft Land, Weightstone Vineyard Estate & Winery, IL MERCATO, The Naked Grouse, WAGA STORE
Media Partner｜Prestige
Publicity Support｜tap+
Multimedia Support｜FOCAL
吳季璁個展《東橋西照 ECHO》
照見感性的詩意與理性的辯證
展覽期間｜2019年1月18日(五)-1月20日(日)
開放時間｜1月18日 17:00-19:00；1月19-20日 17:00-22:00
展覽位址｜台北市南港區南港路三段133號2樓 MAK7 Studio
鐵皮、水泥、繽紛招牌拼貼出一種獨特而濃郁的台灣味。走進隱身於南港工業區及駕訓班中的實景攝影棚前，觀展者自場域所接收到的視覺訊息便已踏上了一場不尋常的、充滿期待的感官與文化之旅。台灣藝術家吳季璁個展《東橋西照 ECHO》，這個在台北當代展期間備受各界矚目的會外展，由立基香港並長期專注經營現當代藝術的世界畫廊 GALERIE DU MONDE偕吳季璁工作室聯合策畫，於2019年1月18日至20日正式對公眾開放，展覽核心以當代藝術映照東方美學，在縱貫古今、橫越東西的創作實踐中，展現當代藝術嶄新的開闊視野。
吳季璁的創作哲學揉合了感性的詩意與理性的辯證；其感性來自東方古典美學的涵養，理性則為當代藝術語言的實驗。《東橋西照 ECHO》將東與西分別代表的傳統/當代、虛/實，貫穿於展場空間的作品思維，主題中的「照」字，更是凝結個展精萃的關鍵能量。吳季璁表示：「成長在東西方傳統的學院藝術訓練，我的創作卻是影像及觀念性的當代藝術，經常感受到東西文化間的差異，傳統與當代藝術間的斷裂拉扯，尤其東方獨特的傳統文化與美學的逐漸消逝，更令人遺憾惋惜。於是近年來的創作，我試圖去融合東西新舊之間的鴻溝，兼容並蓄，而台灣多元文化匯聚的獨特環境，是我源源不絕的養份來源。身處在一個追求時代性的當代藝術世界，我反而對亙古不變的事物深感興趣。『光』作為視覺的基礎，照亮我們所見，也映照出不可見的精神世界，讓我從本質的層面上去思考問題，觀照一切事物底層的共通性。」
「虛」景「實」境
暗室微光，是踏入展場空間予人的第一印象。機械輪軸聲與空間音樂協奏，觀者順著明暗游移的光線指引，映入眼簾的是一座宛如水晶雕塑的幻影之城。延續吳季璁馳名國際的「水晶城市」系列，本次個展特別帶來新作「水晶城市008」，由無以計數的透明塑膠盒構築出一個虛擬的「城市」。以香港的快速節奏為靈感，堆疊出幾何、理性、有序的都市高樓，上下移動的光源倒映出都市叢林生活的剪影。而對應「水晶城市008」的現地延伸，是藝術家利用塑膠布呈現出綿延不絕的山嶺，並與樹枝倒影交錯，其中央鋪設了一條軌道，讓前端裝有HID燈的機械結構前後運行。作品利用尋常可見的工業材料，此即實，卻幻化出充滿想像的意境，此即虛。利用工地鐵架搭設了多面薄紗作為屏幕承接投影，薄紗之上緩慢運行的影像既浪漫脆弱，又龐大而不可測，觀者穿梭此間，身影亦與薄紗中的山巒疊合，實者虛之，模糊了虛實界線與焦距，也為個展訴求的精神破題。
拼接「傳統」與「當代」
展場中另一個現地製作作品為與屏風相結合的「皴法習作」。此作特色係將傳統山水畫中運用筆墨對山石紋理進行主觀性描述的皴法，以攝影的手法重新詮釋。在吳季璁的藝術創作中，蘊含了多元並置而自由開放的精神。多片拼接自不同時期與風格的門片組合而成一座巨大屏風，在敞開的現代臥室場景中巍然佇立，皴法屏風載承著山巒絕壁、奇峰巉岩，其古典山石的意境背後，是吳季璁為古老的氰版攝影法(Cyanotype)所賦予的當代視角；塗佈於宣紙上的感光材料在陽光下經歷長時間曝曬，過程中不斷調整重塑紙張的皺褶，而後水洗定影，使得成像後的豐富紋理宛若山石絕壁。以無相機攝影(Photogram)的手法，紀錄曝光過程中隨機而生的皺褶變化，意圖將傳統繪畫的山水意象與實驗攝影、觀念、行為融為一體，在新舊鎔鑄中突破當代與傳統間的藩籬。
撥見平凡之物的不凡意境
走出臥室場景，由一條植物林道引導觀者繼續趨前探索。斑駁脫漆的壁面與冬日冷風使得實景攝影棚中最後一個空間野味十足。座落於廢墟般場景上的「氰山集之十一」，氣勢磅礡，尺幅達488Ｘ244公分，為目前該系列中單件最大的尺幅。氰山集在皴法習作的基礎上，將數十幅氰版相紙以拼貼的手法重組裱貼於畫布上，再透過層層相疊的宣紙處理留白的空間層次，經由藝術家的身體介入，建構出可觀可遊的山水空間。相紙上的隨機皺褶是實，顯影於紙張上的影像是虛，「氰山集」系列在虛實相接的界線上，引領觀者透過藝術家的微觀與想像，思考於筆墨之外經由相紙的皺褶所彰顯的山水意境，「見山而非山，孰為山？」而延續運用平凡之物創造不凡意境的理念，展區一隅架設了幻燈投影，透過機械反覆調焦，將一片平凡的鐵絲網轉換為充滿山水意境的動態影像作品「鐵絲網五」。此作品以平凡的工業產物鐵絲網，作為辯證的主體，透過類比技術追求影像的極致真實感，使得山水不再只是意境高古悠遠的山水，而是富有時代感的嶄新視覺，與現代人的科技生活經驗產生共鳴。「氰山集」系列與「鐵絲網五」同時體現了吳季璁近年來的創作重心，即利用機械與影像媒介向東方傳統美學與文人精神致敬、延續與反思。
GALERIE DU MONDE總監楊永金表示：「《東橋西照 ECHO》所反映的不僅是對傳統文化消逝的關懷，更是吳季璁由台灣對世界發聲的宣言。在台北當代這個匯聚國際藝術世界對話的新場域中，如何從打破常規的展場選址思考開始，挖掘出吳季璁特有的DNA，是本次個展策畫中最為核心的題旨。吳季璁不囿於傳統素材的創作才華，從隨機中釋放自由的寫意，以及兼容感性與理性的思維脈絡，在每一件作品中照映出吳季璁獨有的光影哲學。」
藝術家座談｜inter : enter – 從立足亞洲的當代突圍國際藝術生態
時間｜2019年1月20日(日) 17:30-19:00 (17:00入場)
與談人｜陸曉凡 (寫作人，曾任《藝術新聞/中文版》（The Art Newspaper China）編輯部主任、北京國際短片聯展聯合創始人)
敬請來信預約 info@wuchitsung.com
主辦單位｜GALERIE DU MONDE、吳季璁工作室
協辦單位｜THE STUDIO
特別贊助｜鴻柏建設、Draft Land
行銷合作夥伴｜Prestige
宣傳協力｜tap+
多媒體協力｜FOCAL