text by Sophie Mclntyre
As a country that was subjected to foreign colonialism, political authoritarianism and cultural repression, Taiwan has been transformed into a bastion of capitalism, democratic ideology and cultural pluralism. In less than three decades, this island, once a poverty-stricken agricultural society, has experienced extraordinary economic growth, massive industrialisation and urban development, as well as socio-political democratisation. From a colonial frontier and agrarian-based society, to an economic and industrial powerhouse; from "Beautiful Island" (llha Formosa) to Treasure Island: this is Taiwan's Miracle.1
Today, the story of the Taiwan Miracle is familiar to many. Over this last decade or more, numerous economic and socio-political commentators have re-told the history of Taiwan's dramatic transformation into one of Asia's "Four Little Dragons". While much emphasis has been placed on this small island's impressive record of industrial and economic progress, few observers, however, have seriously contemplated the impact of such rampant growth on the natural environment, as well as on the psychological, emotional, and spiritual well-being of the individual living in this society.
"Face to Face: Contemporary Art from Taiwan", is an exhibition featuring eight young contemporary artists in Taiwan who are facing the complex, profound and ongoing consequences of Taiwan's "miraculous" transformation. Born during the 1960s, these artists of the "thirties something" generation are the direct beneficiaries of this "Taiwan Miracle"; of material prosperity but also of environmental and spiritual degradation. In an attempt to overcome the complexities, contradictions and constraints of every day life in a society based on capitalist practices and bound by Confucian ethics, these artists are struggling to find a deeper personal truth.
This generation, products of the post Cold War era in Taiwan, did not experience the severe economic hardship, political oppression, and intellectual and cultural oppression which their predecessors endured under the successive foreign colonial, authoritarian regimes which occupied Taiwan over the past century or more. Instead, these artists grew up during a period of unprecedented economic growth and socio-political liberalisation, when restraints on freedom of expression were officially abolished. Following the symbolic lifting of martial law in July 1987, the one-party state gave way to party pluralism and political restrictions that governed the mass media were relaxed. This led to an explosive expansion of the mass cultural media which opened new doors to the outside world.
With the growth of the economy and the mass cultural media, geographical border lines were broken down and Taiwan was no longer an island located on the periphery, but rather an integral part of a global media network to which these artists now had access. As the new generation of consumers, these young artists were fully aware that traditional means of expression were no longer effective to reflect the realities of every day life, and they took advantage of the plethora of new artistic possibilities and opportunities which were now available.
During the 1980s, these artists were experimenting with new media and methods of communication such as performance and installation art, as well as computer-generated art. The most senior artist in this exhibition, Chen Chieh-Jen was involved in various individual and group performances held in marginal spaces, often including derelict houses and basements, on the sea-shore, as well as the streets of Taipei. Inspired by the spirit of political rebellion which surfaced in the arts field in the early 1980s, Chen and his friends took advantage of the relatively relaxed climate during an election campaign in 1983, to perform an impromptu, illegal performance. In the midst of the congested Hsimenting cinema district in downtown Taipei, Chen and his friends dressed in white sheets and bound their head and feet with rope and proceeded to follow each other blindly through the crowd, who considered them political prisoners. Referring to this performance titled, "Malfunction", Chen states " ...what we protested against was not aimed at a political authority, but at our very selves and our oppressive existence ...". 2
As one of the pioneers in the field of multi-media art in Taiwan, Wang Jun-Jieh, during his studies in Taiwan and Germany in the mid 1980s, began exploring the realm of electronic visual media. From 1984-1989 Wang was actively involved in a number of theatre and film groups in Taiwan, and began experimenting with video installation art and computer technology. In an attempt to deconstruct and define the relationship between reality and illusion, Wang uses this medium to appropriate photographic images from the mass media which he reproduces into a "virtual" image. In doing so, Wang effectively provokes the viewer to question the authenticity of the image, and more broadly, the role of the mass media which dominates our daily lives, penetrating our consciousness and our very concept of self-identity.
With the lifting of martial law and the advent of the Information Age, the art world became more internationalised as the island became further integrated into the global community. As an adverse reaction to the government's promotion of cosmopolitanism and cultural pluralism in Taiwan, a "nativist" (bentu) movement surfaced in the early 1990s which called upon local artists to return to their roots and to desist from "blindly" following western trends.3 Although this "nativist" movement was essentially politically driven and was associated with the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) independence movement, artists in Taiwan nevertheless became embroiled in discussions about Taiwan's national identity. While many artists internalised the demands by pro-independence supporters to reflect those elements deemed to be culturally distinctive or authentically Taiwanese, other artists sought to express their views on this identity issue by deploying satire and humour.
After graduating in 1994, artist Yao Jui-Chung placed an advertisement in the local "Artist" magazine (Yishujia), declaring that he was going to "Attack and Occupy all of Taiwan". In the following months, Yao travelled to six historical locations on the island where the Dutch, the Spanish, the Ming loyalist Chen Cheng-Kung, the Ching rulers, the Japanese, and the Kuomintang Army (KMT) landed in Taiwan.
At each point, Yao stripped naked and, like a dog marking its territory, urinated on each site, taking photographs to commemorate the "landing". These six sepia tinged "historical" photographs collectively titled, "Territory Take Over" (1994) were positioned above six gold painted toilets, which according to the artist, signify the foreign colonizers and the local politicians inclination to "sit on the toilet and do shit all". Yao states, "...at the time there was a lot of discussion about Taiwan's national identity and politicians were actually accusing each other of not being Taiwanese. By doing this work I wanted to remind people that as citizens of a colonised country we need to open our minds up to a new identity...".4
Artists Chen Shun-Chu and Huang Chih-Yung explore notions of collective and individual identity through the subject of memory which is the central point of departure for their works. In an attempt to trace the roots of his identity, Chen Shun-Chu returns to his birthplace on Penghu Island where he creates his "family album" of photo portraits which he arranges on walls or on remnants of derelict buildings on the island. Chen's artistic process is highly ritualistic as he sets out re-collecting the past to re-construct the present. In Huang Chih-Yung's monumentally-large series of ink paintings the artist displays his "human specimens" in "books" reminiscent of those one may find accumulating dust on the shelves of a library or museum. Considering the variables of geography, generation, and gender, Huang exhibits this assemblage of human forms to explore the dialogue between the past and the present, and between individual and group identity consciousness.
In a society that is now centred on individual enterprise rather than party-control, the self rather than the collective has become the focus of attention. Today, art is no longer used as a vehicle for political protest or consciousness-raising as it was in the previous decades in Taiwan, but rather as a means of self-discovery and self-expression. Disturbed by the all- pervading influence of the mass cultural media, artists such as Lin Chun-Ju, Tao Ya-Lun, and Chen Hui-Chiao are looking inwards in search of self-identity. As part of this process of self-definition, these artists are experimenting with different media, such as cloth, sequins, electronic sensors, needles, and feathers, to explore the inner realm of consciousness which define their respective individualism. While Lin Chun-Ju and Tao Ya-Lun seek to express their deepest feelings about birth and death, sexuality and self-consciousness which are the origins of human existence; Chen Hui-Chiao explores the passage between the material, sensory and subconscious worlds through which she journeys.
Amidst the cacophony of urban clutter, consumerism and confusion in Taiwan, these young contemporary artists are deploying various modes of communication to explore and express the uncertainties of every day life. If there was any unifying element in this most diverse selection of works, it is the sense of uncertainty, rootlessness and even displacement to which these artists give expression. Considering the accelerated pace of Taiwan's transition into a modern, industrialised nation, political economists define these symptoms of impermanence as part of the "post-Taiwan Experience": a result of the "Taiwan Miracle".
While no individual artist's work can be judged as solely representative of a particular place or point in time, similarly the works in this exhibition do not aim to represent Taiwan as a national identity. The objective of this exhibition is to challenge the wholesale presention of "Taiwanese art" as a monocultural entity, as a culture which can be packaged and promoted as part of the "exotic Other". Just as these artists are confronting the complex and disparate changes resulting from the "Taiwan Miracle", so too, in the western world, must we face the fact that Taiwan is a rapidly changing, culturally diverse society. Once we have arrived at this point of understanding, then we can enter into a true cultural dialogue: face to face.
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1. Gold Thomas B. State and Society in the Taiwan Miracle, ME Sharp Inc., Armonk, New York, 1986
2. Chen Chieh-Jen, Interview with the author, Taipei, 1998
3. Ni Tsai-Chin, "Western Art Made in Taiwan" (Hsi Fang Mei-Shu, Taiwan Chih-Tsao), Taiwanese Consciousness in Taiwan Art (Taiwan Mei-Shu Chung de Taiwan Yi-shih), ed. Ye Yu-Jing, Lion Art Monthly (Hsiung-Shih Mei-Shu), Taipei,1994, pages 37-52
4. Yao Jui-Chung, Interview with the author, Taipei, 1997 |
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