text by Frankie Su
There may be one thing that can explain the intention behind this solo exhibition of KU Shih-Yung's "Shoot" at Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei. Following the erection of, Bubble Man, a large outdoor balloon installation in the Museum plaza, the Museum staff received telephone calls from concerned neighbors asking about the balloon and the 'man' on the balloon. Rather than delighting in the spectacle, they were thinking too much and hoping to find a reasonable explanation to ease their panicky minds.
This work, without a doubt, successfully attracts amazement, suspicion and alarm in equal measure. It conveys a hidden humor and even absurdity within the framework of such a large-scale conceptual installation work. The artist Ku Shih-Yung, through his own very intuitive aesthetic language, attempts to create an ambitious site-specific dialogue by establishing his installation in such a prominent location outside MOCA, yet the scale of his solo exhibition makes it accessible not only to MOCA visitors but by all those within view of the museum who might not normally cross its threshold.
KU Shih-Yung talks about lots of paradoxical and fragmental concepts through his artworks and states: "Shoot can be conceived as a series of'instances' and 'fragments,' by means of which I could be assured of the primary state of Degree Zero that my state of mind and vision would consistently remain." The Artist emphasizes a perceptual experience and understanding, not about the linguistic conceptual interpretation but to express sentiment. KU Shih-Yung attempts to focus on the momentary existence of the object and the happenings itself. This kind of artwork has much to do with the intentional rejection of conceptual interpretation and thus it attempts to challenge preconceptions of conceptual art. The artist seems to unknowingly reveal his technique by placing his work in a variety of incompatible circumstances. Viewers are encouraged to find a pattern through the hints and clues provided by the artist if they wish to illuminate the meaning behind the work that clearly exists in reality, yet that ceaselessly creates a faint sense of separation.
The solo exhibition -Shoot" is much like its name suggests. A technique based on sudden insp.rat,on rathe, than methodical thinking have given KU's works from 1992 to today a sense of abstractness and of being shattered. White All Rise... displays a garden-like alternative Utopia within a sacred space, the light reflected by themirrorin the artists hands excites the public's vision, like a naughty child that is impossible to ignore Thevlew of the garden, which Is styled like a micro eastern style universe, gives people a sense of happiness and it reflects a Utopia-like space that allow people to see through the universe. In the work WB-Chtoopfragmentedconceptsarepiecedtogethertocreateaworkwhich though seems to bea disparate combination of the elements from KU's past artworks, but rather a solo story still can be told through the process of differentiating typical elements. The new works in this exhibition are mostly works of vldeo insallation. ln addi.ion to the animation of The Astonishment of What Have Been Gone Through Abolishes Aureola of Experience's echoing the animation work Wild Spirit. Vacuum 101 consists of a shrunken model of the world tallest building Taipei101.The video Images of the New Year's Eveflreworks at Talpei 101 lastyear are projected on a roman candle. It makes Interesting juxtaposition of two d-teent temporal scales:the instantdimax of the firework sparkle and the classicaltimeofcandlethat slowly bumsout.
KU's works create an Illusory space on one hand, while on the other it affirms the real wond within th.s created space. Perhaps we can view this kind of space as one in which, to supplement, expand and make new developments from real life. What is different is that if we could release all the textual truths that have been taught and embedded, this expansive space could provide a more complete, more refined.and more unrestrained enhancement.
in order to fully experience KU's solo exhibition, visitors are encouraged to forget the formal conduct of a museum visit. Though are you still asked to speak silently and actquietly, but, absolutely DO NOT think too much and let your imagination run wild! |
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