Taiwan Pavilion at Venice Biennale to explore concept of control

2018/11/29

The Taiwan Pavilion at the 58th International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale will explore the themes of imprisonment and surveillance through an installation designed by veteran multimedia artist Cheang Shu-lea, the Taipei Fine Arts Museum said Nov. 27.
 
 Set to open May 11 next year, the event will be staged in the 17th century prison Palazzo delle Prigioni. With the venue’s former function in mind, Cheang—the first female artist selected as solo exhibitor for the country’s pavilion—has named the artwork “3x3x6” in reference to the idea of a 9-square-meter prison cell monitored by six cameras.
 
 In collaboration with Spanish curator Paul B. Preciado, she will create a multiscreen video installation of short films about 10 people who were imprisoned or ostracized for reasons connected to their gender, race or sexuality. The space will be dotted with surveillance cameras directed at visitors to stimulate reflection on different technologies used to confine and control society.
 
 Photos of visitors taken with their consent or uploaded via a special app will also feature in the installation. A computer program will transform the images into different genders and races before projecting them onto screens as an expression of resistance against surveillance networks.
 
 According to TFAM Director Lin Ping, Cheang is a pioneering internet artist and her work has sparked discussions of important topics. The 64-year-old is famous for her groundbreaking online artwork “Brandon,” based on the murder of an American transgender man in the 1990s and exhibited in the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.
 
 Launched in 1895, the Venice Biennale is one of the world’s most prestigious cultural events. Taiwan has been a participant since 1995 and the nation’s pavilion has featured solo exhibitions since 2015.

Source: Taiwan Today (https://taiwantoday.tw/news.php?unit=18&post=146131)