Tainan art exhibition centers on environment

2015/09/17

An installation art exhibition underscoring southern Taiwan’s potential as a vibrant hub for environmentally themed creative activities spurring self-reflection is underway in Tainan City.

Staged at Soulangh Cultural Park, the one-month event features five pieces by Lo Yi-chun of Taiwan and Pablo Mercado from Spain. The artworks represent the efforts of the talents during their three-month residency at SCP’s artist village.

Chou Ya-ching, deputy director-general of Tainan City Government’s Cultural Affairs Bureau, said Sept. 13 that the exhibition is certain to win over new legions of fans to avant-garde art. “The pieces beautifully represent the life experiences and engagement with the surrounding community of the artists.”

Lo’s standout installations include “One Night in the Typhoon.” The artwork is made of fallen trees and leaves collected after Typhoon Soudelor lashed Taiwan in the first week of August.

“By forming all the pieces into a 20-meter-long creation under blue light symbolizing lightning bolts, Lo moves showgoers to contemplate human behavior in the face of natural disasters,” Chou said.

Lo, a graduate of National Taiwan University of the Arts in 2007, spent time in India, Japan and the U.S. producing site-specific works with the assistance of funding from the Ministry of Culture. Her signature style is characterized by the use of natural, organic and recycled materials, highlighting relations among people, society and the environment.

Equally impressive is Mercado’s “Krapp’s Memory.” The piece features five suspended acrylic boards of the same person’s silhouette changing dresses or positions observed from different angles. Visitors can walk through the artwork and discover variations representing the blurred, fragmental and easy-fading memories of the human brain.

Mercado, who started his career in 2002, is credited with more than 10 solo exhibitions in Germany, Mexico and the Netherlands. His pieces center on philosophical, psychological and sociological concerns, as well as the position of the individual in the masses.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=236686&ctNode=2194&mp=9)