Holiday Plaza
TSOU Hsiang Hsiang Solo Exhibition
《假日廣場》 鄒享想個展
2018.04.14-2018.05.05
TSOU Hsiang Hsiang Solo Exhibition
《假日廣場》 鄒享想個展
2018.04.14-2018.05.05
Project Fulfill Art Space is pleased to present Holiday Plaza – Tsou Hsiang Hsiang Solo Exhibition opening this April. Tsou is currently a Masters student at Tainan National University of the Arts, Institute of Plastic Arts. This exhibition will showcase nine works from her Yonder series from 2016-2017, exploring Taiwan’s unique cultural memories through her serenely alluring scenes. The opening reception will be on Saturday 14 April at 4pm, and an artist talk at 3pm, with special guest Chang Li-Hao in conversation with the artist.
Tsou Hsiang Hsiang’s series Yonder explores the new craze for Western architectural style that had swept Taiwan since the rapid economic growth during the latter half of the twentieth century. Ornate decorations produced from decontextualized grafts of styles and elements from different periods enjoyed widespread popularity. The façades of buildings consequentially became pale imitations of Western architecture. Such a hybridized taste not only came into vogue, but also blended with Taiwanese culture and customs. This variant architectural style comprised of heterogeneous elements has over the course of time, become a spectacle unique to Taiwan. From a contemporary perspective, the result of such blind pursuit of Western style might be close to kitsch. No sooner did the popularity of this hybridized taste wane, that it retreated into the periphery. For the generation that happened to come of age in this time period and bore witness to its development, these imitations seemed to be engraved in our memories. It may even be highly possible that they served as the initial models of 'exoticism' that we first encountered. A curious paradox emerged as a result: these distorted, alienated variants are more intimately recognizable to us than their originals in foreign lands. As the original images began to blur with continuous reproduction and modification, these imitations have been superimposed on our understanding of the environment in which we live. Rather than evoking foreign scenery, they instead trigger associations with local 'Taiwanese' cultural memory. A sense of familiarity has been derived from such ‘Taiwanese exoticism’, although it runs against the idea of modernization, far from being rejected its infiltration into our everyday lives creates an emotional connection, rendering both recognition or criticism secondary. We may wonder whether this form of ‘Taiwanese exoticism’ has been automatically embedded into the memories of our environment. The alteration of meaning through the distortion of the originals during reproduction, the distortion caused by the use of different mediums, and the distortion of material value over the course of history, seems to create a peculiar sense of aesthetic beauty. As the meanings are peeled off layer by layer and begin to dissolve, they seem to bring a new order to this resonating atmosphere. Painting is by no means simply an issue of representation. Treating the whole series as a unity, Tsou rearranged the compositions from different perspectives, deliberately keeping the brushstrokes in a flowing state displaying a sketch-like quality of instantaneity. The originally uncomfortable hybridization thus conveys a new sense of harmony, which echoes Tsou’s concept of a ‘natural state’, where serendipitous encounters allow us to see our environment without presupposition. In this sense, Tsou’s work explores the transformation of our perceived spaces, where real spaces converge with our internal memories, creating a true impression of the places we live. 《就在藝術空間很榮幸於四月份推出鄒享想個展《假日廣場》,目前就讀國立臺南藝術大學造型藝術研究所,此次展出藝術家在2016-2017年創作的《它方》系列共9件繪畫作品,透過她畫中沉靜的場景探討台灣獨特的文化記憶。開幕活動訂於4月14日(週六)下午4點,並於下午3點舉行座談,此次邀請與談人張禮豪和藝術家進行對談。 《它方》系列探索自1960年左右經濟起飛後,臺灣再度興起了一波以西洋歷史式樣為建築藍圖的風潮,在手法上,卻呈現一種去脈絡的狀態;時常使用過度裝飾的語彙,挪用不同時期的風格與元素嫁接在一起,以一種浮泛的西洋印象構築外觀。混種的品味,於民間不斷地擴散與仿效,與臺灣原有的環境風俗相互揉雜;這個由異質混成的變體,經由時間的過渡,也逐漸構成臺灣特有的景觀紋理。 以訴求現代化的眼光來看,這類一昧以西洋為典範的形式追求或許相顯媚俗;潮流過後,便退往一個相對邊陲的位置。但是,對於剛好成長於這個時期、參與了這段進程的我們而言,它們的面貌同步在記憶中的景觀裡紮根,甚至有極大的可能是我們接觸到所謂「異國」的初始模型,於此顯露了一個弔詭的狀態-比起親身走訪那來自他方的原作,我們反倒對這個失真、異化後的變體相對感到親近;在不斷地複製與變造,而使原作消逝的過程中,反倒將這個印象遞加在我們對於成長環境的認識裡,它不僅沒有將我們帶至他方國度,反而成為我們對於在地化、「臺式」的某種聯想。 熟悉感由此而來;儘管與追求現代化的理念相悖,但對於這種「臺式異國情調」的風格卻不全然感到拒斥,反而身處其中時已然於記憶中的居所鑲嵌一起,猶如「自然」的一部份。而多重意義上的失真,似乎位移出某種特異的美感;複製過程中原作形象的失真、媒材置換上的失真、歷時的物質性失真-當意義一層層地剝離與消解的同時,好似也為這一有著遺落氛圍的情境帶來新的秩序。 鄒享想並非只是對描繪物的再現,她將整個系列視為一體,以不同取景、觀看位置的概念來重新調配畫面的構成關係;特意將筆觸停留在具有速度感的流動,隱約給出一種即時性,彷彿速寫一般;原來處於現實中,顯得違和、有著混搭感的場景狀態,也因此產生了和諧的調性,亦即呼應藝術家所謂接近「自然」的狀態,就像即興地「看見」或「遊走其中」,不具任何批判性的匆匆一眼。於是,在銜接觀畫感受以及現實經驗的過渡地帶,瞥見的不僅是景象本身,而是朝著雙向敞開的、內在記憶與現場的相互切近-一個居所的真實印象。 |
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