Pei-Hsuan Wang

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Every love story is a ghost story.

— David Foster Wallace (1962-2008)



“I understood Wallace’s quote through Laurie Anderson’s Heart of a Dog soundtrack (2015), in which stories of life and rebirth, love and tragedy flow seamlessly with dreams and disenchantment of America in a post 9/11 existence.” 

Wang’s solo exhibition Every Love Story Is a Ghost Story is commissioned for Triennale Kortrijk: After Paradise (2024), curated by Patrick Ronse and Hilde Teerlinck. It is a vibrant contemplation of spirituality, kinship, and diaspora. The idea of 'ghost' — recurrent in the artist’s recent projects (i.e. Ghost Eat Mud, Kunstahl Gent, 2022) — speaks of an amorphous invisibility that seeks recognition and interpretation. It embodies the nonlinear tales of survival and propagation that characterize the lives of diasporic individuals as they navigate history and a world now faced with an emerging new order, diverging from the hegemonic Western values that initially shaped their journey.  






A Guide:


Altar (Paradise)
Objects from private and institutional collections in bronze, plaster, porcelain, glass, wood, and plastic; seeds, rice, dried fruits, incense, spices; 'cloud' shelving structure in oak; old family photograph, drawing by the artist’s niece, Disney’s Mulan (1998) on dibond, artist's own sculptures, etc.

Displaced objects and sculptures from various faiths are brought together alongside the artist’s own creations. This scene recalls memories of a Thai Buddhist temple in rural Hong Kong whose garden has become a sanctuary for rescued statues and memorabilia from other belief systems. The installation is the result of an extensive search through institutional collections (such as Museum M in Leuven, Belgium and ABBY Kortrijk, Belgium), the city of Kortrijk’s archives, flea markets, moulages from Academie Kortrijk, the former Carmelite convent, and private collections. Each component carries a unique story and origin. Complementing these objects and imageries are Wang’s sculptures, including representations of the 12 animal signs from Chinese astrology portrayed as vessels, evoking offerings and a cyclic cosmology.

Spinners
Aluminum, stainless steel, motors, pink vinyl flagging tape, welding rods, beads

Motorized fly swatters are found in open air markets and on butchers’ counters in Taiwan. Here, a collective twirling mechanism form a breeze-generating cloud, choreographed to spin in a slow-fast-slow, counter-clock-wise to clock-wise rotation, caressing visitors as they pass below. Instead of the typical nylon ribbons, the ends of these spinners are made from neon vinyl flagging tape used for marking boundaries or hazardous areas in the US.  

Washing Machines (x4)
Powder coated steel, repurposed washing machine parts, electrical components, programming boards, mixed media

The washing machines reference project space rhizome_'s past as a laundromat and subtly nod to the stereotypical career path of Asian migrants in the US. All four machines are elevated to the artist’s height, seated on platform 'islands' made from reclaimed wood, showcasing the wear of previous use.

The four washing machines are programmed to operate on a staggered schedule, creating a continuous whirring hum throughout the exhibition space. Every half hour, all machines pause for one minute, providing a brief moment of silence.

Details:

1. Washing Machine: All That You Touch
Madonna and child in plaster, model for a stone statue at the Kortrijk town hall (c. 1954); orchid plant, porcelain, flax fibers; first edition of Edward Said's Orientalism, spirit money; recipe for Taiwanese stew; embroidered napkin strips with a fragmented verse from Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower. 

Each word of the verse is hand-embroidered on an individual strip, composing new poems with each tumble of the washing machine: 

All that you touch
You Change.
All that you Change
Changes you.
The only lasting truth
Is Change.
God Is Change.

2. Washing Machine: Spirit of an Animal

Two hedgehog plushy dog toys, embroidered with the artist's last name in Chinese; Slam Dunk stickers, magnets, oak, found carved lion, bubble gum; glazed stoneware (Statue of Asking: Threshold Guardian I)

A second washing machine spins two hedgehog plushy dog toys, dancing like tango partners and evoking Wang’s solo exhibition Ghost Eat Mud (Kunsthal Gent, 2022), which features a running hedgehog toy train that connects themes of speed and progress with a child’s obsession with Sonic the Hedgehog.

3. Washing Machine: Mouth of a Song
Love secrets whispered into the washing machine drum, sealed with raw terra cotta; Sailor Moon stickers, magnets, whiteboard marker on misprint paper quoting Sinéad O'Connor's song Daddy I'm Fine; glazed stoneware (Statue of Asking: Threshold Guardian II)

Although appearing empty, this washing machine holds love secrets whispered by the artist and sealed in with terra cotta — a tribute to Wong Kar-wai’s 2000 film In the Mood for Love. Over time, the terra cotta dries and crumbles away.

“In the old days, if someone had a secret they didn’t want to share… you know what they did?
They went up a mountain, found a tree, carved a hole in it, and whispered the secret into the hole.
Then they covered it with mud. And leave the secret there forever.”

4. Washing Machine: Paradise
UV printed plastic bag depicting the mythical paradise Mount Penglai as portrayed in the Chinese classic Guideways Through Mountains and Seas (Jiang edition, c. 1597); photoshopped image of a Han Dynasty funerary statue on dibond, original statue in the collection of ABBY Kortrijk, earthenware with colored slip, 39 x 76 x 44 cm (206 BC - 220 AD), courtesy of the City of Kortrijk

One washing machine spins a frail white plastic bag with a red design — however, instead of the usual Chinese takeout logo, it features a custom-printed image of Mount Penglai. Mount Penglai, also known as the Penglai Immortal Island, is said to be located in the Bohai Sea and holds the secret to eternal life. Prominent historical figures in China sent expeditions in search of this mythical paradise, which may have led to the dissemination of Chinese cultures.

Leaning against the washing machine is an image of a Han Dynasty funerary statue, superimposed on a blue background — a common backdrop for documenting Greco-Roman antiquities. The statue, dated between 206 BC and 200 AD, is part of the ABBY Kortrijk collection, though its acquisition history is unclear.

Average Americans
Image of Norma and Normman, ‘the average American man and woman,’ half-sized plaster models for the life-sized alabaster statues by gynecologist Robert Latou Dickinson and artist Abram Belskie, 24 x 84 x 24 cm, 24 x 92 x 24 cm (c. 1939-1950), courtesy of the Warren Anatomical Museum, Center for the History of Medicine in the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard University; enlarged watercolor painting by the artist's niece, church bench

Norma and Normman are anatomical models created in the early 1940s by artist Abram Belskie and gynecologist Robert Latou Dickinson. They were intended to represent the 'average' American men and women, constructed based on data collected exclusively from white individuals.

The half-sized imagery of Norma and Normman is set against a wallpaper with whimsical swaths of pink and blue, enlarged from a watercolor painting by the artist’s niece, a first generation biracial Taiwanese American. This watercolor brings into mind ‘elderly jpegs’ — kitschy, dreamy images with well-wishing text popular in group chats among senior generations in East Asia. Visitors are invited to occupy the bench in front of the wallpaper, partially obstructing the view of Norma and Normman.

Unstoppable (Levi at table)
Single channel video, duration 3:41; wooden crates, cardboard boxes and packaging materials; porcelain vase and house plant; Madonna and child in limestone, private collection

In the kitchenette area of project space rhizome_, a video features the artist's nephew narrating an epic story while crafting a morphing sculpture from homemade dumpling dough. In the background, the artist's mother can be heard and seen performing kitchen chores. This piece serves as a prayer for the younger generation who will inherit the world of tomorrow. The video is displayed on a fort of boxes and packaging materials used to transport the artwork for the exhibition.