Formation No.1: On Levitation
Mar 29 - Apr 22, 2014
Bamboo Curtain Studio, Taipei, Taiwan
Mar 29 - Apr 22, 2014
Bamboo Curtain Studio, Taipei, Taiwan
“I had just returned to my birthplace Taiwan, a once-fictional home newly acquainted. For the majority of my youth I’d sought to belong, to feel tethered to a place or people intrinsically mine, but a withdrawal reflex trained from being nomadic had rejected any sustained sense of belonging wherever I went.”
For the exhibition, Pei-Hsuan Wang built a ceremonial site dedicated to the idea of community at a former warehouse in rural Taipei. A tent structure houses the gathering of individuals, a semi-enclosed canopy encourages self-introspection and intimacy, a circle arrangement of eroded bricks, tiles, and construction remnants washed up by the local river bears histories and tales, piles of ceramic debris serve as offerings and subjectivities relinquished in exchange for group membership, and a throne topping a set of narrow stairs conflates leadership with power. Visitors are invited to meander in this formation of contemporary collectivity. Bodies and movement activate an abstract structure of an imaginary home.
“Soon after this work was installed, Taiwan’s Sunflower Movement began. I joined countless student activists as they occupied the parliament for 24 days. I was moved by the masses but felt out of place again.”
Work list:
The Fire
wood, fluorescent tubes, cement, resin, hardware
dimensions variable
I’m Open I
salvaged wood, light bulb, reclaimed dry cleaner’s bags
dimensions variable
I’m Open II
found bricks, tiles, and construction materials eroded by the Tamsui River
dimensions variable
The Offering
salvaged wood panels used for pouring concrete, raw terra cotta; found tile shards, canvas
dimensions variable
The Throne
found school chair, salvaged wood, cement
approximately 20 ft high