Sunday, August 30, 2015

Wu Tien-chang: Never Say Goodbye


Our Hearts Beat as One
Wu Tien-chang grew up in the trading port of Taiwan in Keelung and is known for his oil paintings and digital photography, which comment on the sociopolitical aspect of life in Taiwan.  In Never Say Goodbye he uses contradictions within the photographic medium, its apparent reality, but often contrived and fictitious nature.  This exhibition explores the undercurrent and sentiment of westernization in post-war Taiwan.   Symbolizing the hybrid nature of Taiwanese identity that has been haunted by nostalgia for the anti-PROC military base used as a resting stop for American soldiers during the cold war. Worship of cultures and products transplanted from foreign powers triggered mass but poorly imitated gaudy counterfeits.  Capturing characters in mask-like artificial skin membranes and tawdry costumes, Wu has tapped into the kitschy aesthetics of local plebeian culture to reveal the truth lingering at the bottom society. 

Farewell, Spring and Autumn Pavilions

A digital video installation forms the central focus of the exhibition, shrouded in thick velvet theatre curtains which draw back to show a Pepper’s Ghost optical illusion, before revealing a short video piece.  In the exhibit's digital video pieces, Wu combines theatrical effects with magical tricks, handcrafted props and machine-operated as the works switch from still photographs to moving images.  The performer marches through idyllic images of the Taiwanese landscape in a range of traditional western outfits then waves ‘goodbye’ joyfully, to a cheerful Taiwanese them tune.  Although saying farewell, the character is marching on the same spot, the scenery behind him only revolving, history repeating itself rather than moving forwards.  Full of bright colors, like a hand-tinted postcard, these are idyllic images. But on closer inspection each character has strange proportions and disabilities.  Each kitsch and flamboyant piece appears as a vibrant celebration, before each tiny yet disturbing detail is noticed, symbolizing the traumatized collective memory of Taiwan, its previous regimes and the effects of post-war westernization.

The plastic statue used to project the ghost image
Integrating moving images and theatrical space and creating interactive installations featuring a set created with handmade craftsmanship (He painted the sets, wrote the scripts, directed the lighting and photography, created props and directed the acting of costumed models) so that the conflicting elements fuse into an opulent visual style.  By shooting with a fixed camera in one take, Unforgettable Lover  harks back to the handicraft era of film as the male protagonist dances to the rhythm of music while evolving into other characters by changing his clothes, sets and props in front of the audience’s eyes.  Part of the charm and impact comes from the life size presentations in a darkened room so that even though one knows that it is video it is like watching a hybrid somewhere between video, live performance and puppet art.  At best copies of the videos on line are of poor quality or incomplete but even the best copies would loose the impact of the actual presentation.  In Beloved, Wu wraps the female character in a delicate latex skin to create an idealistic form of the perfect lover – amorously telling the stories of helplessness and sadness of the people coming and going from this world.  
Beloved
With an eye to the nature of the exhibition venue Palazzo delle Prigioni, a former prison, he preserved the obscure atmosphere and historic features of the Palazzo delle Prigioni, recounting the memories and sentiments from the past that linger in everyone’s hearts — just like the lingering ghosts in this former prison who are reluctant to leave, as they are torn between love and hate for the mortal realm.  The Taiwanese firmly believe that an integral life is made up of both “soul” and “physique”.  “Soul” refers to the spiritual part of human life, thoughts and memories; while “physique” refers to the human body and its organs.  When life is near the end, people always have an undying “attachment” to the realm of the living.
Beloved
Wu Tien-chang, "In 2000 I left the oil painting, because I had come to a point where I could no longer say anything new through this technique. First it was my way to criticize the political system Taiwanese, but by the repeal of the law martial, in 1987, I found myself suddenly to have no more enemies. Then I began to wonder about my identity as a Taiwanese.  Before that date the government had obliged us to think that we were Chinese, but later debates began to flourish on the identity of Taiwan.  There were no more authoritarian personalities that prevented people to express themselves freely.  In 1996 the first truly free democratic elections took place.  By the time I turned forty, I had married, and I wondered also about my personal life.  Photography allowed me to overcome this creative impasse. When you take a picture, time dies.  It's like stealing.  Yet the image that is produced by this criminal act will remain forever.  I found it interesting this contradiction.  From the beginning the photo was used by painters as support in order to paint later in the study, especially those who painted outdoors and who need a longer time to complete the picture.  Photographing the landscape or model was how to make a sketch.  The First World War changed the way and manner of photography, especially in the case of portraiture.  Such as the military that were leaving for the war they needed to leave their portrait to the family, because perhaps they would never return from the battlefield.  That's why I fell in love portrait photography.  In particular how photography was influenced by the book of Juan I-Jong, "The History of Chinese Photography."  
Juan I-Jong is a photographer from Taiwan of the first generation, this book is an overview of the Chinese portraiture.  Even before the birth of photography, in Chinese culture there was a kind of portraiture that was called "xiao zhao."  The people made charcoal drawings that depicted the face to be remembered.  What is unique is that the living person's name as well as the name of the deceased for the portrait was "she ying", or photography.  The book of Juan I-Jong has been an important reference, because it made me discover these nostalgic aspects of photography.

The props, scenes, or theatrical elements used in these video installations originate from my childhood memories.  When I was a child, the television had yet to reach the common household, and our only forms of entertainment were on the streets, magicians selling home remedies in the night market, or travelling stuntmen performing shows and circus acts — impromptu styles of performance that can also be seen in the commedia dell'arte.  In the early days of Taiwan, performers would also build temporary stages to welcome deities with traditional Taiwanese puppet shows.  Like the masks of commedia dell'arte, these puppets feature individual characters with strong personalities that can be easily identified by their external appearances.  The design of the entire stage mechanism in Farewell, Spring and Autumn Pavilions was inspired by the traditional Taiwanese puppet show.  In these street puppet performances, a plot involving long distance travel would be simulated by scrolling backdrops and the mechanical walking movements of characters inside the window frame.  In this fully digital era, Farewell, Spring and Autumn Pavilions deliberately returned to the warm old days untouched by cold digital technology. The actors move in fast-paced and ridiculous movements, just as in the silent films, performing on a conveyor belt with scrolling backdrops while using props to change into different costumes.  This costume-changing magic show is a video installation captured in a single take with no cuts, no post-processing, and no camera trickery.

Beloved
The mask is used to hide the identity of the person.  Behind this mask there is my country with its two identities.  One is called Taiwan, the other Republic of China.  Taiwan would like to go back to being Taiwan, but the KMT continues to say that we are the People's Republic of China.  But the mask is also a way to heal the internal wounds, surgery, because there is a type of artificial skin that is used in case of severe burns to protect and heal the wound.  In this case, the many wounds to which I refer are those left by the colonial legacy.
The following video gives a behind the scenes look at Farewell, Spring and Autumn Pavilions being made along with some onsite into Wu Tien-chang.

And this video is Wu Tien-chang in conversation with the director of Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Ms. Ping Lin, in Chinese with English subtitles but worth every minute.  Even better is a longer version of the same interview on Vimeo.

The last video is of an earlier video also presented in Venice.


No comments: