展覽日期:2015.10.15 (四) – 2015.10.31(六)
開放時間:週三(WED.) – 週日(SUN.) 13:00~21:00
開幕時間:2015.10.17 (六) 15:00
展覽簡介|
自我經常擋在實相的面前。人們經常執著於外在的表象,不斷追求存在的意義,試圖在有限的生命裡留下屬於自己的痕跡。自古以來,人類因害怕被遺忘所留下的壁畫、紀念碑、作品等等,皆是求生本能裡,關於自我保存的一種對抗,企圖藉由符號式的不朽,建立自我存在焦慮的緩衝結構。
然而,時光的流逝與羅蘭‧巴特「作者已死」論,皆指出一切的不真實和不持久,在本次展覽裡,環境延伸出的牆面,在全白通透的本質中,也許將發現能留下的只有時間感,但或許也能夠透過實際參與、再造,穿越生命的表象,發現更深層的無限性,甚至是驚覺永恆只是人類共通感覺結構裡的假象,來去皆空。
創作自述|
嘗試在展覽裡討論「暫時」與「永恆」,「摧毀」與「創造」的界線,在空間內設置以建築環境延伸的臨時牆面,象徵生活中種種,都是時間經過的痕跡。而隨機與偶然下的產物隨即可再構成新命題,與最終將被撤除的作品,則指出萬物皆有限與易逝的真理,每一次循環都是全新的開始,沒有過去,也沒有未來,靈魂不滅也許只是人類先祖的錯覺,也因此讓多數人在這樣自我意識的遮蔽下,永無休止的重覆著追尋任何一種形式的延續。
Exhibition Statement|
With Making M R C S, artist Yung-Chiu Wang visualizes the obsessive-compulsive human urge to leave behind a legacy or a “mark” in spite of the senselessness of the obsession through six textured diamond shapes in monumental scale painted directly on the walls of the exhibition space.
Different from conventional paintings that simply hang on walls as separate objects, these pieces literally merge with the gallery wall and become one with the building. The experience of standing in the center of the gallery floor surrounded by the artwork evokes similar sensations as those brought on when standing inside an Egyptian tomb or Roman temple viewing the century-old wall carvings or frescos. Yet, this visual effect is a double-edged sword because although the colossal paintings of diamond—an epitome of superlative values—suggest the immense human hubris and ambition, the true statement in reality points to the futility and absurdity of humans’ efforts to create images of supremacy for themselves.
“From Indonesian cave paintings to Roman amphitheaters, in human history, there has never been a shortage of manufactured “footprints” or “evidences” of our existence in this world. Yet, instead of representing the power and ingenuity of our species, as generations of men had hoped, these monuments, often rendered dilapidated from eons of weathering (conceptualized here as the cracks covering the diamonds), become testaments to passing time’s merciless wearing down of all things and our instinctual fear of disappearing into oblivion. Thus, in a vicious cycle, we continue to built immense structures, create masterpieces, and even assign fictitious significance to objects as mundane as stones unearthed from the bowels of the earth to represent our achievements in life and as vehicles for our false immortality.”
All six pieces in the show are completely depleted of any color on the surface, causing them to “fade” into the surrounding white walls, a visual cue that further acts as a conceptual nod to time’s incessant ability to erode and eventually “erase” everything from existence. Here, the brilliance of the diamond is reduced completely to a hue of lusterless matte white, striping off of it one of diamond’s many profane qualities. The effect is tinged with melancholy sentiments, leading one to conjure up images of faded frescos, eroded effigies, or deteriorated ruminants of ancient nations, objects that carry fragmentary memories of the long-gone people who also once dreamed of immortality.