PAST

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2012.09.25-2013.01.13Still the Vanguard of Education, the Forefront of Art

The impetus and idea of this exhibition is not from the historical research, nor is it an attempt to compile or organize archival material. It is not created to narrate or present the history of Taiwan’s modern art through the categorization and analysis of styles or schools. Rather than taking a meta-viewpoint towards the history, the core concept of this exhibition attempts to return to the “moments” that occurred in the history. The happenings among people, events, things in a certain space-time form the “moments” in history. These happenings create today’s “history.” Retracing to the founding of the Taiwan Governor’s General Office Mandarin School in 1895 (later became the National Taipei University of Education) , the young students were enlightened through art education and their works created a new chapter of Taiwan’s modern art. While the history was a series of happenings, it was also a heavy burden in reality under the Japanese Colonial Period, a burden that spanned academic researches in various fields. Through different historical discourses, it seems that unbreakable truths have been formed. In Taiwan’s art history, such truth becomes a sort of template; from the perspective of linear time, styles and subject matters serve as the thresholds of art, creating rigorous patterns for discourses. The development of art in Taiwan during the Japanese Rule became the sole instrument of a field, and thus the unique and everlasting art work becomes a singular example of the collective. In this light, the inner meaning, the formal aesthetics and the direct perception of the artist at the moment have been often simplified. In this exhibition, Tsai Ming-liang will be establishing an important “meeting-point” through the convergences that will let history return to the moment and the moment connect with history. The works will regain their original appearance, the artists will return to their original points of self-examination, and “dialogue” and “direct perception” will become “viewing” methods. There are historical convergences, so there are ways to float beyond them. In displaying these works, the linear historical narrative approach is avoided as much as possible, and the logic to their layout is implicit. One thing kept implicit is the hope that the viewing public will set aside their usual cognitive habits and enter into a state of directly perceiving the works. History’s chronologies become coordinates on the floor, the learning of history takes place by computer search, and the works are thus lightened of their burdens. Moreover, by virtue of the special qualities of MoNTUE’s display space, which allows for multiple and shifting viewpoints, the works seem to float. Lin, Mun-Lee

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Date 2012.09.25-2013.01.13 Curator Lin, Mun-Lee Artists Taipei Ni Chiang Huai Liu Chin Tang Huang Tu-shui Chen Cheng-po Chang Chiou Hai Kuo Po Chuan LIAO Chi-Chun. Li Mei-Shu Peng Ruei-Lin Chen Jr Chi Lee Tze-Fan YANG Chi Tung YEH Huo-cheng LI Shih Chiao SU Chiu Dong Cheng Shih Fan Tokyo Ishikawa Kinichiro Ohara Hitoshi Fujishima Takeji Kobayasi Mango Itaru Tanabe Okada Saburosuke Yoshimura Yoshimatsu Special Guest Tsai Ming Liang ☞ Catalog 1 ☞ Catalog 2 share