Taishin Bank Foundation for Arts and Culture

Comments on the Finalist

With the simple reasoning of “planting trees,” curator Mali WU’s “Tropic of Cancer” unites the significance of primeval land and life.   These concepts span teams of individuals planting trees in the domains of ecology, gardening, medicine, education, literature and history, social work, and folk customs.  All are transformed into extraordinary “artistic nomads” and “community dwellers”.  Following the model of a station and imbued with the spirit of fieldwork and social interaction, their abstract latitudes pass through sixteen countries with marvelous groupings in Taiwan and enable Chiayi to become the focal point of 23.5 degrees of sunlight.  An interesting contrast is drawn between the “returning line of the greenbelt” of the Eastern Hemisphere and the “returning line of the desert” of the Western Hemisphere.  After eliminating the arrogance and sacred subtext of the arts, one finds that the ecological aesthetic of environmental arts also offer direction and breadth.  （By Committee Member Jui-lin TSAI）