Taishin Bank Foundation for Arts and Culture

Comments on the Finalist

Connecting two alternative spaces and two urban public spaces for inner reflection, I-chen KUO bravely touches upon the themes of mutation in multiple dimensions: from the relation between the individual spirits and the matrix to the connection between the individual and the city; from the image mutation of city surroundings to the possibility of returning to the spiritual matrix. This is a personal project in a large scale, which sustains the artist's unique adventure of space and visual aesthetics in order to search for the possibility of retreat and purification.  The artist has also demonstrated his excellent command on the integration of a wide range of mediums and space.  (Committee member/ Chi-ming LIN)

Artwork Introduction

Kuo I-chen’s solo exhibition titled “Mutation” took place at four venues around Taipei from October 12 to November 7, 2007. Each venue represented a phase of each art work that was made especially for this large-scale exhibition: space of spirit and flesh; space of body and urban space; separation from the city matrix; and return to the spiritual matrix. Each phase also related to the overall theme of mutation when one encounters unruly adaptations beyond one's control and the psychological transformative process of self-actualization.

Each venue was unique, while the art included a wide variety of forms: multi-media installation, performance, video projection, and digital prints. An exterior commercial television wall was one of the venues and Kuo used it to intervene into the urban space. Here his well-known “Lost Contact” was projected, the work in which a camera tied onto a balloon is released into the sky until the remote loses contact with the ground, so that the projection ultimately fizzles out. On the opening, Kuo handed out 2,000 balloons for participants to release to create an interactive street happening.

At TIVAC, Kuo exhibited “Wilson,” a tragic-comical installation of volleyballs and a film clip of “Castaway” where the protagonist is searching for his companion, the eponymous lost volleyball. The poignant “Distanced Scene” is a moving projection where the images of the artist's face and his deceased father's face try to desperately connect but can't.

“The Survivor Project” at the Galerie Grand Siècle sums up the entire exhibition and acts as a futuristic allegory. Imagery of natural and man-made disasters in digital composites is combined with the humanistic hope for survival and life’s perpetuation on Earth.

About the Artist

Kuo I-Chen works mainly in video, performance and media arts. While he was still a graduate student at Taipei National University of Art, he exhibited his multimedia piece “Invade” for the Taipei Biennial 2004, and was also the youngest artist to represent Taiwan at the Venice Biennale. Since then, Kuo has exhibited around the world in various biennials, art fairs and galleries.

He uses recurrent themes in his work such as the relationship between people and their environment, the anxiety of contemporary life, and the metaphysical search for life’s deeper meaning.