Taishin Bank Foundation for Arts and Culture

Comments on the Finalist

As an artist who has long investigated issues of subjective technique, Ta-chien Pan has excelled at creating material metaphors for subjective forms, power relations and issues that push the boundaries of identity. For this solo exhibition, "Flashover," he has expanded on the development of the subject matter this author had so far observed, exhibiting even greater maturity in his means of investigating combinations of the visual and the material. Through a spatial vocabulary of the virtual and the diegetic structures of narrative climax, Pan has employed an exacting eye for the differences and displacements of framing, distance and positioning. His mobilization of images for a globally panoptic view of cultural others makes us reflect on the kinds of situations that result in the spaces between subjectivity and culture. Committee member: Bo-Sin CHIANG

Artwork Introduction

Ta-Chien PAN's solo show titled Flashover was exhibited at the Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts from May 16 to June 29, 2008. Expanding on his earlier work Amplifier to Zero (2004), Pan has broadened the theme to include different motifs such as existence, status identification, empowerment, and the release of power. Flashover is the fifth project in the series.

The title of the exhibition Flashover refers to the physical phenomenon of inflammable objects burning in a closed fire when the temperature reaches a critical mass. The exhibition included a large installation consisting of objects from the middle-class modern home such as a bathtub, sofa and table lamps that were arranged in the dimly lit gallery space.

Six projectors and two small TV sets displayed eight short video clips of model houses and their perfectly pristine interiors. One projection filled the empty bathtub that stood in the center of the space. The flickering images of the dream home are then juxtaposed with actual war images from Iraq; the tranquility of the perfect home is thus shattered by the gruesomeness of the outside world. While watching the images, viewers will also hear the songs of Jihad from Islamic countries. This combination of the banal with the tragic and the dream world mixed with the harsh reality is the flashover point.

About the Artist

Ta-Chien PAN received his MFA from the Departement d´art plastique, l'Universite de Picardie, France in 1996. In 2003, Pan did an art residency at the Cité des Arts in Paris. While there, he opened his studio to the public as part art-making performance and as exhibition space, while engaging visitors with his works.

Since 2004, Pan has been creating image installations and exhibitions that use daily life materials. His major installation Amplifier to Zero demonstrates our frustration in getting in touch with ourselves in today's world and our retreat to a private space where the most intimate relationships can be found