Taishin Bank Foundation for Arts and Culture

Comments on the Finalist

This long-term, collective project has been on-going for more than five years, and conveyed profound care for the society and possessed power to affect policies. The exhibition in the 2015 Asian Art Biennial at the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts showed a massive archive accumulated over the years. The exhibition space was designed as an archive installation. In a white, spacious well-lit room, four rows of images that ran from floor to ceiling, combined with other related documents such as computer files, governmental notices, documentaries and official meeting minutes, created together an impressive effect. In the past five years, in addition to the artist himself, there have been 230 students participating in this on-going art intervention and action that examines the use of public resources. Five special publications have been published to discuss 584 case studies in 3,400 pages with 4,000 photographs, in a total of 500,000 words, effectually influencing the mentality and policy-making of the government and making this art project in Taiwan internationally known in recent years. (Commentator: LIN Chi-Ming)

Artwork Introduction 

At the beginning of the new semester at the end of February 2010, Yao Jui-Chung asked his students in the first classes at the Department of Fine Arts, Taipei National University of the Arts and Department of Fine Arts, National Taiwan Normal University about their expectation of the course: whether they hoped to follow the conventional route, in which the teacher imparted related knowledge, or they would be willing to turn this course into an opportunity to conduct a survey of “mosquito halls” (disused and abandoned public buildings). More than fifty art students from the two universities voted to make the survey the semester’s project. Throughout the six-month-long field study in their respective hometowns, they compiled and edited 147 cases of “mosquito halls,” and published a 600-page book, titled Mirage: Disused Public Property in Taiwan, which delineates the absurd situation of Taiwan’s society that manifests an undeniable fact—“wrong policy is worse than corruption.” After extensive media coverage, the topic caught the attention of high-level government officials, even that of the vice president, who called to inquire about more details. Later, the premier of the Executive Yuan met with the artist, and instructed related governmental agencies to conduct investigations. The objective was to revitalize the mosquito halls within one year, and those that could not be revitalized would be scheduled for demolition. On October 8, 2011, the one-year anniversary of the government’s announcement to revitalize the mosquito halls, seventy students began conducting the second survey, which was ensued by the publication of the second report including 111 cases of mosquito halls and a themed photography exhibition. In October 2013, the third volume was published, the fourth in October 2014, and the fifth is scheduled for publication in May 2016. In total, more than 500 cases are recorded and revealed. With the semester project as the start, the students’ collective participation in this art action serves as a small pebble cast into a quiet pond, creating a rippling effect that stirs the society with a false front of peace, forcing the public to face the reality. The project is a collective art action by the artist and the students, as well as an artistic endeavor to expose the social problem to develop the public’s awareness of this issue. 

About the Artist 

YAO Jui-chung

For years, Yao Jui-Chung has adopted a creative model similar to that of the entwining DNA strains, in which his different creative routes are interwoven to unfold a route of body politics. The topic of “space politics” becomes inevitable as well. Through an approach of archive science, he carries out an individual survey of the national land, and launches several art projects themed on ruins. Afterwards, he leads the members of Lost Society Document to focus on unearthing mosquito halls through the ability of field research to witness reality. Using documentary photography, they examine the working of power behind the appearance of ruins, and explore the idea of “political geography” emerged in specific historical context. Their work points out that all ruins are products of failed power struggles, creates an impact on the existing social system, and induces the change to the meaning of images of ruins in relation to Yao’s own practice and even art action, conveying a deep concern and expectation of the local reality in Taiwan. 

LSD（Lost Society Document）

The Lost Society Document (LSD) is a temporary organization formed by the students in Yao Jui-Chung’s classes. In a semester’s time, the students have returned to their respective hometowns to conduct a field study through photography and writing. A total of 60 members, mainly from the Department of fine Arts, National Taiwan Normal University and the Department of Arts and Design, National Taipei University of Education participated in the fifth publication of the project. With limited equipment and unlimited zeal, they have visited different places in Taiwan, and have listed 100 cases of disused or scarcely used public buildings, along with a few examples of reused ones in five months, from September 2015 to January 2016. Using lively textual description and photographic images, the project demonstrates a special local phenomenon emerged in the social development in a globalized context, reminding the public of the social reality through civic participation, while offering government agencies relevant references for improvements.