Taishin Bank Foundation for Arts and Culture

Comments on the Finalist

Chou Yu-Cheng’s highly precise conceptual approach expands how the forms and types of artworks are defined in the present-day field of art, and discovers a route of practice that is truly inspiring. Reminiscent of the unique “infectious agent” in social relations, the artist creates works that combine material resources, labor, service and even commercial brands in one space and form an atypical “cross-industry alliance.” Whether it is the handmade noodles from the mountainous area of Shiding in Taipei or the cleaning robot sponsored by a home appliance brand, all these elements encounter with each other in harmony within the framework of the exhibition, forming an ingenious mode of resource management and exchange. His distinctive problematic not only enables him to freely express his talents in art practice, but also continuously stirs the prevailing conception of the relations in art production. (Commentator: WANG Sheng-Hung)

Artwork Introduction

This exhibition marks the third stage of this project series, and the exhibition title is inspired by the common use of keywords as “hashtags” on social media. Following the first two stages of the project presented respectively in Shanghai and Hong Kong, this exhibition unveils the artist's new conceptions, including a painting album and a sculptural work, entitledCloud, Mist, and Field for Sun Dried Noodles– a collaboration between the artist and traditional noodle makers. Moreover, with the use of Dyson Pure Cool Link air purifiers and the Jackercleaning app that provides services to clean the exhibition venue, the artist integrates painting, sculpture, performance, publication, brands, machines (robots), service app and traditional handcraft to reinvent his personal approach to plastic arts, and foregrounds work processes behind visual art, creating alternative operational and thinking modes in existing mechanisms as well as a dialectic between the source and the outcome.

About the Artist

CHOU Yu-Cheng

Born in Taipei, Chou Yu-Cheng now lives and works in Taipei. He graduated from the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris and the research program - La Seine. Working across a wide range of media from installation, publication, painting, collaboration and performance, the artist investigates the interrelationship between society and aesthetics through a minimalist yet thoughtfully choreographed skill set of knowledge and aesthetics that allows him to reveal the peculiarities of art, object, and space while conveying his critiques of mass media as well as institutional and production systems. In recent years, Chou’s work has been featured in various major art museums and art fairs in the forms of solo and group exhibitions in both Taiwan and abroad. He was the recipient of the Visual Arts Award of the 9th Taishin Arts Award in 2011 and that of the First Prize of the 2012 Taipei Art Awards.

Production Team

In addition to the works, the artist participates in the exhibition design and visual design. Sponsored and co-operated by Dyson and Hsu’s Handmade Noodle.