- Date 2026.03.03
- Venue 1F Lobby of TS Holding
CHEN Pu——The Diversity of a Translucent Habitat
◌ Date│2026.3.9 - 4.17（9 am – 7 pm, Mon - Fri）
◌ Venue│1F Lobby of TS Holding
▌Artwork Introduction
In the Diversity of a Translucent Habitat, the transparent plesiosaur is reimagined as a mobile greenhouse. Its massive form is transformed into a hollow ecological vessel —a carrier of life that appears to slowly traverse the landscape. The transparent shell lets light, moisture, and plant shadows create a microclimate inside, as if it were not just walking on land but carrying a microcosmic ecosystem.
Inside the work, ferns native to northern Taiwan constitute an ecosystem. Despite covering only 0.03% of the world’s land area, Taiwan is home to over 700 fern species—more than North America’s 400 and Europe’s 150—producing a remarkable concentration of plant life. These ferns are embedded within the plesiosaur’s transparent cavity, turning this once prehistoric creature into a symbol of ecology. Over 20 fern species were collected from a five-minute walking radius along the hiking trails near Neihu, Taipei. Meanwhile, the area around the plesiosaur is designed as an exploration path, enabling visitors to experience and observe species diversity within a short distance.
At the same time, this translucent giant echoes Taiwan’s role as an “ecological refuge ark” during the glacial period—a living island that allowed life to persist amid drastic climate changes. Consequently, the transparent plesiosaur does not aim to reconstruct history but to propose a way to envision the future: if the island is seen as a living entity and habitats are not static, life can be loaded, moved, and replanted, then island ecology can continue to evolve and grow into a new form.
▌About the Artist｜CHEN Pu
CHEN Pu (b. 1986, Taipei) explores the intersections and transformations of visual symbols and biological forms in his art, creating visual works that incorporate biochemorphology, taxonomy, and archaeology, while unfolding both virtual and real imaginations of future organisms and life forms through his multidimensional practice. His works have been exhibited at various institutions, including the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Roppongi Art Night, the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Art Taipei, and Ambi Space One at Taipei 101.
