Taishin Bank Foundation for Arts and Culture

Net zero and carbon reduction sound like a lot of pressure. How do you do it? It feels like too much trouble!—This might be what most people would think when they hear about carbon reduction. 

Indeed, to reduce carbon emissions and footprints in our all so convenient and modernized life must begin with many of our small habits. At first, some inconveniences must be dealt with. However, habits can be changed, and new ones developed, can’t they? Start from Here and Now invites everyone to discover one small thing through art, and join us in thinking about sustainability and observing our carbon footprints. 

Let’s start with this exhibition presented at the first-floor lobby of the Taishin Tower. Hsi Shih-Pin’s work is mainly created with laser-cut metal. He often thinks about disposable materials used in artwork packaging and collection, as well as bespoken plinths used only once in exhibitions. In this exhibition, Hsi borrows plinths from an art gallery used in the past (avoiding producing waste from making new wooden plinths), and considers thoroughly the recycling, revision, and reuse of artworks throughout his creative process. Additionally, the prints in the loby are made with simile paper and eco-friendly oriented strand boards (replacing plastic materials with recyclable ones). From small places and procedural details commonly unnoticed by the general audience, we will take the first step towards net zero and carbon reduction. 

In addition, a unique parent-child workshop is organized for Taishin employees. Cia Himiân Lí, whose practice revolves around sound as a medium for observing life, is invited to conduct an action workshop, titled “Listen. It’s the Sound of Energy,” which brings people to explore domestic space, the Taishin Tower, and outdoor space to uncover connections between “energy” and “sounds” in both the environment and our bodies through the simple and ordinary action of “listening.” What differences do these sounds present? Are we capable of transforming invisible, intangible “flow of energy” into signs of carbon footprints that we know? 

In the process of creating their works, the artists use a tiny entry point to initiate their exploration of sustainability and carbon reduction. We sincerely invite you to join us at Start from Here and Now, and find one small thing that you can start working on.

Hsi Shih-Pin, Horse of Multiple Appearances, Stainless steel, Carbon steel, 45 x 13 x 30 cm; metal box 55 x 24 x 32 cm, 2021, Edition AP

Horse of Multiple Appearances originates from Hsi’s experience of participating in an art workshop themed on carbon reduction, in which he became aware of the problem of waste caused by using disposable materials in packaging and exhibiting artworks. Consequently, he reconsiders and incorporates the need of storage, preservation, and display plinth into the making of the work. The metal box is the storage box of the body of the horse, which can be separated and used as a plinth as well. The innovative approach forms a vivid contrast to the traditional plinth used to exhibit The High Bird (AP2) next to this work. 

Hsi Shih-Pin, The High Bird (AP2), Stainless steel, 112 x 54 x 160 cm, 2017, Edition AP2

The word “AP2” in the title of the work, The High Bird (AP2), refers to “artist proof 2,” which denotes an innovative approach applied to the creation of this work. An artwork with multiple editions results in a plural but limited number of the same work. However, from conceiving an idea to its realization, the making of a contemporary artwork requires constant revision. After Hsi’s creative team has acquired more advanced technologies and new ideas, they begin wondering if an artwork could be recycled, revised, and even reused. Therefore, when creating an AP edition of The High Bird, instead of reproducing the original piece, the artist digitally renewed various places of the work, incorporating new technologies and elements. This new production process results in the new editions of AP1 and AP2. Through this approach, the renewal of an artwork no longer needs the creation and reproduction of a brand-new work.

■ About the artists

Hsi Shih-Pin (b. 1977) was born in Taipei, Taiwan. Specializing in sculpture and installation, Hsi’s practice engages in “deconstructing” disappearances in daily reality to “reconstruct” splendid and imaginative “memories.” His work is known for its geometric, elaborate patterns of symbolism. He believes that, as a highly realistic art form, it is only natural for sculpture to evoke things that are out of the reality, non-existent, and beyond imagination. Hsi is the recipient of the 2012 Asian Cultural Council grant. In 2014, he presented his large-scale solo exhibition, The Memory Palace, at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei. He has collaborated and created art projects with internationally well-known brands, such as Hermès and Louis Vuitton.

Cia Himiân Lí is a Tainan-based intermedia artist, an educator, and the director of “INCORRECT” Lab, whose practice engages sensorily and artistically with sound as the primary medium. To Lí, sound denotes the vibration of consciousness and awareness. It is even the existential proof that delineates relations between the individual and the collective. Through listening to sounds, changes of waves, and sonic transmission, her work explores interconnections among human consciousness, the environment, memory (history), and life. The experience of returning to her hometown and starting to explore the sounds in life has brought her to consider recycling or reducing materials used in visual art, as well as the possibility of collaboration of “vicinity” and a practice of low-carbon art.

■ About the Curatorial Team

“Planting Trees for Shades in the Future” is an art project dedicated to reducing carbon emissions and carbon footprints. The art project is organized by and derived from a network of art professionals and environmental engineers, who are concerned with climate change and environmental sustainability, after their collaboration in the 2020 Taipei Biennial. The project conveys a belief: In addition to playing the roles of advocators and initiators, art professionals also need to realistically address issues related to climate change by changing their own actions. “Planting Trees for Shades in the Future” hopes to create a sustainable ecology and environment for “the benefit of later generations.” Through consistent actions and connections, the project invites arts and cultural institutions and professionals to build an increasingly sustainable environment of art through concrete actions and educational endeavors, while re-examining the role of artistic and cultural production in society and environment. 

Project Coordinator: TSAI Ming-Jiun. Environmental Engineering Specialist: CarbonZeroToo

/ Vincent Y. CHEN. Art Field Partner: Eva LIN Yi-Hua. Environmental Engineering Field Partner: CircusPlus/HUANG Wei-Cheng. This project is realized in memory of Margaret SHIU, who is always with us in spirit.