Mirror, mirror on the wall

 

Mirror, mirror on the wall

Artists :

Ting-Tong Chang / David Loom / Iva Kontic' / Xinyi Liu / Susana Mendes Silva

Curated by
Ming-Jiun Tsai   蔡明君
Vernissage : 24 JUL. 20:00
Open : 24 JUL - 15 AUG.  Fr.-So 15:00-20:00

Mirror, mirror on the wall is a research project structured within curatorial framework to examine the discourse on contemporary art in relation to the everyday. Underlining the concept of tales – giving a sense of being out of the context of reality, yet disclose the most truthful criticism of social relationships –the project brings together five artists to create commissioned works or presentworks correlating to the concept.

Mirror, mirror on the wall 邀請五位以不同媒材手法創作的藝術家為本展覽特地製作作品，轉借「白雪公主」故事中魔鏡的概念以及「寓言」的特質，企圖藉由藝術家進入一個陌生城市進行研究提出新作品的過程，去探討藝術創作策展研究與日常生活的關係。

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The title of the project is borrowed from Brother Grimm’s tale Snow White.In the story, the Magic Mirror is significant because it is not a normal mirror that projects reflections rather, an independent subject that can respond to the confronted question and express its autonomous opinion. Contemporary art often encourages viewers to interpret and understand works from their individual perspectives. From this aspect, one can say contemporary artworks can be seen as mirrors that reflect the encountered one’s thoughts. Within the context or condition of exhibitions and projects, artworks can transform from objects into subjects and become independent and self-sufficient entities that initiate unique contextual relationship centred around established frameworks ofthe exhibition, venue and other exhibiting works. With the metaphor of mirror,one can see artworks in an exhibition turning into magic mirrors presenting subjectivities and individualities that express certain positions, visions and judgements. Additionally, this project accentuates the feature of tales that deals with subject matters surrounding daily emotions and social relationships whereby the allegorical contents can be understood and analysed to various extents. Participating artworks in this project adopts this characteristic to address collective issues in a simple yet elaborate format, where art can be seen as a language for communication, expression or a path to comprehend different viewpoints with more people.

 
Exhibiting Artists

Ting-Tong Chang
Chang can be seen as an activism artist whose practice revolves around social,
political and day-to-day issues. He is most known as ‘Bbrother’ (appropriated from the
character ‘Big Brother’ in Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) by George Orwell) who does
graffiti and social protest projects in Taiwan. His practice shows an ironic attitude and
acts as an outsider to look at social matters. For this exhibition, he presents two works
that are correlated with the concept – Untitled (2009) and What is Democracy? (2009).
Both works intend to uncover people’s conventional acknowledgment of their
surrounding and understanding of presumed common knowledge.
Xinyi Liu
Liu’s interests in different political comprehension or ignorance can be easily
recognised in most of his installation and video works. He has been producing works
that concentrates on dialectic exercises in relation to cultural and political situation of
the East and the West while he lives in London during the past two years. One can see
his stance of ridicule in his works that shows a clash highlighting the arguable political
and cultural recognitions and status between two different contexts. The commissioned
work Slippery Frequency (2010) is aims to understand whether the establishment and
the understanding of history are collaborative or singular and brings up the attention to
the attitude of coping with given information and materials that result in one’s believe.
David Loom
Loom uses heterogeneous visual equipments to explore the viewing experience as well
as the indentation of visual appreciation. He often uses incidental audio effect
accompanying ocular presentations to create an imaginary or distinct environment. His
installations challenge the unconventional states of gaze and generate a unique path
for the participants to experience the world. Owing to the idea that people seem rarely
raising their eyesight or looking down while walking on the street, he presents the
commissioned work Thin Ceiling to produce a dualism of looking up confronting down,
the indoor experience comprising the open-air view, and the present connecting with
the past.
Iva Kontic'
Kontic'’s practice uses video and painting to review individuals in association with social
surrounding and the society. In her works, one can see a strong reflection on the
nostalgia of a city especially in relation to local architectures and the remnant of
constructions and people. Her commissioned work An Urban Story, leads the viewer to
departure from a popular city, such as Berlin, which might be notable with well-defined
imaginary, going to the cities less recognisable. The three channel video installation
pictures significant relationships between an individual and an urban area. Take part in
these personal mapping, audiences may find these seemingly insignificant ‘other’ cities
turning into memorable and exceptional cities and those personal memories of the
storytellers are transmitted to the viewers and converted into a shared impression.
Susana Mendes Silva

Mendes Silva’s practice incorporates a variety of media, including performance, 
installation, photography, video and drawing. Her works are deliberated from a feminine 
sensibility, which assembles the feature of fragment and delicacy that correlates the 
sensation of detachment with intimacy. Her commissioned work The Vistulas associates
with the name of the street – Weichselstraße – where the exhibition venue TAMTAM 8 
locates. The work demonstrates how ordinary materials appear to an artist and can be 
translated into an artwork becoming a significant occurrence.

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