Taipei Art Awards exhibition opens showing artists' world views

Taipei, Nov. 5 (CNA) Taipei Fine Arts Museum opened a new exhibition on Saturday that showcases works by the nine finalists from this year's Taipei Art Awards, highlighting the various conflicts they feel about themselves or being in a changing world with ever changing technologies.

During an awards ceremony held on Friday, Chen Zhao-hua (陳肇驊) won the Grand Prize for his work titled "At Xiaguirou Mt.," NT$550,000 (US$17,110), and an opportunity to hold a solo exhibition at the museum, according to a statement released that day.

Chen's work recreates a shed used for his art pieces, in which two metal giant leaves of a night-scented lily plant are connected to a compressor he modified and covered in frost.

This shows Chen's true passion for creating art despite the stark working space, the jury said in its statement.

The artist's "mindset (of his passion for arts) is demonstrated by the details of the recreated shed," the jury said. "The honesty and sophistication of the work displays an artist's struggle between his work and reality."

The seven-member jury was led by Iris Shu-ping Huang (黃舒屏), an art curator and research fellow at the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts in Taichung, according to the statement.

A total of nine artists were picked as finalists, after the museum received a total of 227 submissions, it added. 

In addition to the Grand Prize, two of the nine finalists -- Wu Wei-ting (吳瑋庭) and Chen Zi-yin (陳姿尹) -- received an Honorable Mention from the jury and cash prize of NT$120,000 each, according to the museum.

Wu's "Daily Noise - Level of Illusion" is comprised of several objects created to look like daily items scattering around the exhibition space, such as a piece of Carrara white marble measuring 3cm by 1.5cm by 1cm, titled "This is not an Eraser."

Meanwhile, Chen's "Pixel Extension" shows how the use of artificial intelligence (AI) can change what appears to be real but is not, such as a video explaining how AI technology removes the Earth as little more than a spec of dust in an image of the universe.

Chen also displays a photograph of a street with a hole in the sky, which shows the different shapes of the moon in her work title "Removal of the Moon," depending on the viewer's stand point.

The remaining six finalists, whose works are shown in the exhibition, include Chuang Pei-xin's (莊培鑫) "The Method of Entry," Peng Si-qi's (彭思錡) "House and Universe - Whish," and Lee Li-chung's (李立中) "The Legend of Banshanzai."

The others are Wu Chia-yun's (吳家昀) "Five, Four, Three, Two," Peng Wei's (彭韋) "Blank," and Lai Jiun-ting's (賴俊廷) "The Human-like Non-human Series: Cognitive Algorithms, Artificial Organs, and Elector Telepresence."

The exhibition runs until Feb. 18, 2024.