For this project, I created an on-site work at Studio 2224.
I was simultaneously part of artist Charlene Shih's first iteration of her Sugar Baby Project.
For more information about her project, please see the website.
What I want to talk about is my experience during period of artistic creation.
Every artist emphasizes the need for an independent space for creative work; intolerant of other people's stares, or even working in the same space. I'm no exception to this.
It's always been like this.
However, in this space made completely of glass, the female sugar patron Charlene Shih's presence is unavoidable, passersby cast curious glances, and visiting friends converse with me.
Under the pressure of time, I realized that I can work continuously with my hands while talking to people. Although, the work is just the late stage of the production of folding the wires and this motion can be done without thinking or much focus. However, I'm still surprised by how easily I navigate between the two worlds. The nearby sounds and people come and go, occasionally entering the conversation and quickly leave.
After using the smiling little girl as the subject for a complete public performance, she returns to me and smile only for me.
The 20 drawings in cement paint was finished in Banqiao in 2009. Different from before, when it was hung neatly on hooks, this time it's arranged to my liking. Lighting designer Chi-Yang Chiang created a very theatrical lighting. In contrast to previously, where the goal was to illuminate each drawing evenly, this time only three drawings are in the spotlight. This almost feels closer to the action of smiling.
The little girl who is bleeding everywhere yet still smiling isn't actually a projection of myself. It's true that we share the same hairstyle, but such a hairstyle is common. What is projected is every instance of fragility and loneliness that's deliberately concealed.
Originally, I wanted to create giant, multilayered spheres. However, after finishing the third layer I decided that it's current state is sufficient. A sphere with five or eight layers, besides the instance of awe that its size incites, is similar to a sphere with three. The spheres and the little girl veiled within by the shadows of the lines begin to rotate upon movements in the air or human contact. They happily dance and spin.
Not rotating by their own accord, but rotating by others' choice. Each time the opportunity arises, they show the beautiful lights, shadows, and smiles with their might.
The smiling faces on the glass pane, slowly cut out from the red tape with a blade, is made specifically for this space. The space itself is red-themed, resonating with the repeated red faces on the glass. There are actually a lot of neighbors and pedestrians who pass by here every day. I wonder if they witnessed the creation process of this project? The process itself is this project's meaning; the project comes to an end at the moment the process is done. What manages to stay behind is no more than shadow play.
It's too bad I didn't make a complete documentation. This mistake repeatedly happens in my life.
The hand drawn animation was the most fun part of this on-site creation. I always want to try different media and ways of presenting. Charlene Shih taught me a lot about animation and even generously lent me her animation table. The interesting thing about animation is that things can happen that wouldn't happen in real life. This first attempt was, of course, amateur and inept, but at least the smiling little girl started to move, doing her own aerobics in the different time-spaces around the world.
Thank you to Charlene Shih for inviting me to this space and to experience all of this. Thank you to all the friends and strangers who came to see us during this time.
After a short break, briefly looking back on this period, I continue on with life.