Foreword
The Taipei Art Awards is an important competition that has been held annually by the Taipei Fine Arts Museum since the museum's inauguration in 1983. Witnessing contemporary art's active development in Taiwan, it encourages the making of unique artworks that also furtherance of epochal ethos. A spinoff of the Taipei Fine Arts Exhibition, the Taipei Art Awards continues with the approach of open call for entries, upholding the awards' integral ethos of attracting progressive and experimental artists to create art without any limitations.
The Taipei Art Awards has been through several important and critical reforms, including eliminating placing entries into different categories of art in 2001 and judging entries based not on specific formats or frameworks, which allows the artists to focus on the issues of art they have chosen to work with. A breakthrough was made in 2010 to show the nominated artists in solo exhibitions to correspond with their art statements, which also replaces the traditional object-oriented model with a project-based approach. Thoughts were then put into how to better utilize the unique spaces available in the museum, taking into consideration the aesthetics and economics of presenting an exhibition. The Taipei Art Awards of 2018 is presented for the first time on the 3rd floor of the museum instead of basement 2, with partitions used to break up the loft-like open space to further distinguish each exhibition space. The approach provides exclusive spaces for each artist to show his or her unique artworks and for interactions to be formed between the artworks and the specific space.
Our museum is not just an award presenter but also an important link in the overall art ecology. We need to think about how to provide resources to the artists and to further expand the standards; the museum has the responsibility to allow the artists and their artworks to be better presented and to gain further exposure. Critical decisions have been made both spatially and temporally for this year's Taipei Art Awards. The exhibition overlaps in time with Taipei Biennial 2018 and Taipei Dangdai, providing influential art experts and visitors from around the world to see these young Taiwanese artists' vibrant creative energies. This arrangement not only further enhances the artists' international exposure, but also provides them with important and valuable support. In addition to serving as an important link in the art community, the museum will also continue to facilitate opportunities for gatherings, discussions, and exchanges with professionals in the field.
Using different approaches to express their art concepts, the artists this year have presented their interpretations of the contemporary world through recounting memories, histories, and also through fictional methods. With artworks that deal with the history of suicide, political constraints behind old cinema, memories of seeking knowledge as a child, depiction of the Cold War, trauma analysis, and multi-ethnic dialogue, the artworks provide the viewers with insights and imaginations on our contemporary society. The most critical impact that art could bring to contemporary society is its ability to purify and provide experiences of aesthetic sublimation. Our gratitude goes to the artists for devoting wholeheartedly in creating art, all the staff for their meticulous work in helping to organize the exhibition, and a special thanks to the Commissioner for providing the Taipei Fine Arts Museum with such tremendous support. It is because of everyone's unwavering effort that this year's Taipei Art Awards could be realized.
Ping Lin
Director of Taipei Fine Arts Museum
Contents
Foreword
008-Commissioner of Department of Cultural Affairs, Taipei City Government_Tsung-Hsiung Tsai
010-Director of Taipei Fine Arts Museum_Ping Lin
Juror's Review
018-From Personal Dwelling Places, Remnants of Historical Memories to Landscape of Cultural Representations─ Observations after the Final Evaluation of the Taipei Art Awards/Chih-Yung Aaron Chiu
025-If We Still Have Space…/Jun-Honn Kao
033-Observing the Islandic Gravitational Field/Yung-Hao Liu
039-Reexamining the Art Awards' Epochal Significance─ 2018 Taipei Art Awards Pre-Final Evaluation Observations/Amy Cheng
Grand Prize
050-Reading Plan/Lien-Cheng Wang
Honourable Mention
060-Klein Hertz─ A Nonexistent Laboratory/Yu Siuan
068-You Are Not What You Think You Are/Yun-Han Chang
076-The Last Farm Boy/Walking Grass Agriculture
084-Nanyang Express : Trans-drifting and South Sea Crossing/Yi-Chi Lin
092-Suicide Technique Foundation: Annual Presentation/Wen-Hsuan Chang
Selected Award
102-3M─ Three happenings/Dondon·Hounwn
110-Vapor Equilibrium/Chen-Yu Chen
118-Entering Sekakei─ Bokurano/I-Chun Chen
126-Charting the Contours of Time/Ghost Mountain Ghost Shovel Collective
134-There is No Lunch in My Stomach, Nape Looking for Sunshine, Brain Craves for Love, Yet Anxiety Exists in My Soul, and Flash of Pain in My Mind./Yu-Ping Kuo
142-'Ln. 25, Dayong St.,'/Chien-Ju Chia
150-Taxi/Chia-En Jao
158-The Story of A Small Town/Zih-Yan Ciou