The event Whispers Beyond presents video works by Czech artist Jakub Jansa and Taiwanese artist Li Yi-Fan, both of whom explore complex themes infused with a striking sense of dark humor.
Jakub Jansa is one of the most prominent emerging artists in the Czech Republic today. His works deftly blend fiction, humor, and elements of the grotesque with contemporary leftist theories. Through video installations, he constructs narratives that keenly reflect the dilemmas of modern society. In his series of major works, the protagonist, Celeriac, strives relentlessly to escape the lower rungs of the social hierarchy and infiltrate the upper class at any cost—only to find himself rebelling against the falseness of that world.
In recent years, Li Yi-Fan has been actively featured in major exhibitions and has received significant awards. His practice delves into the relationship between himself and his self-developed software systems, investigating the technical dimensions of today's image industry and the tension that exists between technology and humanity. Utilizing game engines and real-time imaging techniques, Li creates uncanny bodies that become the very medium guiding us into the interwoven realms of the virtual and the real.
Although both artists are of the same generation, their approaches to creation differ significantly: Jansa typically works through cinematic storytelling, while Li masterfully employs the visual languages of 3D animation and game design. Yet, both share a fundamental commitment to developing distinct visual vocabularies through imagery, scenes, and objects, thereby revealing the critical issues that underlie their respective practices.
Through this event, the two artists will share their creative concepts and display methods, engaging in a discussion about the joys, challenges, and future directions of their unique artistic journeys.
Time｜2025.11.3（Mon）19:00-21:30 (18:00 reception)
Venue｜CREATORS’ Space R102 Coworking Space ⮕⮕ TICKET INFO
Moderator& Discusstant｜Iris Ping-Chi HUNG （Independent Curator）
Speakers｜Jakub Jansa (Czech artist) & Li Yi-Fan (Taiwanese artist)
About video works
Opening Ceremony
10’00”, 2022
What happens inside a floral puget during an important political meeting? Maybe flowers are not only decorative, beautiful and even more beautifully smelling. But what if they could be more proactive and get involved in issues of global proportions?
The story takes place at a gala dinner held in the world of plants. A union of flowers has extended a special invitation to "Celery-Man,"— a hybrid being between plant and human — to perform at the event. His presence at the gala triggers a series of unexpected interactions and events among the flowers.
Pumpkinville
15', 2024
Pumpkinville, a short film (15 mins, 4k) and installation commissioned by Steirischer Herbst 2024 follows Celerist, a noir detective trapped in a surreal world akin to The Truman Show, where a Styrian pumpkin—symbolizing Austria’s “green gold”—remains unaware of its artificial surroundings. Jakub Jansa crafts a satirical allegory of neoliberalism and nationalism, using human-vegetable beings to expose class hierarchies and ideological mechanisms of the Global North. Pumpkinville deconstructs the myths of tradition and identity as tools of political manipulation, revealing how false nostalgia and illusions of stability fuel contemporary nationalist ideologies.
What Is Your Favorite Primitive
37’05”, 2023
This video presents Li Yi-Fan’s production process as staging a death match between artist and software until a narrative work quietly unfolds from the decaying corpse of their confrontation. Incorporating a video game engine that allows him to improvise in real time with detailed 3D animations, Li reflects on both the strange suspension of time and space within games, but also on the increasingly detailed desires that arise from increasingly complex technical tools. Through storytelling, it depicts a protagonist wrestling with social and ethical questions that arise from software tools designed for image production. How have images changed the way we communicate? How can emoji convey emotional content beyond one’s own perceptions of a feeling? Describing human life (and death) in intimate detail, the film speculates that video technology could construct a new politics of life by projecting a totality yet to come.
About Artists
Jakub Jansa
Born in Prague in 1989, Jakub Jansa holds a Doctor of Fine Arts at UMPRUM. He was selected to represent the Czech and Slovak Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale in 2026, which will mark the 100th anniversary of the pavilion’s opening. To commemorate this milestone, the presentation will bring together Jansa, the artist duo Selmeci Kocka Jusko, and curator Peter Sit. In 2021 was awarded the Jindřich Chalupecký Award. His work Shame to Pride is part of the new permanent exhibition at the National Gallery Prague. He focuses on a distinctive approach to combining film, installation, and performance. Through a nuanced and reflective sensibility, his work raises questions about the mechanisms of social structures and the ideologies shaping them. His exhibition series with the umbrella title Club of Opportunities reflects dynamics of class issues and power hierarchies in a way that is poetic yet intellectually provocative. Work blends fiction, humor, and elements of the grotesque with contemporary leftist theories. He creates imaginative environments that expose the fragile and illusory nature of social systems we live in.
Li Yi-Fan
Born in Taipei in 1989, Li Yi-Fan holds an MFA in New Media Art from Taipei National University of the Arts and is currently an artist-in-residence at the Rijksakademie in the Netherlands. His notable accolades include the 20th Taishin Arts Award for Visual Arts (2021-2022), and the Kaohsiung Award (2020). He has completed artist residencies across Japan and Europe, with his work exhibited in Taiwan, France, Spain, and Belgium. His pieces are held in both domestic and international collections. Li Yi-Fan's practice, spanning sculpture, painting, video projection, and game engines, often employs monologues to delve into the intricate relationship between humanity and technology. Through his art, he frequently illustrates the interwoven dimensions of storytelling, daily life, and creative mediums that characterize his process.
Supported by｜Ministry of Culture
Co-organizers｜Taiwan Contemporary Culture Lab (C-LAB), Czech Centre Taipei
▶ Free Admission via Online Registration.
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▶ The organizer reserves the right to change, adjust, or cancel the event.