The annual exhibition has been an integral part of Taiwan Contemporary Culture Lab (C-LAB) since its inception in 2018, bringing together innovations in art and culture to explore new possibilities. Following 2018’s Re-Base: When Experiments Become Attitude and 2019’s City Flip-Flop, this year’s Re: Play is led by a team comprising of C-LAB curator CHUANG Wei-Tzu , along with guest curators WANG Po-Wei and River LIN. A group of 15 artists are also invited to participate in live performances and multiple exploration of archives, narratives, spaces, objects, and the body.
The exhibition’s name is Re: Play, which carries connotations of reruns, replays and reenactments, tying into each curatorial concept and creative intent. With the tentative subtitle “Exercise/Perform On-site”, it aims to examine the body’s agency in heterogeneous space, and the process of derivation or transformation in viewer-performer relationships. Within this context, the exhibition is made up of 3 constituent parts: Archive on Live, The Display on Live and Performance Process, respectively planned and executed by WANG Po-Wei, CHANG Wei-Tzu, and River LIN.
Archive on Live: revisiting the body image of the 90s
At the Archive on Live, curator WANG Po-Wei retraces the body image of the 90s through revisiting archives and reorganizing narratives. In the 90s, influenced by rampant reactionary sentiments in the wake of the period of martial law in Taiwan, many artists used the body as a medium, in a time when individuals and society are eager to find self-identification and invoke one’s status. These endeavors take the form of exploratory exhibitions and performances, shaping a unique creative scene. Besides revisiting documents of significance and conducting interviews with associated personalities, the exhibition also sees the commissioning of CHEN Wu-Kang to create 4 talk show pieces tailor-made from materials in the archives. Artist KAO Jun-Honn is also invited in a 4-part revival of his previous performance arts works, first conceived around the year 2000.
The Display on Live: deconstructing frameworks and reversing the daily life through reenactment, retelling, and intervention
The Display on Live is directed by CHUANG Wei-Tzu, in which she invites artists to explore the multi-layered meanings of narratives via reenactment, retracing, and manipulative intervention, portraying scenes from everyday life in alienating form. The works of Samson YOUNG, Siren Eun Young JUNG, SU Hui-Yu, Joyce HO, Snow HUANG, Kit LEE and CHANG Wen-Hsuan discuss how historical narratives are constructed under the specificity of time and space, and how creative artists challenge existing frameworks and constructed ideologies through performances, uncovering a hidden side of history. WANG Te-Yu, CHIA Chien-Ju and LI Ming-Chen through their works also seek to bring surreal revelations to the audience inside commonplace spaces and daily experiences via installations and performances, offering audiences an opposing view of their imaginings towards C-LAB in the event.
Performance Process: rehearsal and revisiting of the scene through workshops
Performance Process is comprised of 3 workshops, with the curator River LIN exploring the concept of agency in rehearsals and reenactments regarding the curatorial concepts. Alongside River LIN, artists SU Pin-Wen and duo artists TSENG Yen-Ting and CHIANG Tao of Uncertain Studio explore in each workshop the actualization of group rehearsals and its possibilities, along the 3 vectors of Gutai art’s bodily experimentation, women’s rights movement & gender issues, and object & auditory performances.
Re: Play opens October 17, 2020. Three seminars and a workshop will be held in association with the exhibition, and workshop recruitment auditions are on-going. To keep up with the latest, please visit C-LAB’s official website or Facebook page.
Re: Play
Date｜2020.10.17 – 11.29
Curator｜CHUANG Wei-Tzu, WANG Po-Wei, River LIN
Artist｜CHEN Wu-Kang, KAO Jun-Honn, Samson YOUNG (Hong Kong), Siren Eun Young JUNG (Korea), SU Hui-Yu, Joyce HO and Snow HUANG, Kit LEE (Hong Kong), CHANG Wen-Hsuan, WANG Te-Yu, CHIA Chien-Ju, LI Ming-Chen, SU Pin-Wen, TSENG Yen-Ting and CHIANG Tao of Uncertain Studio
