SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
αβγθ
8 July - 30 July, 2023
AKI Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan
αβγθ
8 July - 30 July, 2023
也趣藝廊，台北，台灣
View on AKI Gallery
8 July - 30 July, 2023
AKI Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan
αβγθ
8 July - 30 July, 2023
也趣藝廊，台北，台灣
View on AKI Gallery
"αβγθ" derives from the radiation types "α," "β," "γ," and the Greek symbol "θ," representing death. This series uses human-induced radiation events (nuclear plant accidents, atomic bombings, nuclear weapons) as a metaphor for the consequences of violent conflicts, discussing the futility of empathy and reflection on war.
At the core of "αβγθ" is a large installation, "Thermae," extending from a leisure facility to an interpretation of war and conflict. Through modified documents, ready-made objects, reproduced images, and on-site installations, the artist intertwines the generation and removal of radiation, akin to humanity's attempt to eliminate war while simultaneously creating more conflict. These scars, like radiation pollution, spread, persist, and are hard to eradicate, repeating in a relentless cycle. This is reflected in the purple metal sculptures "αβγ" (2023) distributed across three floors, continuously asserting their presence and hinting at the pervasive danger of radiation (war).
On the first floor, the large piece "A Pleasant Solution" (2023) displays an original administrative flowchart from Nazi Germany intended to deport Jews. The artist carefully scraped off controversial words with a small knife, leaving the structure of the process intact, precariously regulating peace in another world. The smaller work "Origin - Rainbow" (2023) digitally processes photos of the Chernobyl nuclear plant explosion, removing the damaged parts of the building due to the explosion and replacing them with absurd and joyful gradient concentric circle rainbows.
"Thermae" (2023), an on-site installation on the second floor, attempts to provide a larger space for people to cleanse themselves of war. In ancient Roman bathhouses, people could bathe together regardless of status or class; in modern Japanese bathhouses, gang members with tattoos are often refused entry to maintain peace. However, despite "Thermae" being a place of relaxation, the symbol "θ"—used in ancient Roman murals to denote the death of gladiators in combat—embedded in the tiles at the bottom disrupts this romance, turning the bathhouse into an arena where peace and slaughter are only a thin line apart. The visual also echoes nuclear plant reactors. In the center of the bathhouse, the ceramic piece "Little Missile" (2023) transforms the V2 missile into a harmless decorative form. Amid the contradiction of bathhouse and arena, the peace of the former appears rare and fragile, emphasizing the transient moments the artist seeks to highlight in the exhibition. "Origin - 911" (2023) digitally processes airport surveillance footage of terrorists from the 9/11 attacks, replacing their bodies with radiated colored gradients.
On the third floor, the video installation "Sisyphus' Soap" (2022-2023) surrounds in the form of bulletin boards. Cement blocks, Chernobyl disaster rescue medals, raised naval shells, and rifle shells with inserted flowers display three stacked white soaps in a war trophy stance. The combination of images and soap hints at the act of cleansing (the US Navy once claimed soap could wash away trace radiation), but war continues unabated in the past, present, and future, and our so-called cleaning is an inescapable Sisyphean task. Behind the board, "Missile Crisis" (2023) composites the V1 rocket into family photos from the Taiwan Strait Missile Crisis period.
"Death Cards" (2021) reproduces five memorial cards printed by the German army during WWII. Besides the portraits and dates of death, other commemorative and military texts, insignias on uniforms, religious images, and symbols were erased or partially altered, then reprinted according to the original object's scale. If the atomic explosion can turn people into mere shadows, is it possible to make the assigned identity disappear instead of life? The series "Drawing" (2021-2022) invites children to freely doodle on original WWII military target sheets, ultimately erasing the targets flexibly and resisting the object's original intent.
《αβγθ》來自輻射射線「α」、「β」、「γ」以及代表死亡的希臘符號「θ」，以人為輻射事件（核電廠事故、原爆、核武）的擴散性、時間性、抹除性借代暴力衝突的後果，藉此討論對戰爭同情與反省的徒勞無功。
《αβγθ》以一組大型裝置〈浴場〉作為核心，從休閒設施延伸至對戰爭及衝突的詮釋。透過改造文件、現成物件、再製影像與現地裝置，藝術家將輻射的產生與移除交織在了一起，如同人類試圖消除戰爭的同時也製造更多衝突。這些傷疤最終都將如輻射污染般的擴散、殘留且難以根除，並無奈地循環重複，如展場中分佈在三層樓的紫色金屬雕塑〈αβγ〉（2023），它們在展場中不斷地宣示其存在，暗示輻射（戰爭）無所不在的危害。
一樓展出大幅的〈令人欣慰的方案〉（2023），該作的原圖為納粹德國意圖將境內的猶太人移民出境的行政流程圖。藝術家小心地以小刀刮除了其中爭議性的文字，其流程結構仍被保留了下來，搖搖欲墜的規範著其他世界中的和平。小幅作品〈起源－彩虹〉（2023）將車諾比核電廠爆炸後的照片進行了數位處理，因爆炸而殘缺的建物部分被草率移除，並被漸層同心圓彩虹荒謬而歡愉地填滿。
〈浴場〉（2023）是在展場二樓現地搭建的一座浴池裝置，試圖提供人們一個更大的場所來清洗戰爭。在古時的羅馬浴場中，人類得以放下身份與階級一同沐浴；在更現代的日本浴場中，有紋身幫派份子會被拒絕進入，以保持浴場中的和平。然而，〈浴場〉雖作為一種休憩場所，池底由磁磚排列出的符號「θ」－古羅馬角鬥士在競技中死亡後壁畫上標示戰死的符號－卻打破了這樣的浪漫，浴場瞬間成為競技場，和平與殺戮僅有一線之隔，其視覺也與核電廠反應爐相呼應。在浴場中央，陶瓷作品〈小飛彈〉（2023）將V2飛彈轉化為無害的裝飾品形式。在浴池與競技場的矛盾之中，前者的和平也更顯得難得而脆弱，也是藝術家在展覽中試圖強調的短暫片刻。〈起源－911〉（2023）數位處理了拍攝到九一一事件恐怖份子的機場監控畫面，其人體同樣被輻射的彩色漸層取代。
展場三樓中，影像裝置〈薛西弗斯的皂〉（2022 - 2023）以告示板的形式圍繞。水泥塊與車諾比核災救難勳章、高舉的軍艦砲彈、插上花的步槍彈殼，陳列在三幅戰利品姿態的是三架堆疊的白色肥皂。影像與肥皂的組合暗示了清洗的行為（美國海軍曾表示肥皂可以清洗掉微量輻射），戰爭卻仍在過去、現在、未來不曾停歇，而我們所謂的清潔也只是薛西弗斯式的無法逃脫。看板的後方〈飛彈危機〉（2023）將V1火箭合成至台海飛彈危機時期的家庭照片中。
〈死亡卡〉（2021）再製了五張二戰德軍印刷的戰亡紀念卡。除了肖像與死亡日期之外，其他紀念與軍事文字、軍服上的標誌、宗教圖案的人臉與符號皆被抹除或部分更改，並重新依照原物件比例印製。假如原爆可以使人灰飛煙滅只剩殘影，是否有一種可能讓被賦予的身份消散而非生命？〈畫畫〉（2021 - 2022）系列邀請孩童在二戰軍事靶紙的原件上隨意塗鴉的創作計畫，靶紙最終被柔性地抹滅，抵抗了物件的原始意圖。
At the core of "αβγθ" is a large installation, "Thermae," extending from a leisure facility to an interpretation of war and conflict. Through modified documents, ready-made objects, reproduced images, and on-site installations, the artist intertwines the generation and removal of radiation, akin to humanity's attempt to eliminate war while simultaneously creating more conflict. These scars, like radiation pollution, spread, persist, and are hard to eradicate, repeating in a relentless cycle. This is reflected in the purple metal sculptures "αβγ" (2023) distributed across three floors, continuously asserting their presence and hinting at the pervasive danger of radiation (war).
On the first floor, the large piece "A Pleasant Solution" (2023) displays an original administrative flowchart from Nazi Germany intended to deport Jews. The artist carefully scraped off controversial words with a small knife, leaving the structure of the process intact, precariously regulating peace in another world. The smaller work "Origin - Rainbow" (2023) digitally processes photos of the Chernobyl nuclear plant explosion, removing the damaged parts of the building due to the explosion and replacing them with absurd and joyful gradient concentric circle rainbows.
"Thermae" (2023), an on-site installation on the second floor, attempts to provide a larger space for people to cleanse themselves of war. In ancient Roman bathhouses, people could bathe together regardless of status or class; in modern Japanese bathhouses, gang members with tattoos are often refused entry to maintain peace. However, despite "Thermae" being a place of relaxation, the symbol "θ"—used in ancient Roman murals to denote the death of gladiators in combat—embedded in the tiles at the bottom disrupts this romance, turning the bathhouse into an arena where peace and slaughter are only a thin line apart. The visual also echoes nuclear plant reactors. In the center of the bathhouse, the ceramic piece "Little Missile" (2023) transforms the V2 missile into a harmless decorative form. Amid the contradiction of bathhouse and arena, the peace of the former appears rare and fragile, emphasizing the transient moments the artist seeks to highlight in the exhibition. "Origin - 911" (2023) digitally processes airport surveillance footage of terrorists from the 9/11 attacks, replacing their bodies with radiated colored gradients.
On the third floor, the video installation "Sisyphus' Soap" (2022-2023) surrounds in the form of bulletin boards. Cement blocks, Chernobyl disaster rescue medals, raised naval shells, and rifle shells with inserted flowers display three stacked white soaps in a war trophy stance. The combination of images and soap hints at the act of cleansing (the US Navy once claimed soap could wash away trace radiation), but war continues unabated in the past, present, and future, and our so-called cleaning is an inescapable Sisyphean task. Behind the board, "Missile Crisis" (2023) composites the V1 rocket into family photos from the Taiwan Strait Missile Crisis period.
"Death Cards" (2021) reproduces five memorial cards printed by the German army during WWII. Besides the portraits and dates of death, other commemorative and military texts, insignias on uniforms, religious images, and symbols were erased or partially altered, then reprinted according to the original object's scale. If the atomic explosion can turn people into mere shadows, is it possible to make the assigned identity disappear instead of life? The series "Drawing" (2021-2022) invites children to freely doodle on original WWII military target sheets, ultimately erasing the targets flexibly and resisting the object's original intent.
《αβγθ》來自輻射射線「α」、「β」、「γ」以及代表死亡的希臘符號「θ」，以人為輻射事件（核電廠事故、原爆、核武）的擴散性、時間性、抹除性借代暴力衝突的後果，藉此討論對戰爭同情與反省的徒勞無功。
《αβγθ》以一組大型裝置〈浴場〉作為核心，從休閒設施延伸至對戰爭及衝突的詮釋。透過改造文件、現成物件、再製影像與現地裝置，藝術家將輻射的產生與移除交織在了一起，如同人類試圖消除戰爭的同時也製造更多衝突。這些傷疤最終都將如輻射污染般的擴散、殘留且難以根除，並無奈地循環重複，如展場中分佈在三層樓的紫色金屬雕塑〈αβγ〉（2023），它們在展場中不斷地宣示其存在，暗示輻射（戰爭）無所不在的危害。
一樓展出大幅的〈令人欣慰的方案〉（2023），該作的原圖為納粹德國意圖將境內的猶太人移民出境的行政流程圖。藝術家小心地以小刀刮除了其中爭議性的文字，其流程結構仍被保留了下來，搖搖欲墜的規範著其他世界中的和平。小幅作品〈起源－彩虹〉（2023）將車諾比核電廠爆炸後的照片進行了數位處理，因爆炸而殘缺的建物部分被草率移除，並被漸層同心圓彩虹荒謬而歡愉地填滿。
〈浴場〉（2023）是在展場二樓現地搭建的一座浴池裝置，試圖提供人們一個更大的場所來清洗戰爭。在古時的羅馬浴場中，人類得以放下身份與階級一同沐浴；在更現代的日本浴場中，有紋身幫派份子會被拒絕進入，以保持浴場中的和平。然而，〈浴場〉雖作為一種休憩場所，池底由磁磚排列出的符號「θ」－古羅馬角鬥士在競技中死亡後壁畫上標示戰死的符號－卻打破了這樣的浪漫，浴場瞬間成為競技場，和平與殺戮僅有一線之隔，其視覺也與核電廠反應爐相呼應。在浴場中央，陶瓷作品〈小飛彈〉（2023）將V2飛彈轉化為無害的裝飾品形式。在浴池與競技場的矛盾之中，前者的和平也更顯得難得而脆弱，也是藝術家在展覽中試圖強調的短暫片刻。〈起源－911〉（2023）數位處理了拍攝到九一一事件恐怖份子的機場監控畫面，其人體同樣被輻射的彩色漸層取代。
展場三樓中，影像裝置〈薛西弗斯的皂〉（2022 - 2023）以告示板的形式圍繞。水泥塊與車諾比核災救難勳章、高舉的軍艦砲彈、插上花的步槍彈殼，陳列在三幅戰利品姿態的是三架堆疊的白色肥皂。影像與肥皂的組合暗示了清洗的行為（美國海軍曾表示肥皂可以清洗掉微量輻射），戰爭卻仍在過去、現在、未來不曾停歇，而我們所謂的清潔也只是薛西弗斯式的無法逃脫。看板的後方〈飛彈危機〉（2023）將V1火箭合成至台海飛彈危機時期的家庭照片中。
〈死亡卡〉（2021）再製了五張二戰德軍印刷的戰亡紀念卡。除了肖像與死亡日期之外，其他紀念與軍事文字、軍服上的標誌、宗教圖案的人臉與符號皆被抹除或部分更改，並重新依照原物件比例印製。假如原爆可以使人灰飛煙滅只剩殘影，是否有一種可能讓被賦予的身份消散而非生命？〈畫畫〉（2021 - 2022）系列邀請孩童在二戰軍事靶紙的原件上隨意塗鴉的創作計畫，靶紙最終被柔性地抹滅，抵抗了物件的原始意圖。
LAN Chung-Hsuan
Thermae 浴場 , 2023
Tiles, wood, soaps, towels
433 x 331 x 76.5 cm
Thermae 浴場 , 2023
Tiles, wood, soaps, towels
433 x 331 x 76.5 cm
LAN Chung-Hsuan
A Pleasant Solution 令人欣慰的方案, 2023
Archival inkjet print
150 x 230 cm
A Pleasant Solution 令人欣慰的方案, 2023
Archival inkjet print
150 x 230 cm
LAN Chung-Hsuan
Sisyphus' Soaps 薛西弗斯的皂, 2022 - 2023
Archival inkjet print, soap
225 x 150 x 100 cm each / 90 x 60 cm each
Sisyphus' Soaps 薛西弗斯的皂, 2022 - 2023
Archival inkjet print, soap
225 x 150 x 100 cm each / 90 x 60 cm each
LAN Chung-Hsuan
Origin - Rainbow 起源 - 彩虹, 2023
Archival inkjet print
25 x 20 cm
Origin - Rainbow 起源 - 彩虹, 2023
Archival inkjet print
25 x 20 cm
LAN Chung-Hsuan,
Origin - 911 起源 - 911, 2023
Archival inkjet print
20 x 25 cm
Origin - 911 起源 - 911, 2023
Archival inkjet print
20 x 25 cm
LAN Chung-Hsuan
Death Cards 死亡卡, 2021
Archival inkjet print
30 x 25 cm each
Death Cards 死亡卡, 2021
Archival inkjet print
30 x 25 cm each
LAN Chung-Hsuan
αβγ, 2023
Aluminun
60 x 70 cm / 90 x 70 cm / 65 x 60 cm
αβγ, 2023
Aluminun
60 x 70 cm / 90 x 70 cm / 65 x 60 cm
LAN Chung-Hsuan
Missile Crisis 飛彈危機, 2023
Archival inkjet prints
14.5 x 20 cm
Missile Crisis 飛彈危機, 2023
Archival inkjet prints
14.5 x 20 cm
LAN Chung-Hsuan
Drawing 畫畫, 2021
Target sheet, crayon or color pencil
35 x 32 cm / 15 x 9.5 cm each
Drawing 畫畫, 2021
Target sheet, crayon or color pencil
35 x 32 cm / 15 x 9.5 cm each
Soap, Myth, and War - Chung-Hsuan Lan's Solo Exhibition, αβγθ Exploring the Time Consciousness Through Schemes, LAI Chun-Chieh, 2023 (English / Chinese)
肥皂、神話與戰爭 —— 談「藍仲軒：αβγθ」中的圖式與時間意識，賴駿杰，2023（英文 / 中文）
肥皂、神話與戰爭 —— 談「藍仲軒：αβγθ」中的圖式與時間意識，賴駿杰，2023（英文 / 中文）
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
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LAN CHUNG-HSUAN © 2024
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
FEATURES
CURATING
PRESS
TEXT
CV
@lanchunghsuan
[email protected]
LAN CHUNG-HSUAN © 2024