TFAM Net.Open Project

Located on the south side of the Taipei Fine Arts Museum (hereinafter referred to as the "TFAM") on Zhongshan North Road, Art Complex Expansion Project, officially began construction in 2022 and is expected to open in the end of 2028. As an extension and expansion of the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Art Complex Expansion Project is not only given the role of accommodating more audiences and pluralizing its functions in terms of “hardware” (building and equipment); it is also tasked with imagining and practicing the possibilities of future art development in terms of “software” (art and culture) content. Therefore, in response to the museum's original position as a permanent exhibition site and research center for modern art history in Taiwan, the new museum will explore contemporary art, new media or technological art, live art, and interdisciplinary cooperation in depth, and will actively develop a more diverse audience and community.

In order to realize the new page of the TFAM's future, and to respond to the application of new technologies in art creation or institutional systems in the digital age, we hope to establish the "TFAM Net.Open Platform'' as a hub for the convergence and co-creation between art creators, computer engineers, scientists, arts administrators, and production teams. Curators and artists are invited to push the boundaries of virtual mediums and online spaces beyond physical exhibitions. The platform also integrates online and offline activities to provide audiences with more diversified channels to get closer to the core of the artists' creations. Through the art projects on the platform, we hope to unite the community that focus on the development of cutting-edge technology and art, and hope that through the process of co-production and cooperation, we can foster the innovation of the museum in the aspects of knowledge, practice, technology, and system.

Online Exhibition Convolutions

In collaboration with Nadim Samman, curator of the KW Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin, the first phase of TFAM Net.Open Platform will consist of an online exhibition titled Convolutions, featuring works by Simon Denny (1982-), Canadian artist Jon Rafman (1981-) and Taiwanese artist Cheng Hsien-Yu (1984-), who have been invited to present their new commissioned works on this digital platform, responding to the contemporary technological society's imaginaries beyond physical spaces.

The term "Convolution" usually means a state which is too complex or chaotic; however, in the field of artificial intelligence, "convolution" refers to the key engineering techniques in convolutional neural networks related to image recognition, visual and generated text. This exhibition responds to the rapidly increasing social impact of digital technology through the application of different types of digital technology presented in the works of the three artists, such as the powerful productivity generated by computer computation, or the misinformation and spam generated by convolutional models. It also explores the blurring of the boundaries between the real and virtual world in contemporary life, and reflects the so-called convolutional moment that contemporary life is experiencing. With the launch of the online exhibition, Net.Open Platform has invited Taiwanese independent curator Emily Hsiang-Yun Huang to curate a series of public events for the exhibition, including online activities such as lectures, talks, and workshops, in order to allow audiences to better understand the impact of digital technology on artists and the art industry. In addition, artist Jon Rafman has also made a video installation version of his work S.S. Lacuna: Prologue in Room F located on the basement floor of the museum, so that the audience can have a more comprehensive experience of the work.

BREAKING THE VOID (2024.4.20-9.15 @ Gallery F )

“BREAKING THE VOID” presents Jon Rafman’s video work Punctured Sky (2021), and S.S Lacuna: Prologue (2024), an interactive video commissioned by TFAM Net.Open. 

The two pieces raise questions and probes into the virtual and real dimensions of cyberspace. As the narrative exploration unfolds, the intangible web constructed by the internet gradually reveals fissures and holes piercing through the virtual towards reality. Yet, the world it leads to, is it indeed reality, or another boundless void?

Rafman’s quasi-anthropological works—often incorporating internet-sourced images and narrative material—investigate digital technologies and the communities they create. Part archivist, Rafman explores the subcultures of the Internet, seeking to question the distinction between virtual and real. Many of Rafman’s most recent works use 3D animation, which employ a visual language reminiscent of science fiction films. 

Punctured Sky is a piece that unfolds through a first-person narrative. A gamer's search for a web game from the past that vanished without a trace, triggering a quest for answers. Along the way, he encounters uncanny obstacles and part-human avatars – meticulously crafted from found pixels and cyber history – which call his own recollections of youth into question. Early internet aesthetics collide with the dark edges of online folklore, creating an unsettling yet deeply funny commentary on how technology pervades and mediates humanity, memory, and concept of self. 

 Jon Rafman｜Punctured Sky ｜2021｜Vedio | 21 minutes