Materiality delineates the human way of life.
Every day from the moment we open our eyes, we find ourselves in a world defined by objects: the glass from which we drink, the clothes we wear, the space we inhabit, and the smartphone that transcends mere communication. Whether through food, housing, transportation, education, or leisure, every facet of life is enwrapped in materiality. To accommodate the complexities of living, objects are incessantly created, invented, optimized, and adapted. Through human use, these objects develop into systems that mold our instinctive, routine movements. Postures, habits, thinking patterns fundamentally altered.
From the 1970s, when Jean Baudrillard articulated his conception of sign value in consumerist society, through the 1990s, when Tim Dant and Bernard Stiegler investigated material practice, materiality has not solely been consumed or referential. Instead, it has morphed into a technology derived from the object through everyday operation, use, and perception, further configuring humanity’s behavioral patterns and social milieus.
This exhibition examines the profound impact of the production and circulation of materiality—from agricultural to industrial and commercial societies today—spanning from the intimate scale of our lifestyle, to the macro-mechanisms that propel and intervene in social function, as well as the forces lurking behind. At its core is the question of how materiality continues to generate the world within the realms of society, space, scale, and perception. How do artists across generations translate their sense of the times into material practice and experimentation, in turn responding to a vision of reality warped and transmuted by the act of making?
Artists:
KUSAKA Junichi
PAI Ching-Jui
CHU Chia-Hua
Joyce HO
HO Te-Lai
LI Yuan-Chia
James Ming-Hsueh LEE
LEE Kit
CHOU Yu-Cheng
LIN Wen-Hsi
SHI Song
HSU Yang-Tsung
WENG Ching-Tu
CHANG Chao-Tang
MEI Dean-E
CHEN Tien-Mao
CHEN Shun-Chu
LU Hsien-Ming
TANG Ya-Wen
HUANG Wen-Hao
HUANG Kuan-Chun
Tony WONG
HUANG Ming-Chang
Ting-Ting CHENG
Hiraki SAWA
LU Guan-Hong
LAI Chiu-Chen
YEN Shui-Long
KU Ho-Chung
* in alphabetical order by surname
Curator: FENG Hsin