“Program X-site” is based on the outdoor plaza of the museum and publicly invites proposals every year to encourage cross-disciplinary, experimental creations, or creative methodologies for the open space. The goal is to stimulate the audience’s perception and re-imagination of the site through the aesthetic extension and breakthroughs of the spatial construction. Out of a total of 42 participating works for this year, Membrane by the cross-disciplinary team Whyixd was selected after two rounds of preliminary review to receive the first prize for 2020 in the 7th year of the program.
Membrane creates a unique multi-layered space using optical polarizers where the illusion of viewing with motion is lost in the super-sensory experience of ambiguous boundaries, between the overlapping reality and fantasy. The constant manipulation of cognition and interpretation within the space is a response to this year’s theme of “X-Reality” – exploring reality that requires continuous cross-referencing in the process.
Space: Experience formed through Perception (Fuzzy Space Boundary)
Space is an experience formed through perception. Human beings use their senses to observe and experience the light and shadow in the space, to which they could perceive the boundary and define the appearance of a space. If we were to blur the physical boundaries, could we then subvert the experience and make that space a constantly changing existence? However, the process of discerning space is like recognizing the experience of this world. Self-consciousness would then become the scale that defines the world through knowledge and emotional experience that shape the appearance of the world.
Consciousness: But how do we get to know this world?
Our consciousness determines what we want to see in this subjective world of ours. We would actively estimate the appearance of the world, rather than present the reality of which we perceive with authenticity. The appearance of the world is usually shaped by past knowledge and emotions. For example, our so-called truths usually include personal experience from the past as perceived through the body, as well as the objective facts that most people have had experienced. In contrast, virtual reality is defined as something that cannot be perceived through the body and is constantly changing. Then, how would we truly identify this world through the Membrane where the reality and virtual are interlaced in its very ambiguous space?
Membrane
A multi-layered membrane, like an interface, changes the basis of perception through materials and light to create many seemingly physical boundaries and ambiguous spaces of existence/non-existence. Accordingly, the space changes continuously with the movement of the viewer to challenge the common sensory experience. Due to the surrounding Membrane, we can explore the effect on both sides “through the membrane,” tempting us to enter the overlapping cross-referenced world of reality and virtuality to create a new boundary in this situation.
Creative Team
Whyixd is a cross-disciplinary creative installation team based in Taiwan with their members’ background in art, architecture, design, engineering, and mechanical engineering. They work with partners in theater, dance, architectural space, pop music, contemporary art and beyond. The team pays attention to all kinds of surprises in life to escape the two-dimensional visual boundaries by creating real illusions through electronic landscapes in the new media that displace time and space. They would attempt to capture the snapshot of the soul in alternative dimensions through a new physical experience of technological transformation – such as a blizzard in the tropics and a flower cluster shower in the calm.
Team Members
Yen Po, Yeh
Zih Jing, Wei
Chieh Lin, Chuang
Wei Cheng, Yeh
Shih Pan, Liu
Chung Fu, Kuo
Meng Te, Hsieh
Yen hsiang, Huang
Jen Hsiang,Cheng
Chen Yen, Chen
Chia Ling, Tu
Polarizer: Cheng Mei Materials Technology Corp.
Structural consultant: Kuan-Fan Chen + A.S studio
Structure: Xiang Yu Co. Ltd.