
Sirens, explosive blast, sudden pounding, and a slow-tempo anthem, are the sound from different
artworks about an air raid drill, a civil disobedience movement, and different settings inside of an imagined home.
Is this a site of allegory reflecting the past and present? Or a prophecy of the human future told through an exhibition?
It’s probably both to Yuan Goang-Ming, the artist born, raised, and living with his family in Taiwan.
This solo presentation encompasses the artist’s work from 2014 to now.
Together they convey both personal and collective’s ever longing inquiry of home in an era when conflict and fragility are the norm:
What’s survival? What’s living? What’s peace? What’s safety? What’s freedom? What’s poetic?
Directly hear and see the voice of this Taiwan artist about what these all mean to him, in Everyday War with Foreigner Everywhere at the Biennale Arte 2024.
Yuan Goang-Ming (b. 1965, Taipei) graduated from the Department of Fine Arts,
National Taiwan Academy of Arts (now Taipei National University of the Arts) in 1989. In 1993, he was awarded the DAAD German Exchange Scholarship,
and next year went to research on media art at the Institute for New Media in Frankfurt, Germany.
He received his master’s degree in media art from Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design (Staatliche Hochschule für Gestaltung, Karlsruhe, Germany) in 1997.
Yuan’s active commitment to video art has made him one of the pioneering new media artists in Taiwan since the 90s.
He works across various, ranging from single-channel videos, computerized interactive installations, installation-based video projections,
to prints created with digital media. Through these forms, he has consistently explored and unfolded the possibilities of video and media art.
Abby Chen is the Head of Contemporary Art and Senior Associate Curator at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. She took the position in 2019 to curate the museum’s historical expansion project. Her leadership includes positioning the museum with strategy on acquisition, exhibition, and public engagement. She helped build the largest collection of Bernice Bing, and initiated several touring exhibitions in America and beyond. As part of the institutional transformation, she established the Practice Institute, a collaborative model to change museum practices and expedite innovation. Previously, she served for over a decade as the Curator and Artistic Director at the Chinese Culture Foundation and Center of San Francisco. Under her leadership, the Community-based organization was transformed into an internationally recognized open and process-driven platform for contemporary art.
Founded in 1983, Taipei Fine Arts Museum (TFAM) is Taiwan’s first museum of modern and contemporary art in Taiwan. Venturing into its 40th year, TFAM has dedicated itself to the development of local artists in Taiwan while staying abreast of ongoing trends in international art scenes. It has pioneered the biennial trends for the region and overseen the operations of the Taipei Biennial since 1998, and the participation as Collateral Event at the International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia since 1995, coloring its visions with stronger overtones of global strategy.
© Yuan Goang-Ming. Courtesy of the artist and TFAM of Taiwan Collateral Event 2024
© Yuan Goang-Ming. Courtesy of the artist and TFAM of Taiwan Collateral Event 2024
© Yuan Goang-Ming. Courtesy of the artist and TFAM of Taiwan Collateral Event 2024
© Yuan Goang-Ming. Courtesy of the artist and TFAM of Taiwan Collateral Event 2024
TV footage featured in the work is courtesy of TmarTn2, Joob, OperatorDrewski on YouTube.
Support: National Culture and Arts Foundation
© Yuan Goang-Ming. Courtesy of the artist and TFAM of Taiwan Collateral Event 2024
Special thanks to Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts
© Yuan Goang-Ming. Courtesy of the artist and TFAM of Taiwan Collateral Event 2024
Support: National Culture and Arts Foundation
© Marco Bottigelli / Coastal road in Madeira, Portugal via Getty Images