nca | nichido contemporary art

Vol.4 Li-Ren Chang
12.9 (fri.) – 12.21 (wed.) *Kindly supported by Chi-Wen Gallery

Venue: nca | nichido contemporary art
Gallery hours: Tue. – Sat. 11:00~19:00 (Closed on Sun., Mon., and National Holiday)
Vol.1 Sokchalina Lim / 10.28 - 11.9
Vol.2 Ting-Tong Chang / 11.11 – 11.23
Vol.3 Samak Kosem / 11.25 – 12.7
Vol.4 Li-Ren Chang / 12.9 – 12.21

nca | nichido contemporary art is pleased to present “Storytellers -Through the lens of contemporaneity” a group show that presents a selection of video works by four internationally acclaimed artists from Asia.
Over the past years we have been witnessing increasing interest in video art with an ever-growing presence of video works at major, international art events, such as Documenta, the Biennale and so forth.
Video art is a highly diverse genre that keeps our senses constantly engaged through video installations, for instance, whether they may be representing a performance or an object.
The exhibition puts together four artists whose artistic practice strongly focuses on video art, each through their unique expressive language, and investigates the different issues that are affecting their countries nowadays while travelling through history. The exhibition time will be arranged in four “volumes” corresponding to the number of the participating artists and their work will be presented accordingly in the form of a solo show.

Vol.3 presents the work of Samak Kosem
With a degree in anthropology, Samak Kosem (b. 1984, Bangkok; lives and works in Bangkok) centers his work around the non-human/animal relation and Muslim culture of Thailand’s Deep South, object of his ongoing research. Instead of using images of conflict and turmoil often portraited by mass media, Kosem uses animals (sheep) and landscape (waves) as tools to represent violence and societal pressure towards the Muslim community and the sexual orientation of its members. Identifying himself both as a member of the queer community and Muslim, through his work Kosem investigates how to be queer in the context of Islamic culture.
On view in the main gallery’s space is Kosem’s latest video work “We all have ghosts that don't let us sleep” which questions spatial politics in southern Thailand's Buddhist and Muslim communities.
Drawing inspiration from local beliefs, the video is centered on the story of a treasure hidden underneath a gigantic rock awaiting the predestined one to push the rock down into the ocean and free the treasure. A young Muslim man keeps trying to move the rock. Through the act of pushing the rock, the work gently touches upon the coastal encroachment of Muslim areas located along the beach and the affinities of local people's political systems.

Vol.4 Li-Ren Chang
Taiwanese artist Li-Ren Chang (b.1983) creates virtual worlds that lie between fiction and reality while embracing an artistic practice that spans from video to installation and animation.
The work on view, Battle City, is a colossal video work that addresses a variety of issues of our time - religion, global great powers, media and the fabric of todays’ society - while also tapping into the artist’s personal experience as a teenager living through anxiety, economic growth and the reality of social structures.
Episode 1 The Glory of Taiwan casts light on the historical scenario and political relations among great powers through the unfolding of a catastrophic, unexpected event that hits Taiwan and the world at large, while simultaneously following the story of the main character Chen Chih-Chiang, a nobody of low socio-economic status. The exhibition presents its second instalment, Episode 2 Economic Miracle, which focuses on the threat posed by the extreme capitalism that has been gaining ground through the construction of a new model of city located in one of the areas of the capital.
All the models appearing in the video have been hand-made by the artist himself and the very realization process behind this work represents Chang’s ultimate goal and can be definitely understood as the artist’s life-work.
Employing a theatrical style with one sole performer (Chang) taking on all the different roles in the story (as it is usually the case in puppet theatre), Chang goes beyond the simple staging of his own creation delivering a full, experimental live performance.