WU MENG-CHANG

The exhibition is curated by Shen Bo-Cheng, who graduated from the same university as the artist and is now Visiting Assistant Professor at the Department of Sculpture, National Taiwan University of Arts. In the curatorial concept, the vibrant, lush Vital Space is viewed as a vessel, and ‘sculpture’ constitutes the poetics of space. Through various natural elements, including light, shadow, tree shade, and flowing water, the exhibition is crafted as an experience of ‘the poetic space.’ Three sections are created in Vital Space. With the route formed by the artworks, audiences are guided through the exhibition to navigate the artist’s creative processes, which serve as a way of mediation between ‘natural forms’ and ‘human thoughts,’ enabling audiences to perceive the poetic relation and aesthetic beauty constructed by stone sculptures, light and the environment.

The first section comprises Vital Space’s ecological garden and lobby space, and showcases 17 large-scale sculptures. Incorporating architectural transparency of the unique space, as time progresses, the light cascading on the artworks varies. Consequently, audiences can follow the changes of light to explore the detail of each work and grasp the curator’s statement about these works—‘it is dwelling in light of quiescence; it is the truth of stone embodied by shadow.’ The second-floor hallway area showcases Wu’s valuable drawings created between 1998 and 2016. Making use of the strongly rhythmic display wall and lighting design, the two-dimensional drawings are exhibited in a three-dimensional way, which enables audiences to appreciate the works based on different directionality and source of light, echoing the multiple angles employed by the artist when carving his works. Last but not least, in the second-floor gallery room, seven exquisitely carved stone sculptures are on view. The natural texture and qualities of the stone materials, which have been intentionally kept by the artist, are rendered more vivid under the subtle, shadow-casting light, engaging audiences to discover gradually and carefully the artist’s dialogue with nature.

The curator states that the key to experience this ‘poetic space’ crafted by the artist’s works lies in the moments of sensibility overflowing from the movement in the midst of artworks, in the environment, and between light and shadow. Within Light and Shadow encourages audiences to view the entire exhibition space as ‘one work of art,’ which converts ‘time’ into changes of light and shadow, delineating how time can manifest the spatial poetry and a dialogue with stone sculptures.

Live Forever Foundation is founded on the ideal of ‘caring for ‘ecology,’ ‘living,’ and ‘life.’ Through the decade since its establishment, the Foundation has accumulated abundant results in the aspects of advocating respect for natural ecology and environmental education. Meanwhile, by organising art exhibitions and events regularly, the Foundation has introduced art into the site of living for the public. For this exhibition, Vital Space is both the vessel of art as well as art’s very subject. Through the artist’s creations and artistic ideas, the exhibition immerses the audience in the pure perception of the poetic space, and extends the awareness of sustainable environment prompted by the global pandemic, inspiring all to think about the balance among nature, ecology, and human will.