Charwei Tsai – Page 13

We Came Whirling Out of Nothingness

We Came Whirling Out of Nothingness, 2014, Exhibition View, Photo courtesy of TKG

TKG+, Taipei, Taiwan
13 September ~ 12 October 2014

Exhibited works:

– We Came Whirling Out of Nothingness, 2014, Drawing series
– Spiral Incense Mantra, 2014, Installation
– Incense Mantra, 2013, Video
– Lanyu: Three Stories, 2012, Video Installation
– Lanyu IV, VII, 2012, Photographs
– Circle II, 2011, Video
– Lovely Daze Complete Set, 2005-Present

*We Came Whirling Out of Nothingness,* 2014, Exhibition View, Photo courtesy of TKG

Press Release:
We came whirling out of nothingness
scattering stars like dust.
The stars made a circle
and in the middle we dance.
‐ Jalaluddin Rumi

TKG+ is pleased to present Charwei Tsai: We Came Whirling Out of Nothingness. Comprising videos, installations, photographs, and the artist’s curatorial art journal Lovely Daze, this solo exhibition examines the ways in which human perception of time and space is dependent on and parallels nature’s underlying revolving and repeating circular and spiral forms. The works consider how these structures might inform us about natural occurrences in our universe, from the simplicity of a snail shell to the spectacle of the galaxy. Encompassing Tsai’s exploration of Sufism, as well as Buddhist traditions, the exhibition also highlights a transition in the artist’s practice of applying the Buddhist concepts of emptiness and interdependence to a universal concern with the environment.

The centerpiece installation of the exhibition, We Came Whirling Out of Nothingness, an 18‐meter‐long montage of notes, sketches, drawings, paintings, photographs, and objects, contemplates the spiral form and other circular movements. The work stems from Tsai’s fascination with Sufism, and especially the spirals and circles produced by the spinning of the dervishes during the ritual dance of the Mevlevi Sema Ceremony. According to the 13th‐century Persian poet and mystic Jalaluddin Rumi, whose teachings serve as the basis of the Mevlevi Order, the dancing dervishes represent the planets revolving around the sun. Immersed in their microcosms, the dervishes create new worlds and make contact with eternity.

Drawing from a Buddhist perspective, and the artist’s Taiwan‐formed traditions, the exhibition also includes works based on the cyclic, rather than linear, understanding of the world. This section includes works that examine the relationships between indigenous beliefs, the spiritual realm, and nature, through a new ephemeral installation of large burning spiral‐shaped pieces of incense, Spiral Incense Mantra (2014), the three‐channel video projection Lanyu: Three Stories (2012), and three photographs from the series Lanyu (2012).

The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue that surveys the artist’s practice since 2005, with an essay by Mami Kataoka, Chief Curator of the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, Japan, and an interview with Tsai by artist, curator, and writer Heman Chong.

Heman Chong / Charwei Tsai

Singapore / Saigon
17 July 2014
Published in We Came Whirling Out of Nothingness by TKG+, Taipei, Taiwan

Formes Simples

Circle II, 2011, Video, Installation view at Formes Simples

Centre Pompidou – Metz, France
Co-Produced by Fondation d’Enterprise Hermès
13 June 2014 ~ 5 January 2015
Curator: Jean de Loisy
Associate Curators: Sandra Adam-Couralet and Mouna Mekouar

Exhibited Work: Circle II, 2011, Video, Collection of Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan

Press Release: The years between the 19th and 20th centuries saw the return of quintessential forms through major universal expositions which devised a new repertoire of shapes, the simplicity of which would captivate artists and revolutionise the modern philosophy. They introduced, within the evolution of modern art, both an alternative to the eloquence of the human body and the possibility that shapes could be a universal concept.

Nascent debates in physics, mathematics, phenomenology, biology and aesthetic had important consequences on mechanics, industry, architecture and art in general. While visiting the 1912 Salon de la Locomotion Aérienne with Constantin Brancusi and Fernand Léger, Marcel Duchamp stopped short before an aeroplane propeller and declared, “Painting is dead. Who could better this propeller?”

These pared-down, non-geometric shapes, which occupy space in a constant progression, are no less fascinating today. Minimalist artists such as Ellsworth Kelly and Richard Serra, spiritualist artists such as Anish Kapoor, metaphysical artists such as Tony Smith, or poetic artists such as Ernesto Neto are as attentive to simple shapes as were the inventors of modernity.

The exhibition draws on the senses to explore the appearance of simple shapes in art, nature and tools. This poetic approach is balanced by an analytical view of the twentieth century’s history.
It connects scientific events and technical discoveries with the emergence of modern shapes. Subjects pertaining to industry, mechanics, mathematics, physics, biology, phenomenology and archaeology are equated with objects from art and architecture, which are in turn set alongside their ancient predecessors and natural objects.

Dojima River Biennale

Lanyu I, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, 2012, Hand-inscribed photographs

Little Water
Dojima River Biennale, Osaka, Japan
Curated by Rudy Tseng
20 July ~ 18 August 2013

Exhibited Works:
Lanyu I, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, 2012, Hand-inscribed photographs

Yuan Goang-Ming, Charwei Tsai, and Teng Chao-Ming, Artists’ Talk

Press Release: The third edition of Dojima River Biennale, organized by Taiwanese curator Rudy Tseng as its Artistic Director, draws inspiration from the beauty of Dojima River, and focuses on water’s importance to the everyday life of the local population. The title, Little Water, attends to many of this element’s concepts, tracing its importance not only as a natural resource, but also as a symbol, as it exists in different states, whether as ice, liquid, or vapor, and morphs itself into whatever form it is poured into. While people who reside near a water source may have certain memories and experiences of this proximity, the role water plays in rituals and religions, and its properties in cleansing and purification are equally pertinent. Though rivers and oceans may serve as geo-political boundaries, they not only separate, but also bond humans, families, and communities. Little Water re-examines water’s many meanings and explores its roles in agriculture, ecology, literature, and human sensibility, inviting works that embrace the complexity, diversity, and poetic beauty of this most basic element of nature.

Participating artists: Doug Aitken, Yukio Fujimoto, Gade, NS Harsha, Naoya Hatakeyama, Takashi Ishida, Teppei Kaneuji, William Kentridge, Wolfgang Laib, Lee Mingwei, Charles Lim, Aditya Novali, Pak Sheung Chuen, Sopheap Pich, Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook, Taro Shinoda, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Tadasu Takamine, teamLab, Teng Chao-Ming, Charwei Tsai, Su-Mei Tse, Wang Yuping, Meg Webster, Lawrence Weiner, Andro Wekua, Lyota Yagi and Yuan Goang-Ming.

Incense Mantra

HD video with sound, black and white
Video
In collaboration with Tsering Tashi Gyalthang

The time-lapse video of an incense burning was inspired by the history of Hong Kong as the “Fragrant Harbor” based on its large production of incense from locally grown sandalwood. (“Hong” means fragrant in the local Cantonese dialect and “Kong” means harbor.) For this project, Tsai sourced a large piece of incense from a local store on Queen’s Road West, an area in Hong Kong known for its sales of objects for religious and ceremonial offerings, and wrote the Heart Sutra in Chinese calligraphy on it. The sutra is a Buddhist text that Tsai has memorized as a child and is a seminal text on the concept of impermanence. She then lit the incense on a mirror reflecting the sky as an offering to the city. The work encourages a moment of contemplation on the spiritual significance of the sacred text while the physical form of the text transforms into ashes and smoke revealing the backdrop of the city’s celebrated skyline. Through the opportunity of working within a local context in Hong Kong, Tsai expands on her exploration of making works of art as objects of meditation and tools for spiritual and social practice.

Special thanks to Tsering Tashi Gyalthang, Jenny Lee, Allen Lin, Emily Chiang, Lesley Ma, Floria Wun, Edouard Malingue Gallery, TKG+, Asia Society Hong Kong