A Slow Universe Comes With Something Like Death–Su Hui-Yu Solo Exhibition
2014.07.18～2014.09.14
09:00 - 17:00
A Slow Universe Comes With Something Like Death When with his children and starting to feel sleepy, Su Hui-yu is haunted by thoughts that have no relation to his children whatsoever, such as thoughts of death. For this reason, he created the series Whale Mass Suicide, which he produced during an eight-month period from 2013 to early 2014. The series, in Su's own words,
looks at death and ideas closely related to death from the perspective of my own children.” The work A Slow Universe Comes with Something Like Death started from an early attempt at filming a scene from another work in the same series Papa Is Not Here. On the eve of premiering Whale Mass Suicide, Su came across this preliminary footage and played it back very slowly. Slowing down the playback renders the children's voices very low in pitch and difficult to understand, and gives them a distant, ghost-like grace. The scene feels viscous and heavy as time slows down, the children seem to be drifting in outer space, and light flickers, all suggesting a state between waking and sleeping. This clip seems even closer to Su’s concept of
catching a glimpse of death while in a trance,” which was his inspiration for Papa Is Not Here. Hence A Slow Universe Comes with Something Like Death was borne of random footage—the artist had not intended on using it, but it seemed to generate meaning on its own. In a certain respect, A Slow Universe Comes with Something Like Death could be called a prequel to the Whale Mass Suicide series. The feeling of stalled time in A Slow Universe Comes with Something Like Death is reminiscent of Su’s earlier work Stilnox Home Video: The Midnight Hours as well as a more recent work Sex and Death and the Boy Infant. These three works belong together; they all are about liminal states between wakefulness and sleep, and between fantasy and reality. This state is associated with life (clear consciousness), death (no consciousness), and sexual activity (consciousness of the body), as well as many other hidden secrets.
looks at death and ideas closely related to death from the perspective of my own children.” The work A Slow Universe Comes with Something Like Death started from an early attempt at filming a scene from another work in the same series Papa Is Not Here. On the eve of premiering Whale Mass Suicide, Su came across this preliminary footage and played it back very slowly. Slowing down the playback renders the children's voices very low in pitch and difficult to understand, and gives them a distant, ghost-like grace. The scene feels viscous and heavy as time slows down, the children seem to be drifting in outer space, and light flickers, all suggesting a state between waking and sleeping. This clip seems even closer to Su’s concept of
catching a glimpse of death while in a trance,” which was his inspiration for Papa Is Not Here. Hence A Slow Universe Comes with Something Like Death was borne of random footage—the artist had not intended on using it, but it seemed to generate meaning on its own. In a certain respect, A Slow Universe Comes with Something Like Death could be called a prequel to the Whale Mass Suicide series. The feeling of stalled time in A Slow Universe Comes with Something Like Death is reminiscent of Su’s earlier work Stilnox Home Video: The Midnight Hours as well as a more recent work Sex and Death and the Boy Infant. These three works belong together; they all are about liminal states between wakefulness and sleep, and between fantasy and reality. This state is associated with life (clear consciousness), death (no consciousness), and sexual activity (consciousness of the body), as well as many other hidden secrets.
A Slow Universe Comes With Something Like Death When with his children and starting to feel sleepy, Su Hui-yu is haunted by thoughts that have no relation to his children whatsoever, such as thoughts of death. For this reason, he created the series Whale Mass Suicide, which he produced during an eight-month period from 2013 to early 2014. The series, in Su's own words,
looks at death and ideas closely related to death from the perspective of my own children.” The work A Slow Universe Comes with Something Like Death started from an early attempt at filming a scene from another work in the same series Papa Is Not Here. On the eve of premiering Whale Mass Suicide, Su came across this preliminary footage and played it back very slowly. Slowing down the playback renders the children's voices very low in pitch and difficult to understand, and gives them a distant, ghost-like grace. The scene feels viscous and heavy as time slows down, the children seem to be drifting in outer space, and light flickers, all suggesting a state between waking and sleeping. This clip seems even closer to Su’s concept of
catching a glimpse of death while in a trance,” which was his inspiration for Papa Is Not Here. Hence A Slow Universe Comes with Something Like Death was borne of random footage—the artist had not intended on using it, but it seemed to generate meaning on its own. In a certain respect, A Slow Universe Comes with Something Like Death could be called a prequel to the Whale Mass Suicide series. The feeling of stalled time in A Slow Universe Comes with Something Like Death is reminiscent of Su’s earlier work Stilnox Home Video: The Midnight Hours as well as a more recent work Sex and Death and the Boy Infant. These three works belong together; they all are about liminal states between wakefulness and sleep, and between fantasy and reality. This state is associated with life (clear consciousness), death (no consciousness), and sexual activity (consciousness of the body), as well as many other hidden secrets.
looks at death and ideas closely related to death from the perspective of my own children.” The work A Slow Universe Comes with Something Like Death started from an early attempt at filming a scene from another work in the same series Papa Is Not Here. On the eve of premiering Whale Mass Suicide, Su came across this preliminary footage and played it back very slowly. Slowing down the playback renders the children's voices very low in pitch and difficult to understand, and gives them a distant, ghost-like grace. The scene feels viscous and heavy as time slows down, the children seem to be drifting in outer space, and light flickers, all suggesting a state between waking and sleeping. This clip seems even closer to Su’s concept of
catching a glimpse of death while in a trance,” which was his inspiration for Papa Is Not Here. Hence A Slow Universe Comes with Something Like Death was borne of random footage—the artist had not intended on using it, but it seemed to generate meaning on its own. In a certain respect, A Slow Universe Comes with Something Like Death could be called a prequel to the Whale Mass Suicide series. The feeling of stalled time in A Slow Universe Comes with Something Like Death is reminiscent of Su’s earlier work Stilnox Home Video: The Midnight Hours as well as a more recent work Sex and Death and the Boy Infant. These three works belong together; they all are about liminal states between wakefulness and sleep, and between fantasy and reality. This state is associated with life (clear consciousness), death (no consciousness), and sexual activity (consciousness of the body), as well as many other hidden secrets.
Su Hui-Yu was born in Taipei, 1976. He graduated from National Taiwan Normal University in 1998 with B. A. in Fine Art and received an M.F.A. degree from Taipei National University of the Arts in 2003. An active participant in the contemporary art world in Taiwan, Su has been exploring the effect of media and technology on human behavior and has created a series of performances entitled "The TV Kid”. Focusing on pop culture, mass media, violence, reality TV, and the politics of fear, he has created staged video productions and still images that represent a sophisticated use of technology and an acute understanding of his contemporaries’ response to their world. His work has received both national and international recognition and has been exhibited at Power Station of Art in Shanghai (2013); National Taiwan Museum of Fine Art in Taichung(2012); Tina Keng Gallery in Taipei, MID_E International Contemporary Art Exhibition in San Sebastian(2010), AFA Beijing Contemporary Art center in Beijing(2009), FEM Foundation in Madrid (2007); IT Park in Taipei, Sparwasser HQ in Berlin, and the Cultural Centre of Taiwan in Paris (2006); and MOCA Taipei(2005) . And in 2013, Su was invited to present his work in Casino Luxembourg for the Luxembourg City Film Festival’s video program. In 2009, Su was awarded the Asian Cultural Council Fellowship Award(ACC) to research activities in contemporary art, participate in an international residency program in New York City. In 2013, Su received awards granted art residency program to Cesky Krumlov, Czech by Ministry of Culture, Taiwan. In 2014, Su presented a series of new works in IT Park, Taipei, Apartment Der Kunst, München and Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, TNUA. Su Hui-Yu 1976, born in Taipei, Taiwan Education 2003 M.F.A., Taipei National University of the Arts 1998 B. A. in Fine Art, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan Selected Solo Exhibitions 2014 “Day& Night”, Apartment der Kunst, Munich, Germany “Whale Mass Suicide”, IT Park, Taipei, Taiwan “A Poignant Dance in the Mass Media History”, AM Space , Hong Kong, China 2012 “The Upcoming Show”, VT Artsalon, Taipei, Taiwan 2010 “Stilnox Home Video”, Tina Keng Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan 2009 “The Fabled Shoots ll – Bloody Beauty”, Lin & Keng Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan 2007 “The Fabled Shoots”, VT Artsalon, Taipei, Taiwan 2006 “My Pop Life”, IT Park, Taipei, Taiwan 2005 “Endless Recalling”, Chi-Wen Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan Selected Group Exhibitions 2014 “Censorship: The 7th Move on Asia”, Alternative Space Loop, Seoul, Korea “For for for forest”, Tina Keng Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan 2013 “Trans-allegory- Highlights of New Media Arts from the Museum Collection”, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, Taiwan “6th VIDEOHOLICA Video Art Festival”, Varna, Bulgaria “Cutlog- NEW YORK / The New Wave of Contemporary Video Art in Taiwan”, New York, USA “9TH SHANGHAI BIENNALE- Zhong Shan Project, Power Station of Art”, MOCA Shanghai, Shanghai, China “Gazing into Freedom: Taiwan Contemporary Art Exhibition”, Museum of Contemporary Art of Vojvodina, Novi Sad, Serbia “Discovery Zone- Luxembourg City Film Festival 2013”, Casino Luxembourg, Luxembourg 2012 “Dialogue in Contemporary Video Art”, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, Taiwan “Taiwan International Video Art Exhibition”, Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Kaohsiung, Taiwan 2011 “Live Ammo”, MOCA Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan “Republic Without People”, Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Kaohsiung, Taiwan 2010 “Eattopia- Taiwan International Video Art Exhibition”, Hong-Gah Museum, Taipei, Taiwan “Taipei Biennial- Artist Cinema”, Taipei Fine Art Museum, Taipei, Taiwan “MID_E International Contemporary Art Exhibition”, Arteleku, San Sebastian, Spain “The Contemporary Art of Taiwan”, Gyeongnam Art Museum, Gyeongnam, Korea “Plastic Life”, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, USA
Su Hui-Yu was born in Taipei, 1976. He graduated from National Taiwan Normal University in 1998 with B. A. in Fine Art and received an M.F.A. degree from Taipei National University of the Arts in 2003. An active participant in the contemporary art world in Taiwan, Su has been exploring the effect of media and technology on human behavior and has created a series of performances entitled "The TV Kid”. Focusing on pop culture, mass media, violence, reality TV, and the politics of fear, he has created staged video productions and still images that represent a sophisticated use of technology and an acute understanding of his contemporaries’ response to their world. His work has received both national and international recognition and has been exhibited at Power Station of Art in Shanghai (2013); National Taiwan Museum of Fine Art in Taichung(2012); Tina Keng Gallery in Taipei, MID_E International Contemporary Art Exhibition in San Sebastian(2010), AFA Beijing Contemporary Art center in Beijing(2009), FEM Foundation in Madrid (2007); IT Park in Taipei, Sparwasser HQ in Berlin, and the Cultural Centre of Taiwan in Paris (2006); and MOCA Taipei(2005) . And in 2013, Su was invited to present his work in Casino Luxembourg for the Luxembourg City Film Festival’s video program. In 2009, Su was awarded the Asian Cultural Council Fellowship Award(ACC) to research activities in contemporary art, participate in an international residency program in New York City. In 2013, Su received awards granted art residency program to Cesky Krumlov, Czech by Ministry of Culture, Taiwan. In 2014, Su presented a series of new works in IT Park, Taipei, Apartment Der Kunst, München and Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, TNUA. Su Hui-Yu 1976, born in Taipei, Taiwan Education 2003 M.F.A., Taipei National University of the Arts 1998 B. A. in Fine Art, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan Selected Solo Exhibitions 2014 “Day& Night”, Apartment der Kunst, Munich, Germany “Whale Mass Suicide”, IT Park, Taipei, Taiwan “A Poignant Dance in the Mass Media History”, AM Space , Hong Kong, China 2012 “The Upcoming Show”, VT Artsalon, Taipei, Taiwan 2010 “Stilnox Home Video”, Tina Keng Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan 2009 “The Fabled Shoots ll – Bloody Beauty”, Lin & Keng Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan 2007 “The Fabled Shoots”, VT Artsalon, Taipei, Taiwan 2006 “My Pop Life”, IT Park, Taipei, Taiwan 2005 “Endless Recalling”, Chi-Wen Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan Selected Group Exhibitions 2014 “Censorship: The 7th Move on Asia”, Alternative Space Loop, Seoul, Korea “For for for forest”, Tina Keng Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan 2013 “Trans-allegory- Highlights of New Media Arts from the Museum Collection”, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, Taiwan “6th VIDEOHOLICA Video Art Festival”, Varna, Bulgaria “Cutlog- NEW YORK / The New Wave of Contemporary Video Art in Taiwan”, New York, USA “9TH SHANGHAI BIENNALE- Zhong Shan Project, Power Station of Art”, MOCA Shanghai, Shanghai, China “Gazing into Freedom: Taiwan Contemporary Art Exhibition”, Museum of Contemporary Art of Vojvodina, Novi Sad, Serbia “Discovery Zone- Luxembourg City Film Festival 2013”, Casino Luxembourg, Luxembourg 2012 “Dialogue in Contemporary Video Art”, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, Taiwan “Taiwan International Video Art Exhibition”, Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Kaohsiung, Taiwan 2011 “Live Ammo”, MOCA Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan “Republic Without People”, Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Kaohsiung, Taiwan 2010 “Eattopia- Taiwan International Video Art Exhibition”, Hong-Gah Museum, Taipei, Taiwan “Taipei Biennial- Artist Cinema”, Taipei Fine Art Museum, Taipei, Taiwan “MID_E International Contemporary Art Exhibition”, Arteleku, San Sebastian, Spain “The Contemporary Art of Taiwan”, Gyeongnam Art Museum, Gyeongnam, Korea “Plastic Life”, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, USA
Works
