"Technique Queer Theory I: Q.O.O" invites seven artists to explore the boundaries and examinations of Taiwan's modern relational technologies and emotional perception structures under multiple modernities.

Technique Queer Theory draws on Yuk Hui's cosmic technology theory to reflect on the survival techniques and cosmological possibilities for those living on the margins and the different, planning to continue alternative knowledge production through curation, art, and other means. It supports the self-empowerment and creative production of the despised and queer, aiming to address the happiness of queer individuals and how it can be made possible.

The interweaving technologies of modernization and globalization in social systems, political economy, and cultural production form a perceptual norm, structuring a universal interpretation of love. However, queerness inevitably faces failure within this paradigm, necessitating a survival technique and a personal cosmos to construct a transcendent belief.

Thus, "Technique Queer Theory I: Q.O.O" is based on the discontinuity issues of emotional structures and history in Taiwan within East Asia, hoping to diffract the island's emotions and desires for love, to mend and decolonize love and self-fragmentation, and to highlight the island's diverse and complex relational patterns. Furthermore, the exhibition project aims to explore the relationship between contemporary art creation and gender theory, encouraging artists to think beyond narratives of the body or desire, to perceive the boundaries of the structure of love and desire, and the various issues behind these struggles.

#Q is for Quantum #Q is for Queer #Q is for Rebounce #Q is for Endless Inquiry

Nn̄g Project

Nn̄g Project is a collective formed by individuals who navigate the periphery and unite under a feminist ethos, presenting unique artistic expressions through diffraction and incubation.

"Nn̄g" is the phonetic rendition of "卵" in Taiwanese, signifying the concept of “Egg," emblematic of the "Organic" status achieved by art within curatorial frameworks. Nn̄g Project was established in 2023, with core-member Chang Wen-Hao, Danson Wong, Hsieh Sheng-Hsiang, Liu Chin, focusing on minority, marginalized, and possibly overlooked issues, for instance, LGBTQ, feminism, neurodiversity, postcolonial situations, inter-Asian in a global perspective. The research fields of the department cover philosophy, history, information science, theater art, art history and cultural studies, trying to open up new spaces of perception and speculation in the communication process of different disciplines.

Chang Wen-Hao

Chang Wen Hao is a curator based in Taipei. Taking cultural studies and curation as the core, the research areas of concern include gender studies, philosophy of technology, and neo materialism.

Recent projects focus on two main themes: "Asian Queer Technology" and "Global Culture War".Recently planned exhibitions include "Figure ground" HS Space, "Objects remind of you" Taipei Hakka Cultural Center, and "Technique Queer Theory I: Q.O.O”KdMoFA 2024.

Hsieh Sheng-Hsiang

Born in Kaohsiung in 1994, now mostly living in Taipei. After a series of close calls, I finally graduated from the Department of Psychology at NTU. Originally wanting to see the world through psychology. Though life is too short and full of wonders, I decided to try everything that piqued my interest. I juxtapose study groups with gossip, link afternoon tea with philosophy and art, spend whole days listening to or watching films and TV series, or simply laze around in bed. Eventually, I took a detour and became an engineer, and am about to exhibit “Technique Queer Theory I:Q.O.O” at the Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts. God bless me.

Huang Chih-Cheng

《 The Storm》
ink, pigment ink and acrylic on gold foil, copper foil and jangji paper
420x197cm
2024

The forest brims with lightning strikes, yet the two individuals within move with light steps, their hands tightly clasped, as if the thunderbolts bring not fear but a thrill akin to that found in amusement parks. More crucial than dodging is the art of "technically stepping on mines." Huang Chih-Cheng attempts to propose a game that treads the line between the public and private domains. If lightning strikes serve as metaphors for taboos, these taboos are not just societal norms but are also internalized within individuals. Thus, the game of treading lines often becomes an invitation to challenge oneself, where players identify and then expand, push, and entangle the boundaries of their private spheres. The aim of the players is not to win or lose the game but to transcend their own taboos, savoring the balance between obedience and provocation.

Gang-a Tsui Theater X Chen Yu-Dien

《Passage to Lo-Jin》
video installation
Dimensions variable
2017-2024

Combined with Nanguan opera, the experimental play Passage to Lo-Jin is adapted from the first novel of Taiwan Trilogy. The story is about the life of Hsu Ching who visited Taiwan thrice as a Liyuan opera performer. The audience could glimpse in the rise and fall of Lugang, which was one of the most prosper city.

We are not just telling a story but to recall the secrets in people’s memory. Traditional and contemporary mix and mingle to bring the audience a scent of the past a hundred years ago.

Yang Deng-Lin

《Sleeping Beauty》Ｉ-III
Carbon Paper, Wax,
Epoxy, China fir
104 x 86 cm
2024

The exhibition series presented by the Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts titled "Sleeping Beauty" draws inspiration from the novel "House of the Sleeping Beauties" by Japanese author Yasunari Kawabata. Yang Deng-Lin attempts to delve into the text's interior scenes and details through the language of materials such as exhibition space, red carbon paper, wax, and cedar wood, as well as the contrasting descriptions of "sexuality," "the body," and "the color red."

The "Sleeping Beauty" depicts an elderly man visiting a secret house at night, where he sleeps beside young women who remain in a drugged, comatose state, covered in deep red velvet. This arrangement allows the almost impotent old man to experience temporary healing. Driven by dangerous temptation, the old man continually seeks to spend the night with these death-like sleeping young women, experiencing a mix of warm memories and nightmares with other women in the process.

The text also frequently employs imagery of the color red, such as the girl's rosy-white skin, bright red lipstick, red blood, and gradually withering red leaves, reflecting the old man's warm youth or the horror of his decline.

The "Sleeping Beauty" series will feature red depicted through red carbon paper. Beyond presenting the aforementioned contrast in red, the series also attempts to resonate with the novel's theme through the cedar wood framing and the deep red grooves of the exhibition space, echoing the old man's entry through a cedar door into a closed space draped in deep red velvet. Furthermore, Yang Deng-Lin revisits the context of previously used materials, engaging in a dialogue of binary opposition and fusion to explore the text's discourse on "sexual awakening and gender fading." Wax, a primary material for this creation and a raw ingredient in lotions and creams, is chosen again. Beyond its metaphorical language for skin, the fluid state of wax before it solidifies represents the entangled state between the old man and the sleeping young women, or between fond memories and nightmares.

Hua Ji-Lin

《human\dancer》
Mix-media
L90x160x71 cm
2024

The piece "human/dancer" draws on the conceptual foundation of the Japanese traditional craft of papier-mâché, "Hariko," blending the surface model/paper painting with the internal mold/clay sculpture indistinguishably before demolding.

Hariko, often used in making masks and folk toys shaped like humans or animals, involves covering a wooden or clay mold with layers of paper. The papier-mâché product, after drying, splitting, and mold removal, is reassembled and painted to become a complete, hollow art bubble.

The piece aims to achieve a hybrid outcome that exists in between states: it is both the product of papier-mâché and the mold itself; it is an object non-human yet a metaphor for humanity; it is both a reflection and a reality. It embodies the dialectic between humans and dancers: a debate over species and identity; a discourse between the body and its adornments; a dialectic of flesh and soul. The painting and the human figure establish a relationship of exterior/interior, flat/dimensional, akin to an entity and its mirror image.

The facial features and decorations on the figure's surface draw inspiration from the 1969 film "Funeral Parade of Roses," directed by Toshio Matsumoto, featuring the character Eddie and the actor Peter. The body dimensions are based on Shinya Ishikawa, who played both roles.

Chen Fei-Hao

《Schoolboy》
Double-channel Video
07'43"
2024

In an era when homosexuality was still considered a mental illness, Taiwan, under Japanese colonial rule, adopted modern social systems and concepts, which defined homosexuality and gradually marginalized it under the influence of patriarchal families and the new education system. A 1937 article in "Taiwan Fujinkai” (“Taiwan Women's World”) magazine titled "Homosexuality as a Disease: How Can It Be Prevented?" (同性愛も一種の病気＝どうして予防するか＝) clearly expressed this viewpoint, a perspective that continued into the post-war Sinophone system, becoming part of Taiwanese societal values.

During the same period, new modern art visions also entered Taiwan. This project is particularly curious about how pioneering artists with homosexual experiences navigated the tumultuous changes in ideologies and social systems. In fact, Taiwanese art history literature and archives contain relevant records. This work references these materials to create a new fictional text in Taiwanese, "Schoolboy," and constructs a new visual narrative through historical image archives to contrast with the aforementioned research writings that regarded homosexuality as a mental illness during Japanese rule in Taiwan.

This contrast highlights the pathologization of homosexuality in the colonial society while discussing the homosexual experiences of artists in colonial Taiwan, their imagination and positioning in colonial history, including the dilemmas faced by intellectuals regarding colonial modernity and how such marginalized emotions underscore the complexity of self-identity. The "Schoolboy" film is narrated in Taiwanese, contrasting with the more rational studies of homosexuality as a mental illness presented in Japanese and Chinese, clearly demonstrating the emotive power of Taiwanese language in interpreting issues of colonial history.

Siyat Moses

《Rhengun》
Mix-media
Dimensions variable
2024

Legend has it that in the Central Mountain Range, there is a place called Bunohon (at the foot of Baishi Mountain), where a large tree grows, half of it stone and the other half wood. The tribespeople refer to it as "Rmdax Tasing" (Glowing Stone) or "Pusu Qhuni" (Tree Root). One day, it split open, and a man and a woman emerged. Together, they had many descendants, becoming the ancestors of the Seediq people.

The traditional gender binary of men hunting and women weaving holds significant meaning, representing the tribe's harmony with the universe and the clan community. It is not a rigid system but seeks to achieve perfect balance. However, under the translation of colonial contexts, the subtle spectrum of flow is frozen, hidden in an unexplored fog.

"Rhengun" signifies an exit, entrance, front, and door. Life's various conflicts revolve around the search for recognition, tracing back to find a door that seems like a similar exit. Yet, turning around, it also marks the starting point of an entrance into another cycle of consciousness. Only by reaching the edge to see the finite can one perhaps understand the balance of being human.

This work attempts to find a metaphorical refuge through role-playing and adornment, investing emotions in the intangible and tangible forms within the story, and fabricating a narrative of identity. Like unraveling clues through association and tailoring, it uses legendary texts to imagine, piecing together fragmented bodies and rigid spirits into a queer visage seldom spoken of.

Collaborators: Huang Yin-Rou, Yang Shi-Feng, Huang Yu-Hui
This work is sponsored by the National Culture and Arts Foundation.

Chang Wen-Hsuan Ｘ Liao Hai-Ting

《 The F Story》
sound installation、literature
Dimensions variable
2022

Compared to the unquestioning belief in visible objects, "listening" in the process of identifying objects is often considered abstract, secondary, and ancillary. However, the connection between hearing and the construction of subjectivity may be deeper than that of vision. Whether it is anchoring oneself in space through listening or the perception of oneself and others, it directly connects to somatic sensation.

In addressing gender issues, exploring the materiality of sound can advance our thinking on the subject. "Male voice" and "female voice" are not merely physiological or psychological issues but also "physical problems." When listeners encounter a human voice, attempting to identify it according to predefined notions of what gender should sound like and labeling it as "male," "female," or other gender descriptors, it is akin to encountering a fugue. Through capturing the theme, one distinguishes between a fixed subject, a free subject, and what has deviated too far to be relevant anymore.

“The F Story" includes artists' novels and installations that respond to the "fugue" form through both written and auditory means. By creating a narrative space that is both independent and interwoven through linguistic and non-linguistic narratives, it explores the relationship between the materiality of sound and the construction of subjectivity, ultimately aiming for a non-binary understanding.

Huang Chih-Cheng (1988-)

Born in Miaoli and grew up in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, I received my M.F.A. from Tunghai University and became a full-time artist after graduation. Deeply influenced by my past training in ink wash painting and glue color, I often apply mixed media including ink, cotton threads, and photo images on a foil-based foundation to experiment various possibilities of presentation. I pay close attention to topics concerning personal family history, issues on life and death, lust display, etc. I was delighted to be the winner of the 2015 Next Art Tainan and selected for Tianmei Art Foundation's 2016 and 2019 Taiwan Contemporary Artists Overseas Visit Program. Also, I’m selected for Tianmei Art Foundation's 2021 Contemporary Artists Publish Project. My artworks are collected by Tainan Museum of Fine Arts and National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts. I also participated in a joint exhibition ‘FINE ART / UNIVERSITY SELECTION’ in Tsukuba Museum of Art in Tsukuba, Japan, ‘DREAMS HABITATIONS’ and ‘Flowers of Immense Charm’ in National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, ‘Unjust Deadline-Postwar Journalists’ in National Human Rights Museum, ‘Reading Sexaulities’ in National Museum of Taiwan Literature. Fascinated with the solidity and frailty of metal leaf, Chih-Cheng's art centers upon issues of sensation of time and life to death. He focus on the factors of phenomenon, questioning the reality of contemporary society through his own individual distinctiveness. He believes boundaries don’t really exist between everything, only what matters is how you look it. As an artist, he implies different formation of the world.

Gang-a Tsui Theatre

Gang-a Tsui Theatre was established in 1993. The founding leader, Mr. Zhou Yi-Chang, passed away suddenly in Indonesia in 2016 while pursuing his art, and the senior member Wei Mei-Hui, who now serves as the leader of the group, has taken over since then. To establish a training method suited to the Eastern physique, Gang-a Tsui Theatre has incorporated "Nanguan music" and “Liyuan Opera" as the main content of actor training. Its debut work, “Nanguan Tour," pioneered the integration of traditional Liyuan Opera with modern theatrical arts, successfully demonstrating the transformation of ancient arts in modern society and injecting a fresh and distinct quality into traditional Nanguan performances, serving as an excellent example of "transforming traditional arts and endowing them with a contemporary spirit." In 2002, the original play "Whispering from the Rear Garden" was launched at the Lin Family Garden's Suzhou-style pavilions, and in 2006, "Zu Wen Elopes with the Ghost," a collaboration with Tomoe Shizune that incorporated elements of Japanese Butoh, won the fifth Taishin Arts Award. In 2010, a workshop was held in collaboration with Eugenio Barba, the leader of Odin Teatret, opening up more possibilities for tradition. The group has performed at prestigious international venues such as the Juilliard School in the United States, Kioi Hall in Japan, and the Opéra Bastille in France.

Today, the rejuvenated Gang-a Tsui Theatre continues the former leader's concept of modernizing Nanguan music, bearing the mission of promoting Nanguan music. While immersing in the beauty of Nanguan and adhering to the principle of not violating its artistic essence, the group attempts new combinations, dedicated to imbuing traditional arts with a contemporary spirit. In the fusion of traditional performing arts aesthetics and modern theatre performance models, it sparks new vitality in the performing arts.
Recent significant productions include the 2013 Taiwan International Festival of Arts (TIFA) "Looking at the Bright Moon," which showcased the vitality of spring awakening and the rich essence of Nanguan music; the 2018 comback work “Passage to Lo-Jin,” performed during the Summer Life Week at the invitation of the Taiwan Traditional Theatre Center and selected to participate in the Festival d’Avignon Off in France the same year; the 2022 performance "Zheng Yuan-He and Li Ma, Li Ya-Xian, Miss Li" at the Dadaocheng Theatre Youth Xiqu Art Festival; and the 2023 co-production with Approaching Theatre “Apostating Time" at the Taiwan Traditional Theatre Festival and the “Fall for Great Souls" performance at the National Taichung Theater.

Chen Yu-Dien

Chen Yu-Dien resides and works in Taipei as a creator primarily utilizing "theatre" as his main form of exhibition and performance.
His directorial works span a diverse range of themes, including experimental drama, magic, Nanguan music, exhibitions, and online performances. Viewing the theatrical space as an environment, he focuses on the "vulnerability" displayed by individuals within the theatre, emphasizing the ineffable experiences of perception. Through intricate structures, his works reveal the subtle tensions of sensibility that lie hidden beneath the surface. His creations dissolve the boundaries between "artistic expression" and "audience appreciation," employing scene management, participatory interaction, and prohibitions to constantly shift the viewer-performer relationship. This creates compelling stage events that demand attention and are intimately connected to the real world, offering a "frameless" performance experience.
His works have been invited to participate in various festivals and venues, including the Festival d’Avignon Off, Melbourne Fringe Festival, Taipei Arts Festival, Taipei Children's Arts Festival, Taipei Performing Arts Center, National Taichung Theater, and the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying).

Yang Deng-Lin

The creative forms encompass flat painting, mixed media, and spatial installations, utilizing the combination of two contradictory "relational materials" to leave subtle clues for the viewers. The work delves into various types of wax, white glue, soap, and other synthetic materials. These materials originate from metaphors and observations of being "covered by others" or "overlooked due to their ubiquity" in daily life, highlighting the "relational existence" through the context of both "connection" and "separation" between heterogeneous materials. The artwork wraps its emotions and memories in a minimalist form, also embodying fleeting sensations. Yang Deng-Lin has participated in artist-residency at the Taitung Art Museum and in Finland, as well as in exhibitions such as the 2019 Taoyuan Land Art Festival and the 2024 Kaohsiung Award.

Hua,Ji-Lin

Hua,Ji-Lin was born in Taipei, Taiwan in 1991. Graduated with MFA in Fine Art from Tunghai University. Hua painted exclusively in calligraphy and Eastern Gouache on paper as her major materials.

Literariness is a common theme found throughout Hua's pieces, she attempted to visualize the concept by combining traditional Chinese ink with Manga-inspired character modeling. Hua concisely depicts her concerns on the issue of sex and gender, or interpersonal relationship in daily scenes containing tenderness and the melancholic consciousness.

She won the Grand Prize of Chen Jin Award 2017.

Chen Fei-hao

Chen Fei-hao, born in 1985, is clever at writing and resorting to conceptual photography and moving images to interpret various issues associated with history and culture as well as social changes, and he also combines images with such media as installations, videos, and literature to probe into the possibilities of the convergence among different media. He was the participating artist of 2016 Taipei Biennale, 2017 "Jodori Khiang－Community Artfest" at Taipei Artist Village, “Yao-Chi City: Taiwan Paranormal Literature and Contemporary Art Exhibition”at Taiwan Contemporary Culture Lab, "Shattered Sanctity" at the Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei and Taiwan Air Force Innovation Base (TAF),"Hold the Mirror up to His Gaze: the Early History of Photography in Taiwan (1869-1949)", Taipei National Center of Photography and Images. 2020/2021 Tokyo Biennale. 2022, he hold the solo exhibition, "Murder-Suicide in the South of Empire" in Moca studio, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei.

Siyat Moses

1994 Born in Taichung, and currently active in Taipei.2017 B.F.A, graduated from Dept. of Fine Arts (Printmaking), TNUA.2017 M.F.A, graduated from Dept. of Fine Arts(Printmaking),TNUA.

Mixed ethnicity of Seejiq and Minnan. Siyat Moses, meaning ‘ son of Moses: Siyat ’, is the name past down from father to son, a tradition of the Pan-Atayal group of the Taiwanese Indigenous peoples; while Yuan Min stands for the ethnical combination of ‘Yuan’ (Indigenous) and‘Min’ (Minyan) in the literal sense.

Once, by accident, I found a piece of writing on the internet my father has wrote for me. In it, he expressed his expectations concerning my being a half-Indigenous descent, which later became an incentive for my creative development. My artistic practice concerns my contemporary Indigenous identity, with regard to ethnicity, gender and image perception, and how I come to terms with it under the acceleration of modernisation and globalisation. My works often adopt the two-dimensional and indirect qualities of printmaking as well as other mediums that allow for the necessary dialogue.

Some arguments that repeatedly occur in my works are:
‘Who am I?’
‘Where do I come from?’
‘Where do I go?’
‘I am here, and does that mean I am my present self?’

Through autobiographical recalls of emotions, I aim to evoke and connect with the audience’s shared life experience.

Chang Wen-hsuan

The artistic practice of Chang Wen Hsuan questions the narrative structure of institutionalised history with re-readings, re-writing, and suggestions of fictional alternatives in order to expose the power tensions embedded in historical narratives. Through versatile platforms including installations, videos, and lectures, she often navigates skewed documentations and first-person accounts to trigger reflections on how the understanding of history affects the purport of the present and thrust of the future. In 2018, she launched the project Writing FACTory. Prizes and awards include the Taipei Art Awards(2018), Kaohsiung Awards(2015), and Lin Yutang Literary Prize(2012). She has presented projects in Taiwan, China, Korea, USA, Singapore, Germany, Mexico, etc.

Hai-Ting Liao

Hai-Ting Liao is the founder of PrintedNoiseLab in Taipei, a multi dimensional platform connecting performers, choreographers, directors and other like-minded artists to explore the possibilities of sound in a variety of settings. Ze also works as an Associate Professor and Deputy Director of the Center for Sound Arts and Acoustics Research at the National Taiwan University of Arts.