NIU Jun-Qiang Solo Exhibition 2018
NIU Jun-Qiang
Date：2018.12.08-2019.01.20
Venue：TKG+ Projects
Comments on the Finalist
The allure of NIU Jun-Qiang Solo Exhibition 2018 lies in its display of an ingenious tug-of-war between two forces: when a single-channel video is transformed into a misleading scheme, the arrangement that the exhibition claims to show creates an absent artwork. What is a visible artwork, or in this case, one that is present? The answer to this question is intricately linked with the artist’s personal religious belief and his anxiety about losing his eyesight. The image and sound of the video, which is meticulously and thoroughly thought out, connects the space within and without the exhibition, and merges reality and imagination as well as the tactile world and that of the spiritual. The arrangement of a particular corner in the exhibition drains the anticipation of the audience: does the described motion image really exist? Or, does it only exist in one’s imagination, memory and consciousness? Oscillating between blindness and bearing witness, NIU Jun-Qiang Solo Exhibition 2018 reveals a brilliant debate on the elusive and changing relations between religion and art, the church and the white box, as well as presence and illusion.
(Commentator: SING Song-Yong)
Artwork Introduction
Adopting the same title as his 2014 and 2015 solo exhibitions, this exhibition examines the continuous time while focusing on and reflecting the artist’s state of life. Niu continues his interpretation of “blindness,” and discusses the correlation between the intangible synesthesia in artistic experience and the abstract experiences in faith. The exhibition revolves around a discussion about “visibility” and “invisibility.” In the video work,
NIU Jun-Qiang Solo Exhibition 2018, the artist guides the visually impaired participant (Hsu Jia-Feng) through the empty gallery through his narration, which informs Hsu the placement, appearance, concept and production process of a series of works that respond to essential questions asked in the exhibition: “What is God?” “What does God look like?” “How does it feel to be graced by God?” Nevertheless, the artworks described in the video are absent from the physical exhibition. The exhibition space is not where these invisible artworks are housed, but where their presence lingers. As the video ends, the physical exhibition unfolds, ingeniously connecting the intangible space (the space within the video) and the tangible space. With the narrative of the video, Niu aims to delineate the presence of the works. In addition to this video, the other two works,
Foresee II and The Portrait of Divinity, together with the spatial arrangement of the exhibition, connect how the audience perceives the intangible and the tangible spaces, converting visual perception into a dialectic debate of existence.
About the Artist
Niu Jun-Qiang holds a BA in Interior Design from Shih Chien University and an MFA in New Media Art from Taipei National University of the Arts. He currently lives and works in Taipei, and is also Adjunct Assistant Professor at Shih Chien University and Yuan Ze University. Working across a wide range of media, including video, experimental film, photography and mixed media installation, Niu’s work illustrates “the nature of existence” and explores hidden encounters in life, subtle connections between people and the living consciousness that encompasses individuals and communities, his insightful and macrocosmic questions formulated with various art forms. His works have been featured in museum exhibitions in both Taiwan and abroad, and his film,
Even They Never Met, was awarded Best Experimental Film in the 35th Golden Harvest Awards.
Production Team
The member of “NIU Jun-Qiang Solo Exhibition 2018”
Artist | NIU Jun Qiang
Curator | FENG-Hsin
Video Crew list
Director | NIU Jun Qiang
Produced by | Wade DING
Unit Production Manager | TSAI Meng-Yan
Director of Photography | Wayne LO
Additional Camera | CHEN Kuan-Yu
Assistant Camera | KU Yao-Hua, SHEN Tzu-Ken, CHANG Yi-hua
Gaffer | CHIEN Chiang
Best Boy | FENG Tzong-Ting, YANG Che-Chi
Production Sound Mixer | CHANG Yu-Jung
Boom Operator | LIN En-Yu
Actor | NIU Jun-Qiang, HSU Jia-Feng, LI,Hong-Jie, LI,Sen-Guang, HUANG,Pin-Yu, FENG-Hsin, LIN,Yi-Rong, CHUNG,Chung-Yu, WEI,Rong-Da
English Subtitle Translator: Conor Stuart
Assistant | WANG Jing-Xi, KONG Jia-Lin, LU Jun-Min
Editor | PAN Ke-Yin
Digital Colorist | CIOU Cheng-Yon, Rainbow LIN
Audio Post Production Services | buzzing STUDIO Co.Ltd.
Camera Equipment | Clear Sky Co.,Ltd.
Lighting Equipment | DEEWATCH CULTURE CO.,LTD.
Digital Colorist Consultant | After80’s Medias Co.,LTD
Sponsor | Department of Culture Affairs Taipei City Government, National Culture and Art Foundation
藝術家 牛俊強(左) ,策展人 馮馨(右)
多數文化當中，藝術都與信仰密不可分；而藝術仰賴視覺，宗教則常由圖像作為傳遞媒介。然而，若沒有視覺，「觀看」是否就無法存在？藝術中的無形共感，與人在信仰當中的神性感受，又是否有相通之處？在2018年的個展當中，牛俊強探向視覺與神性的交會，也對存在的形式做出辯證。
從面對恐懼質疑出發
牛俊強的作品向來與自身生命經驗相關，從2011年開始至今的作品或展覽，圍繞存在與消逝，也將展覽及作品化為特定時間裡的儀式經驗構築，以視覺與時間感知的路徑創造詩意。2014、2015年不另起命名、回歸時間軸線的「牛俊強個展」，紀念著藝術家歷經生命事件、自身探索，與對藝術創作的懷疑。之後三年間，牛俊強在失去視力的恐懼當中思索「視覺」的意義，也往更深處探索，包括自身信仰——基督教家庭長大的他在此中掙扎，「我有一種直覺，必須要去理解其他信仰，以及除了宗教之外，人是如何跟內在做連結？我開始看一些書包括佛教書，產生一個提問：為什麼我們需要信仰？除屏除恐懼，信仰還可以是什麼？」他帶著焦慮前往巴黎駐村，在期間常到訪教堂，包括柯比意於邊境小鎮打造的廊香教堂。在那裡牛俊強重新感受，教堂裡的平靜或非全然來自神像，而是五感相加的氛圍感知。「我想這會不會跟做藝術的感覺一樣？我們大量仰賴視覺，但是感覺這事情，有時在當代藝術裡卻變得稀薄。」於是他想到以創作討論「神是什麼？」，以在巴黎購入的一張明信片圖像出發，開始發展作品。
《2018牛俊強個展》計畫確定之初，牛俊強一邊發展作品，也在焦慮中不斷自我對話。最初企劃將展場塞滿，自我證明心理背後隱約有抗拒猶疑。當年5月，他來到TKG+展場再次勘查，正逢前檔展覽撤展，二樓空間原封於活動展牆後的落地窗露現，牛俊強看著那片窗戶，在展場待了一個下午，幾天後，他決定推翻原定規劃，在筆記本寫下：「我想做一個沒有看見的展覽，但一切都在展示當中，只是作品被撤掉了，觀眾只能看到留下的牆面，或什麼都沒有。」2014年個展消逝或存在的主題、2015對「盲」的思索一齊回歸，2018年個展裡，牛俊強更討論光、神，與存在，策展人馮馨進一步將視覺與藝術之間的關係拉出，漸漸發展成展覽最後樣貌。
虛實之間的存在辯證
《2018牛俊強個展》分為兩個部分。第一部分，藝術家以東西宗教中對神的型貌、信仰形式，創作作品，包括《The Hand of Our God》、《褪色的神像》及《無題》系列，討論「神是什麼?」、「神的外貌?」，與「祂臨在的感受」。第二部分在展覽現場，展場不見實際作品，但播放錄像《2018牛俊強個展》，由牛俊強以口述影像的方式，引領視障者許家峰，在空無一物的展場，告知三組作品的位置、形貌、概念和製作過程，中間穿插和三位盲友的前述問題訪談。影像成為展覽敘事，也製造預期與經驗的落差，觀眾藉影像感受作品樣貌，實際展場只以微弱燈光暗示它們原有位置。觀眾前後穿越兩個封頂走道，循著展場動線，最終來到大面落地窗前，也在此時看見從2014年一直延續的《預感》。最末，觀眾或閱讀策展人以親切語氣書寫信件，或想起一樓入口櫥窗掛置的褪色《神像》。
展覽呈現在討論過程不斷變動，錄像的敘事角色比重也逐漸增加。牛俊強說，影像形同召喚，而「光」尤其是自然光，卻更是影像的結局。刻意調暗的走道與最終的落地窗，呼應他在法國歷經長途旅程、一路穿越樹林抵達廊香教堂，推開厚重鐵門，看見神壇隱約光線的經驗。「光有分自然光跟人工光，真正的自然光，才是比較無形、接近我想講的神性存在。⋯⋯廊香教堂是那趟駐村裡最重要經驗，把整件事，包含我自己的掙扎與對神性的追求，變成一個完整的身體經驗，做這個展覽的時候，自然就把這個身體經驗轉化出來。」展出作品位置曾不斷挪動，裝置《預感 II》的展出與否也歷經討論。以黃銅製作的《預感 II》，懸吊於空間，天秤一端是鏡子，另一端是燃燒中的蠟燭，重量隨燃燒的時間遞減，天秤趨於平衡，但當鏡子終能映照出燭火，蠟燭已然燒盡。馮馨認為此件作品的出現，向觀眾再次提醒視覺以外，空間中的細節，也讓觀者投射自身情感與想像，而《神像》由展場內移至一樓，提供觀眾預期，也可能在展覽結束後，成為回頭思索的提示。最終，展覽裡虛實空間被巧妙串接，藝術中的無形共感和信仰中的抽象經驗，在視覺作為存在形式的辯證中詩意連結。
經驗催化後的路途開展
馮馨多年來一路觀察牛俊強作品，也感受藝術家的心理轉折歷程，她持續感受牛俊強作品在無形間進入人心的感動，也在此次展覽陪伴他以整體思考，營造觀眾感知層次。而曾經焦慮猶疑的牛俊強，也從展覽中尋得自身路徑，決定透過影像、實體空間與時間，持續探索特定時空下儀式營造的迷人所在。《2018 牛俊強個展》像是藝術家的階段小結，「從20歲到現在思考的所有事情，包括自己的信仰、跟自己相處、跟自己內外在的關係，還有更重要的是，如何看待自己是不是藝術家⋯⋯這些事情，我都好像找到了一張椅子可以坐下來。」牛俊強以作品回應生命經歷，也在經歷催化中，穿越迂迴之路的迷霧，通過長長通道迎接光，將自身安放。
（採訪撰文／許祐綸）
