Chiu Chen-Hung
Phototaxis
11 Apr - 05 May 2019
CHIU CHEN-HUNG
Phototaxis
11 April – 5 May 2019
Chiu Chen-Hung’s works take the form of installations, videos and sculptures. His approach is similar to that of an archaeological excavation, enabling him to uncover traces and outlines of past times and spaces. Using his practice of abstracting and reinterpreting, Chiu re-shapes formerly existing objects and meanings to develop a method of restoring memory.
His exhibition in Künstlerhaus Bethanien draws its title from behavioral science: “phototaxis” refers to botanical organisms’ physical movement of turning away from or towards the light. With the help of light, Chiu attempts to advance to metaphor the still existent traces, forms and contours of things past, and to extend the dialectic of space and time to include living creatures and minerals as well as history and science. One characteristic of his more recent works is the use of wood and marble, but also of gold leaf, which is applied subtly to the surface of old objects, where it fills the indentations and scars of time – an approach by Chiu which, comparable to a ritual cleansing, alters our feel for time. For his video The Marble Workers (2014) Chiu first restored an old mineral cart from an abandoned mine and gilded its surface; subsequently, he pushed it this way and that along the old tunnels between factory buildings, excavation areas and the dormitories of the workers. Thus, he facilitated a journey of reconstructed memories overlapping with reality as the gold and light sparkled and reflected in the darkness.
For his exhibition in the Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Chiu has also created a new work entitled Plants using film, voice-over, wood and once again light, to weave a poetic path between the unknown and the complete, the yearning and rationality, life and death.
Phototaxis
11 April – 5 May 2019
Chiu Chen-Hung’s works take the form of installations, videos and sculptures. His approach is similar to that of an archaeological excavation, enabling him to uncover traces and outlines of past times and spaces. Using his practice of abstracting and reinterpreting, Chiu re-shapes formerly existing objects and meanings to develop a method of restoring memory.
His exhibition in Künstlerhaus Bethanien draws its title from behavioral science: “phototaxis” refers to botanical organisms’ physical movement of turning away from or towards the light. With the help of light, Chiu attempts to advance to metaphor the still existent traces, forms and contours of things past, and to extend the dialectic of space and time to include living creatures and minerals as well as history and science. One characteristic of his more recent works is the use of wood and marble, but also of gold leaf, which is applied subtly to the surface of old objects, where it fills the indentations and scars of time – an approach by Chiu which, comparable to a ritual cleansing, alters our feel for time. For his video The Marble Workers (2014) Chiu first restored an old mineral cart from an abandoned mine and gilded its surface; subsequently, he pushed it this way and that along the old tunnels between factory buildings, excavation areas and the dormitories of the workers. Thus, he facilitated a journey of reconstructed memories overlapping with reality as the gold and light sparkled and reflected in the darkness.
For his exhibition in the Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Chiu has also created a new work entitled Plants using film, voice-over, wood and once again light, to weave a poetic path between the unknown and the complete, the yearning and rationality, life and death.