STREET OBSERVATIONS,
HIGHLIGHTING FINDINGS,...
Keyword: OBJECTS
HUANG: "The industrialized and modern scenery in the city has captured my attention..."
Keyword: SPECTACLE
HUANG: "The point is: this is a monument, but it did not serve as a monument. This rupture..."
Keyword: HUMOR
HSIN: "Its nonsensical is just like what he usual does. There is also a sense of humor in it."
Huang, who considers himself an "urban kid," has a unique approach to gathering information and inspiration. He explained, "To be honest, I'm not a big fan of reading books. It's not a method that works well for me, and it's not an easy way for me to gather information. For me, observing the streets is the best approach. It makes more sense to me. It's the quickest and most effective way for me to organize my thoughts and get inspired. Plus, I'm very interested in exploring my surroundings. I'm quite impatient, and I'm always eager to see the outside world, so I use street observation as the basis for my art-making." Even in the middle of the night, Huang spends time wandering around the city, looking for “the extraordinary in the ordinary.” He went on to explain, "Although I yearn for natural scenery, I've been living in the city for too long. The industrialized and modern scenery in the city has captured my attention, so I naturally choose these objects as my inspiration. This is also why I chose sculpture as my artistic form, as these 'objects' filled my vision." In conclusion, Huang has found his inspiration in the industrialized and modern shapes he encounters on his walks, making them the primary subjects of his sculptures.
Huang's art can be divided into four stages. In the first stage, he focused on reproducing parts of Taiwanese architecture that fascinated him. For example, he recognized the iconic wavy iron roof found on many streets in Taiwan as a shape that is not historically significant, but has been recording the development of the area. By remaking these architectural elements into sculptures, he aimed to “‘highlight’ the very special part of the visual experience" through his art. In the second stage, Huang focused more on the objects themselves, remaking the shapes with alternative materials, to explore the emotions conveyed by their figures. In the third stage, Huang turned to the "disconnection" between public art and the Taiwanese community. He took symbolic objects like monuments and transformed their appearance to make people ponder the meaning of such "spectacles" in a social context. In the fourth stage, Huang used techniques such as "interference" and “deception" in his art. He transformed its content while maintaining its appearance seemingly ordinary and fitting to the environment. This served as an invitation to make the audience question the relationship between symbols and meanings.
The work at the center of our discussion, Covered Chi-Man Lai Sculpture, is a piece that Huang developed during his third phase. Huang built a wooden box around a public artwork that had stood on the campus lawn of the Taipei National University of the Arts for eight years, with the goal of emphasizing the "spectacle in the city." Huang was inspired to create the piece during a walk when he encountered the public artwork and was struck by its oddness. According to Huang, the policy for public art in Taiwan is unusual and problematic.
In Huang’s definition, a monument should be something independent from the landscape and architecture. He explained, "A monument is not something that belongs to the space, but it has to narrate what happened in the area. There might be a representative figure to help narrate the stories of the place. It is often a figure placed in the middle of the plaza, with documentation of its dominion and authority. For example, the Arc de Triomphe in Paris records a certain historical event related to that place. However, in Taiwan, the situation is quite awkward. While Lai’s sculpture is called 'Spring,' it has no connection at all to the place on the campus lawn. First of all, its form is completely independent from this space. In addition, there is no connection between the work’s content and its surroundings, creating an even stronger rupture. It's like a monster that suddenly appeared, standing out in this place, which is why I call it a ‘spectacle.’”
Consequently, Huang mentioned his intention to “appropriate Lai’s sculpture placement” to express the doubt about this common situation. According to him, "The area around was originally an execution ground, but Lai's work did not serve to tell what happened in this place historically. The presence of this work is merely due to the demand of having a large-scale sculpture on this lawn. The point is: this is a monument, but it did not serve as a monument. This rupture is what often happens in public art in Taiwan."
After viewing Covered Chi-Man Lai Sculpture, Hsin expressed, “I didn't see much of a difference between Huang as an artist and as a friend.” Not a local resident nor an art professional has built up the barriers for him to jump into the conversation. However, even though Hsin cannot fully understand the meaning behind Huang's work, as will be discussed later, it did not prevent him from linking Huang as a friend to an artist. He remarked that the "nonsensical" and "sense of humor" present in the works are very much in line with Huang's everyday behavior. He said, "When we chat, we often talk about funny things. Just like when we discuss animations, we talk about some humorous parts in the story. Huang always remembers the intriguing and funny parts very clearly, so we can talk about them.”
Review
Huang's art