"An Award for Taipei Biennale"--Conceptual Art from the He-Dao Foundation for Literature and Arts

The launch of "An Award for Taipei Biennale" came with the following declaration of intent: "He-Dao Foundation for Literature & Arts has chosen to organize 'An Award for Taipei Biennale' in order to make use of the many contemporary art exhibitions currently taking place in Taipei, inviting several professional individuals from different backgrounds to serve as a panel of judges. It is our belief that contemporary art is gradually becoming the preserve of the few, a closed structure not open to different ideas and points of view. To this end, He-Dao Foundation will attempt to use the evaluations of judges from different disciplines and to challenge modern art, thereby developing a more diverse range of interpretive understandings than anything that came before."

Hotter and hotter

The He-Dao Foundation's "An Award for Taipei Biennale" Declaration accounted for a full four pages in the January edition of the magazine Artist. At the bottom of the declaration, the five judges signed their names: Professor Lin Hsing-yu from the Department of Fine Arts at Taipei National University of the Arts; Lin Ku-fang, director of the Graduate School of Art at Fo Guang University; Professor Hsing Yi-yun from Taipei National University of the Arts; Buddhist Master Shih Ju-chang, executive secretary at the Fo Kuan Yuan Art Gallery; and Peng Sheng-kuei, a picture mounter and framer. These five judges assessed all the works shown at the beginning of the year in Taipei, including those at the most important art exhibitions in Taiwan, the Taipei Biennial and CO2-Taiwan Avant-garde Documenta.

Having announced the existence of "An Award for Taipei Biennale" at the end of last year, the He-Dao Foundation followed this up with the declaration, the names of its jury-selected winners, and a series of art discourses and commentaries published in the press. Finally, Lin Tien-fu, director of the Providence University Arts Center was invited to present the awards at CO2-Taiwan Avant-garde Documenta. This high concentration of media activities attracted considerable attention and raised many questions about "An Award for Taipei Biennale," which seemingly appeared out of nowhere. "Which financial group does the He-Dao Foundation for Literature & Arts belong to?" someone asked. "What sort of art is the award designed to promote?" asked another person.

One of the key figures in the He-Dao Foundation, Ho Shih, elaborates on the origins of the group: "During the period of Japanese rule there was a very active art group in Taiwan called 'Chi Dao' ['Red Island']. We chose the name 'He-Dao' ['Awesome Island'] to indicate that were are redder, fierier, and hotter" (this is a play on words: the Chinese character he ["(r)] is made up of two chi characters [赤]). Mr. Ho is just 20 years old, and the He-Dao Foundation is not an educational or cultural organization set up by big business, but an art group established by eight students from Taipei National University of the Arts. All the foundation's costs and financial awards are paid for by the founding members through part-time work and New Year's gift money.

This is a work of art

During CO2-Taiwan Avant-garde Documenta held at the Huashan Arts District, planning documents, advertisements, posters, background introductions to the five judges and details of the ideas behind the artist's work, "An Award for Taipei Biennale," were pasted up in the display area. It was only at that moment that it became clear "An Award for Taipei Biennale" was actually "a work" displayed at Taiwan Avant-garde Documenta-one that plays the art establishment at its own game. In effect, it attempted to use the award format as way of highlighting the absurdity of mutual authentication that exists between art history, awards, commentary and the media.

Throughout any year various art awards serve as evidence of self-affirmation for artists and as stepping stones into the ranks of respected seniority and major exhibitions. However, behind many of these awards one sees the hand of political authority or the economic power of financial and business groups. This begs the question whether the selection process really results in the best works being chosen; or does familiarity with the way such awards operate and producing mainstream work or pieces that reflect the tastes of the jury make it easier to win?

With the entanglement of art work, art criticism, exhibition arenas, media, financial groups, and government agencies, the ability to establish oneself is no longer dependent entirely on art itself. For example, at a time like this when installation art is the preferred form of expression, painting has been forced out onto the periphery and given access to only meager resources. Little wonder then that graphic artists have established their own Painting Defense Club in protest.

"The way in which 'An Award for Taipei Biennale' makes its point is really weird because it uses a stage built by others but also stands on their shoulders, almost as if it is seizing authority for its own use," says artist Shi Jin-hua, who has over the last few years focused on the expressive form of performance art. Shi shrugs his shoulders and says that in truth it is extremely difficult for any artist not to participate in the modern art landscape made up of exhibitions and awards, both large and small, for otherwise they have no opportunities to display their work. In this way, "An Award for Taipei Biennale" is both clever and crafty, taking part in a large exhibition and first apparently embracing the ideas it promotes. Only when close enough to strike does it launch into a public criticism of the art community.

"'An Award for Taipei Biennale' subverts the rules that define how works of art and exhibitions interact," says art critic Hsu Wan-chen. "The way in which it satirizes and parodies the art selection mechanism has turned it into a mouthpiece for the truth, as it cruelly exposes the pretentiousness of art." When compared to the other works of art at the moment, which are full of leisure, entertainment and a carnival type of confusion and joy, Hsu characterizes "An Award for Taipei Biennale" as representing: "The poetry of indignation and an unavoidable frosty radiance."

Exposing the true face of art?

Despite not involving canvas and pigments, "An Award for Taipei Biennale" uses a wide range of materials in its presentation, including invited judges and advertisements.

The judges include art critics, artists, a Buddhist Master, and a picture framer. The fact that the judges are from different disciplines or completely uninvolved in art is undoubtedly intended as a provocation to artistic authority. However, the aspiration behind this challenge is not simply a desire to return art to the masses, but to use a panel of judges that cannot be easily pigeonholed. Ho Shih emphasizes the fact that they are supposed: "To view art as more than meets the eye."

As part of this work, expenditure on advertisements deliberately accounted for over half the overall cost. Ho Shih believes that whether art or not art: "Modern people understand the world through the eyes and words of the media, tending to believe that anything that has existed in the media must have lived in the real world." He is adamant that people who live in a world of advertising have no way of knowing that artists widely discussed in art magazines articles or works that appear on their covers may in fact be little more than paid advertisements.

Everything connected to "An Award for Taipei Biennale," including the art works and exhibitions chosen, judges, award presenters, award winners and even those who actually refused to take part, are an integral part of the work. "I am part of you, a very small part perhaps, but my form appears larger than you," Ho Shih observes.

Discussing "An Award for Taipei Biennale," Lin Ku-fang, director of the Graduate School of Art at Fo Guang University, offers the following observation: "I find it very sardonic, it also retains that rebellious streak inherent in conceptual art by refusing to be incorporated into the mainstream." This is especially evident in the fact that the resources for "An Award for Taipei Biennale" did not come from a financial group or government agency, but instead from money earned by eight hard working students, a point Lin believes to be of particular importance. Because artists in Taiwan tend to over rely on government sponsorship, he asks: "If you rely on public resources then how do you break out of the cycle of co-dependence and present your own independently forceful criticisms?"

Metaphysical art

But the question remains whether such a work can really be regarded as art? The short answer is yes. In the 1960s the French artist Marcel Duchamps signed his name on a used male urinal, and the displaying of that piece as part of a museum exhibition launched the conceptual art movement. Later the American musician John Cage released his work "4' 33"" where he sat at a piano, in front of an audience, for exactly four minutes and 33 seconds, during which time his hands didn't even touch the keys. His intention in doing this was not to play a joke or make fun of the audience, this work without sound provides people with an opportunity to consider the essential nature of music, a point similar to that made by Laozi a thousand years earlier when he said: "The loudest music is made by the smallest sounds."

Conceptual art is an art type based on thought, that cannot be seen or felt as concepts and ideas are the key elements that bring the work to life. As long as an artist's completed or displayed work conveys certain distinctive ideas that criticize or seek to subvert society, politics, the environment, human nature and even the artist himself or his ego, then it can be considered conceptual art. The focus of such work lies in its examination of the nature of art, and as such it can reasonably be said to approximate to philosophy.

From school to Venice

"An Award for Taipei Biennale" is one part of what the He-Dao Foundation created. The first part was started two years ago, when the Department of Art at Taipei National University of the Arts organized one of its regular departmental exhibitions. A group of third year students reflected on the fact that any exhibition would involve the selection of work that accorded with the preferences of teachers. In response, they decided to invite their own judges and present their own award, in effect turning themselves into an alternative source of authority, in direct opposition to that expressed in the departmental exhibition. To this end, they proposed establishing a 2001 North South Newcomers Award, a title that immediately sounded much more important than the departmental exhibition and presented this as their work.

In order to be as realistic as possible, or perhaps we could say it was always real, the students pasted cards next to all exhibiting works at the exhibition introducing the 2001 North South Newcomers Award. At the same time, they posted a banner reading "2001 North South Newcomers Award" directly outside the entrance to the exhibition and even presented awards during it. As a result, some people thought the 2001 North South Newcomers Awards was the departmental exhibition.

In June 2003, the top international art festival the Venice Bienniale will be held once again. Continuing the extension of the 2001 North South Newcomers Award and "An Award for Taipei Biennale" from the classroom into the broader Taiwanese art community, the group of young artists that make up the He-Dao Foundation now plan to regale Venice with their own inimitable "An Award for the Venice Biennale."

Coincidentally, the theme of this year's 50th Venice Bienniale is "Dreams and Conflicts." For Taiwanese artists who find themselves a long way from European and US art centers, participating in the Venice Bienniale really is a "dream." Although this group of young people will be participants, they are planning to organize an art jury made up of individuals from different disciplines and by so doing create "conflict" with mainstream commentary.

If this piece is part of the Venice Bienniale, then it would have an important impact on mainstream Western art, because all the artists participating in the Venice Bienniale, and even the standards of Western art selection, would suddenly all become part of that one piece. "By controlling the judging and power of interpretation," art critic Hsu Wan-chen observes, "the He-Dao Foundation will be able to interpret Western works of art from through Eastern discourse, finally resulting in a 'Western art, Taiwanese commentary' presentation." Hsu has high hopes that this work will achieve much, having an indelible impact on Western art.

After they successfully subvert the Venice Bienniale, there are those who will ask the young rebels of He-Dao, now what? Ho Shih responds: "Once this work of conceptual art has been shown at the Venice Biennial that will be it. After all it's just one of our pieces. Moreover, although the idea behind this work is interesting, executing it involves us behaving like civil servants, spending all our time sending out planning documents, paying money and doing other administrative tasks."

Today it is already impossible to label or differentiate contemporary art or artists according to a fixed taxonomy. For "Ho Shih," however, names are no more than myth or style, his own name being a work of art in its own right. His real name is Ni Yu-an, but for "An Award for Taipei Biennale," he becomes Ho Shih, for ink art "Zhang San," and for print art "Wang Wu." He also uses the names Zhao Liu and Li Si. Clearly, contemporary art is a world of multiple identities and never-ending change.

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Winners of the "Taishin Arts Award" were revealed in spring. The photograph shows the construction "Museum Betel Nut Stall" by the artist Shih-kung Chung-hao. (courtesy of Taishin Art and Culture Foundation)

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Through its use of an "award," Ho Shih's work "An Award for Taipei Biennale" encompasses the entire art community.(Jimmy Lin)