For many readers the title chosen for this book, Installation Art in Taiwan, may well be something of a puzzle: After all, despite discussing and producing "installation art" in Taiwan for a decade, most people find the profundities it seeks to express difficult to understand.

The impression that people are still unable to grasp the meaning of installation art is naturally one of the first addressed by the author. At the very beginning Yao seeks to make clear the purpose and meaning of such art with the following definition: "In general terms installation art refers to an expressive method not a style. In the main it focuses on artistic behavior or approaches undertaken in a physical or conceptual space. It is not a school of art but an idea or concept." To this end Installation Art in Taiwan (460,000 Chinese characters in length) is a concerted attempt by Yao to flesh out further his treatise on "the nature of installation art."

Unsurprisingly, given Yao's work as an artist, the book does not seek merely to "educate" readers. The artist himself comments: "I have visited many countries around the world and seen a lot of works that have made a strong impression on me. I was once really shocked at seeing so many rich and varied works of art in a bookstore. At which point I realized that such a rich Western cultural heritage cannot be matched by effort alone and I began to ask myself if I was doomed to failure?"

Born in 1969, Yao Jui-chung possesses a sense of social responsibility common amongst those who participated in the "student movement" of his youth. At the same time, as an installation artist, curator and art critic, he carries with him the cultural burden of what it means to be Taiwanese, seeking in real life to "embrace internationalism from a local perspective." On this basis Yao had the strength of will to complete Installation Art in Taiwan in just 18 months, a book that comes with more than 300 photographs, recording over 300 works produced by Taiwanese artists in the period 1990-2001.

As an active participant in the development of installation art in the 1990s, we are forced to question Yao's objectivity in writing about the history of a period with which he is so intimately connected. Art critic Wang Chia-chi points out that Installation Art in Taiwan is basically written from the creative perspective of the artist, expressing both sympathy and empathy for the subject matter covered. As such, when Yao explains works, he strives to fathom the original creative intent of each artist. In consequence, the book has some commentary but is bereft of any clear, forceful critiques.

Yao Jui-chung candidly admits that he deliberately chose not to adopt a critical approach. He points out that his main interest is in multimedia and the multiple motifs of large works of installation art, ones that more often than not cannot be collected and are generally dismantled or broken up after an exhibition. In other words, works that though they were created in what was a golden era for installation art have left behind no trace of their existence. With this in mind Yao has forgone any attempt to divide the development of installation art into specifically defined periods or to offer critiques of individual artists one at a time, thereby establishing a reputation for himself in the field of art criticism. He has chosen instead to concentrate on the works in question, categorizing an array of numerous and varied pieces from a highly creative period. It can therefore be said that Yao's decision to write this book was a sincere attempt to detail the meaning and truth of an era and in so doing find the position of each artist in the greater scheme of things.

Installation Art in Taiwan is divided into five sections and 13 chapters: "Dance Macabre" contains political criticism, religious observation, hedonism and indulgence; "Carnival of Materials" depicts diverse materials and the use of a reconstructed or virtual arena as elements of installation art; "The Realm of Illusion" discusses photographic, television, projection, optical energy, and animation techniques and how they can be used as part of installation art; "Blurring Boundaries" features "interactive" works that attempts to reduce the distance between audience and art through affinity and interaction; "The Awakening of Body and Self" covers works of "performance art."

Yao develops a dialogue with these works on the basis of artistic empathy. Through the expression of his ideas and interviews with the artists concerned, the pieces discussed gradually become clearer. In this way, readers, who have not seen these works of installation art with their own eyes, build up in their minds a work of art in its own right through extensive dialogue and photographs. As such, even though for the sake of impartiality Yao Jui-chung excludes his own works from discussion, allowing only a handful of photographs as illustrations, his good nature means he is unable to detach himself from the sense of comradeship he shares with his fellow artists and a common dislike for the same perceived enemy. Throughout Installation Art in Taiwan, Yao is ever mindful of his purpose, namely to address what he regards as unfair criticism of installation art for "mechanically using concepts from Western art," or suggestions that it is "incomprehensible" or that "because the distinction between technique and form is so loose there is no unified standard and therefore such works could have been produced by anyone."

Yao observes that given its special historical background Taiwan has shown an innate ability to integrate elements of Eastern and Western cultures and believes that how this quality is utilized will determine whether Taiwan is able to create a new culture. However, if people blindly restrict themselves or fall into the trap of "material determinism" wherein form transcends essence, or excessively highlight regionalism, either one can just as easily lead towards the dead end of "exclusive localism."

For the last century Taiwanese artists have been plagued by the problem of "Eastern learning and Western application" and even today it remains a specter that a younger generation of artists still cannot avoid. However, in Installation Art in Taiwan, the author has not allowed this thorny issue to lead him astray in his discourse. In organizing his thoughts on numerous and complex works, he still observes how the times in which an artist lives impact his or her work. For example, the form and depth of political critique and historical irony are irreducible characteristics in "Dance Macabre." "Using a non-mainstream form of installation art subverts traditional ideas about art and the bizarre and motley developments of a society in flux." Yao feels that Taiwanese artists often seem much more advanced than installation artists in neighboring countries with similar societies such as South Korea or Japan, for whom historical criticism appears sufficient in and of itself.

In addition, Taiwan's resilience and eye-catching vitality have allowed the incorporation of indigenous and grassroots aesthetics into installation art, which relative to traditional art forms bring it closer to real life, highlighting artistic intent and the strength of experimentalism.

Through Installation Art in Taiwan, Yao Jui-chung's contribution to this debate goes beyond the writing of critiques or opinions. With many important works of installation art lost or forgotten, his photographic works and collection of historical materials are used to great effect. The meticulous arrangement of pictures turns them into graphic works of art in their own right. Little wonder then that renowned art critic Victoria Lu has described the book as an outstanding "curated exhibition on paper."

Yao has already collected over 20,000 pieces of historical information on installation art in Taiwan, including leaflets, photographs and documents, making Installation Art in Taiwan an important reference source on the subject. However, despite the time and effort the author has devoted to the completion of this project, the book has not been well received by all of the artists introduced in its pages. Some artists have been unhappy at not being mentioned whilst others were annoyed at what was written about their work. Yao Jui-chung has been somewhat exasperated at this unexpected development. One cannot help but smile at how this unanticipated response to the book illustrates how temperamental artists can be.

It appears that for many artists writing is something too un-cool for their esoteric tastes, but the truth is that Yao Jui-chung has written a very "cool" book. Whether in terms of its artistic nature or historical importance, Installation Art in Taiwan will inevitably come to be seen as an important contribution the subject of art history in Taiwan.

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Book: Installation Art in Taiwan

Author: Yao Jui-chung

Published by: Ecus Publishing House

Publication Date: October 2002

Recommended price: NT$1200

Discount Price: NT$650

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Installation art is both flexible and diverse in the materials it uses and is a milieu in which Taiwanese artists have achieved much. Artist Fan-Chiang Ming-tao has created a number of works using wheat grass. (photo by Pu Hua-chih)

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Ku Shih-yung's two works "Fluttering-Night and Day" and "Flying Wind and Water" make use of golden balls, propellers and photographs all displayed in the same space, as though they are part of the same work. (photo by Hsueh Chi-kuang)