The Other Side of the Strait

Commissioned by the Kinmen County government, Da Lun Wei Art Squad’s The Other Side of the Strait was originally produced as part of the exhibition“Kinmen Bunker Museum of Contemporary Art”. Kinmen used to be a military island, and currently serves as the frontline of the standoff between Mainland China and Taiwan.The work was motivated and inspired by the political as well as the cultural peculiarity, symbolism and edginess of the war-tornisle, attempted at a comprehensive historical research on those involved in “revolt/defection”and put on display part of the result in visual forms.

Post-1949, all official links between Mainland China and Taiwan were severed.However, even during half a century of Cold War and divided rule, a small number of individuals (predominantly air force pilots) did still manage to move from one side to the other, through“revolt/defection.”These“heroic returns”brought fame to the individuals involved.

Their acts became lauded as part of the “anti-imperialist”/“anti-communist” political propaganda of the time. Many years later, following the improvement in cross strait relations and changes in domestic ideology, the policy of welcoming and even encouraging “heroic returns”has long since ended. As a result, these heroes of the past are now little more than distorted images in long forgotten memories.

This work makes use of historical documents and contemporaneous media reports, together with news photographs ‘ dug up’ from local news archive. This makes it possible to gradually build up a broad outline of cross strait ‘revolts/defections’over a period of several decades. Local visitors are presented with childhood memories and teaching materials from text books and stories. In the past, wherever these ‘heroes’went there were huge crowds of well wishers, whereas they now attract little if any interest. A look at the dramatic, economic and political changes in cross strait relations today still has the power to make us think of times past and makes it difficult not to be surprised. The determination of those‘heroes’ to leave everything behind in order to reach the other side of the Taiwanese Strait and the‘collective’passions such acts stirred, highlights the cruelty of the merciless twists and turns of ideology over time. In point of fact, Mainland China’s‘revolts’and Taiwan’s‘defectors’ are just two sides of the same coin. With the end of the Cold War the hostility between the sides has cooled and passions are not what they once were. Although they ‘heroes’where financially rewarded for their heroics, they still stand as the perfect footnote to an absurd play embraced by both Mainland China and Taiwan.

Historical research is not simply scholary work, it is also a reflective point from which to consider how best to improve society. Contemporary art is not simply a matter of indulging in self admiration or paying excessive attention to the wording of various theories, it should also be infused with a modicum of social responsibility. The Other Side of the Strait allows visitors to reflect on the past, but it is even more an attempt to force us to consider whether the political dogma and language that still infuses cross strait relations is perhaps not the extension and revival of yet more absurdity.(original text provided by the artists)

The album lives of Suihan

When I look for themes for block printing, I usually pick simple and common subjects, such as landscapes, bonsais, rocks, the Four Gentlemen—plum blossom, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum, etc. These are usual themes of traditional Chinese painting. I simply reinterpret these themes through block printing.

Aside from the themes, I probably care more about the relationship between the strokes of knife on the wood and the ink applied by the brush. Anyone who has seriously dwelled on ink painting or calligraphy should easily grasp the importance of the Center Stroke. Granted, Center Stroke is a very old concept. Without it, it will be impossible to FEEL the strength of the brush absorbed by that thin piece of calligraphy paper. That feeling is very real. It has its rhythm, and has its breath— both smooth and hesitant ones. All these transpire and influence one another through the interaction between the tip of the brush and the paper. I know if I paint while anxious, my painting will be anxious. The lines will be all flabby and wobbly. The images will be shallow and hollow. There is no way around it. By applying such realization to my carving, I hope the strokes convey sincerity, simplicity yet with unexpected variation.

This is what the ink painting has taught and enlightened me. This is also my ultimate pursuit in the journey of wood block printing.