旅美藝術家楊金池,長期往返故鄉臺灣和紐約之間,本次個展【殺了我或改變】是楊金池於台北當代藝術館的首次個展。楊金池以回收物品,如:鋁罐、零食包裝袋、電線、電子零件等媒材,創作出一件件具有獨特質感與意涵的互動性裝置,此外,他也經常運用具有挑釁意味又不失趣味的行為表演方式,介入車水馬龍的都會空間中,以游擊式的行動對消費主義及其造成的破壞,提出抗議,因而受到國際藝壇的關注與肯定。對楊金池而言,在獨特的生命歷程中,體悟到藝術應存在於一般庶民的生活中,所以他不斷持續創作能與大眾互動的藝術模式,每一次的互動演出,總以看似詭異的身體表現出幽默諷刺的感受,輕巧地驅散了阻止人們觀念開通的巨大幽靈,從而開闢出一條立基於個人思維,又能夠切入當代文化現象、呼應社會脈動的創作路線。
【 殺了我或改變】這個展名,來自於楊金池的行為藝術作品<殺了我或改變>,將三萬個彩色鋁罐塞入一個懸在高空的圓形巨網中,當這些鋁罐被釋放時,瞬間猶如雪崩一般,將藝術家本人掩埋在垃圾山裡,藉此震撼人心的現場行為演出,讓觀眾重新去思考當代的消費文化,以及人們該如何減少日常生活中的資源浪費。「環保」一直是楊金池關注的核心議題,他創作靈感來自於二十年前,因工作業務的關係,有機會接觸到「回收再製的過程」,過程中汙染仍然持續存在。對此,藝術家感到質疑,他以勞動自己的身體的方式,來替代資本,不計人身風險,靠著自己的熱忱,以近乎懲罰的創作過程,希望觀眾看到漫不經心的浪費,正在消耗地球的資源並汙染生態系統。
本次在當代館實驗展場及廣場空間共展出9件裝置、錄像作品,並於展覽期間安排5場行為藝術演出。楊金池在臺服役期間,因過度操勞而導致的頭部中風,雖歷經多次手術卻無法回復原先的臉孔面貌。但他的藝術,卻能清晰地被辨認—那是體驗生命苦難後,仍堅韌佇立的靈魂,向世界展開行動的原點。一如楊金池所深信的,當個人行動能匯流聚集逐漸成為一股力量時,相信必能帶來一些影響與改變,雖然是一種理想主義的觀點,但必定也有啓發人心的力量!
Chin-Chih Yang is an America-based artist and has been travelling back and forth between his hometown, Taiwan, and New York. Kill Me or Change! is his first solo exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei. Yang uses recycled disposables, such as aluminum cans, snack packaging, electric wires, electronic materials, etc., to create interactive installations with unique texture and meanings. Moreover, he often conducts provocative yet intriguing performances to intervene in the bustling urban space, and in a guerilla manner, voices his protests against modern consumerism and the damages it has caused, an approach that has earned him attention and positive feedback from the international art scene. From his own unique life, he realizes that art should exist in the general public’s life. Therefore, he has constantly explored artistic approaches that allow him to interact with the public. In each of his interactive performances, he employs bizarre physicality to convey humor and irony, wittily sidestepping preconceptions that might hinder people’s understanding and creating a path paved by his individual thinking that allows him to address contemporary cultural phenomena and respond to the society.
The exhibition title, Kill Me or Change!, originates from one of Yang’s performances, which shares an identical title. In the performance, he stuffs thirty thousand multicolored aluminum cans into a giant net that is suspended high in the air. When the cans are released from the net, the avalanche will bury the artist underneath into a mountain of garbage. This impactful live performance guides audiences to re-examine the modern consumer culture and think about how people can reduce wasting resources in their daily life. “Environmental protection” has always been a core issue that Yang cares about. His inspiration actually came from a job he had twenty years ago, in which he had a chance to learn about “recycle and reproduction procedures,” and discovered that pollution still took place during the process. It raised questions in his mind. Afterwards, he has been substituting financial capital with his own physical labor; regardless of risks to his own body and sustained by his enthusiasm, he adopts an approach that resembles self-punishment and hopes to show his audience that careless waste of resources is depleting the Earth and collapsing the ecosystem.
Ten installations and videos are on view at the MoCA Studio and Plaza this time, and five performances are scheduled during the exhibition. During his military service in Taiwan, Yang suffered from a stroke in his head due to over-exhaustion. Despite multiple surgeries, the changes on his face remained the same. However, his art, which could be clearly identified, is concrete actions for the world from an adamant soul refined by sufferings in life. Yang has always believed in the fact that when individual actions gradually converge and become a force, influences and changes will follow. His perspective is indeed as idealistic as it is inspiring!