Artists
Photo Credit: NIU Chun-Chiang
CHENG Li-Ming
CHENG Li-Ming
| Location | France / Paris |
|---|---|
| Residency | Cité Internationale des Arts |
| Year of the Grant | 2010 |
| Work | ＜The Remixed Dialogue of “FF” Typeface＞ |
Artist Statement:
A lead type only the size of a thumb has a complicated history in the development of culture. France is not the only country in Europe that adapted letterpress printing, but it is a very important location. My experience in Paris allowed me to grasp onto the contextual traces of the past and future through these tiny letters.
The letterpress industry is gradually being replaced by digital printing. There is both comfort and discomfort in the old and the new, expectations and anti-expectations for the past and the future. People in France are just like us, thus feeling the same fear, excitement, and disappointment in the advancement of civilization. The meeting of “Français” and “Formosa” is not merely a word game in the project.
During my trip to France, I witnessed the wealth of meanings behind the composition of these printing letters and these words. There are a few oceans apart between France and Taiwan. Despite cultural differences around the world, globalization had taken its toll long before we realized.
The importance of culture, science, crafts, and historical context is recognized in France. Its approach in exhibition to juxtapose the new and the old also inspires my senses in exploration and thinking. Questions and speculations raised in my reading and research were answered during my time in Paris. These new findings will add to my past training in storytelling and accumulate into something deeper and more meaningful.