Wang Hsiang-Lin
Wang Hsiang-Lin, who was born in 1984 in Taipei, Taiwan, Wang studied at The City University of New York on music performance, as well as The International Center of Photography (ICP). She studied classical music in the past, and later shifted her focus to visual art, with image as the main medium.
Her works are mostly related to life experiences. She contemplates on relationships between individuals and the world through personal connections with the external. She explores the uncertainty of time and space through representing implicit memories and discusses different ways of seeing via images in memories. Recent solo and group exhibitions happen at Künstlerhaus Bethanien (Berlin), Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Galerie Frederic Moisan (Paris), Gallery 456 (New York), and Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts (Taipei). She participated in residency programs at Künstlerhaus Bethanien and Cité Internationale des Arts (Paris). Wang was nominated for The 18th Taishin Arts Awards, and received first prize at Taipei Art Awards.
- Location Germany / Berlin
- Year of the Grant 2021
- Residency Künstlerhaus Bethanien
During the residency, I had two presentations, one was the solo exhibition in early April, and the other was an open studio event in mid-May. The solo exhibition presented my new work Fermata that included objects, photos and (sound) installations. Based on the last piece of German composer Richard Wagner, Parsifal, I reedited it and recorded live to reflect on how different social classes in modern society thought about personal awareness, and the vulnerability of faith in the modern world. Luckily, the exhibition coincided with Berlin Arts Gallery Weekend on the last weekend of April, so my works received more exposure.
The exhibition was spread in two floors. Photos, objects and installations were displayed downstairs, while the six-channel sound installation was placed upstairs. The art center had a professional team for woodwork, audiovisual equipment, and software. For additional facilities, it could also find the most cost-effective provider in a short time. Germans got on and off work on time. If works could not be completed before deadlines, they would prefer to arrive early than overtime. It was one of the interesting experiences I had in Germany.
During the open studio in May, I presented Take Me Somewhere Nice completed in 2020. The piece started with my childhood experienced on the beach to explore time, space, and image in the contemporary world. By reconstructing and reimagining incidents, personal experiences and consciousness were reassembled into a movement between dream and reality. When the world operates differently, ways of seeing and experiencing change as well. Can we determine whether we are in imagined reality or authentic reality?
In the exhibition, one projector presented lantern slides I bought online, and the other showed imaged I captured. This comparison reflected changes in human memories and experiences. Compared to linear journeys, people now could arrive destinations through virtual tools without movement. Even at these destinations, many people only saw the world through camera lens. The “present” was not that important anymore. In my work, viewers could think about the difference between “presence” and “absence” and interpret the piece with personal angles and life experiences.
During the residency, I was glad to participate in International Filmfestspiele Berlin in February. I was impressed by the Generation section designed for children and adolescents. The section worked closely with schools, and invited experts to prepare lesson plans. Teachers could introduce films to students before screenings. It indicated how much educational systems in Berline valued art.
Weather got better at the end of my residency. In May 2022, German government announced that monthly subway tickets only cost 9 euros in the next three months. As monthly ticket users could also take trains in Germany (express excluded), I stay two more months afterwards. I visited 12th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art in June, Documenta in central Germany held every five years, and listened to Berliner Philharmoniker performances at its concert hall.
Author: Wang Hsiang-Lin
Edited: Brix