Artists
Photo Credit: NIU Chun-Chiang
HSU Chia-Yu
HSU Chia-Yu
| Location | USA / Colorado |
|---|---|
| Residency | Anderson Ranch Arts Center |
| Year of the Grant | 2006 |
| Work | Running Chocolate Cake |
Artist Statement
“Eating Soldiers":
To me, dessert is a symbol of desire. I made ants into soldiers. Such a transformation was a euphemism, as well as sarcasm directed at the ants’ stupidity and human’ s foolishness. I distanced myself from the cruelty of wars and only discussed the notion of pillaging and desire, reality and ridicule. When I attempted to make models of an actual object, I also changed the scale of the models. In this way, I created a sense of visual complexity, as well as spatial misplace.
Wars are merciless and come from unlimited desires. I seemed to have found human weaknesses through reflecting on wars. Our weaknesses are revealed through pillaging, occupying, and the justification we make during the process of obtaining something. How many acts of invasion in human history were justified by sacred reasons, and at the same time, disregarded the pain of the oppressed? When I thought about who and what all the wars were fought for, I could not help but laugh at our own foolishness as humans.
I was honored to receive a grant from the Council for Cultural Affairs for an Artist-in-Residency abroad in 2006. My two-month residency program was made up of two parts.
For the first month of my residency, I was at Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Colorado, USA. When I first arrived, I was immediately sick with Acute Mountain Sickness due to the center’s location at high altitude. I panted restlessly as if I had hiked a whole mountain when I simply took ten small steps. I became a more patient person because of this illness. I frequently readjusted my breath, like that of an old monk entering into modes of meditation. Such transformation allowed me to re-evaluate my art and see new possibilities for more interesting work.
Two weeks into my residency in Colorado, my body became more accustomed to the surrounding environment. I completed some interesting art experiments. It was more or less like gaining something good from something bad. I would like to thank Anderson Ranch Arts Center for providing assistance in completing these interesting projects.