The Bottom of the Cave – Chen Liang-Hsuan Solo Exhibition

The artist Chen Liang-Hsuan’s practice often delves deeply into the human condition within contemporary society. The works reflect on questions arising from numerous technological revolutions and transformations throughout human civilization, such as: What collective knowledge defines the particular time we inhabit? How do modern individuals perceive, learn, and comprehend their environment? Within the finite span of human life, every creature serves as a bridge, transmitting the collective experiences of one generation to the next. Much of this transmission is not solely inherited through text-based histories and other tangible records. More often, it resides in the everyday lives of ordinary people, in daily rituals, or within latent mediums yet to be unveiled. The exhibition The Bottom of the Cave focuses on exploring intergenerational experiences, inviting us to engage in a shared reflection of our time.

The exhibition presents three works: Breathing, EEEEEEmon, and The Bottom of the Cave. The three-channel video installation Breathing captures six different classrooms and studios in Taipei, coincidentally all located in basements. These subterranean spaces, freed from societal roles and familial obligations, become sanctuaries for modern individuals seeking mental liberation. As the camera descends down, the initially documentary perspective begins to dissolve into a dreamlike and surreal quality. In the two-channel video installation EEEEEEmon, viewers are invited to enter a classroom. Similar to an anthill sprawling endlessly underground, various classrooms are layered and interwoven in the work. As students, we visit these spaces not only to acquire knowledge but also to dig for solace in the face of the relentless passage of time. Finally, through the corridors, we arrive at the VR360 The Bottom of the Cave. In this piece, the artist extends the temporal axis and immerses viewers in a stone-encased cavern where figures from varied epochs emerge. Accompanied by the chant-like recitations, the work spans centuries, reexamining how contemporary consensus is constructed and, ultimately, how it fades away. For Chen, creating a reflective distance from one’s own experiences is essential to move closer to the meaning of life. The three works lead us on a search for an escape from the ordinary through a blend of the familiar and the uncanny in contemporary existence.

Liang-Hsuan Chen obtained her MFA degree in 2016 from the Film, Video, New Media, and Animation Department of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Chen’s art predominately experiments space-time travel that seeks to connect together different time segments. From behind the video camera, she applies images on narratives and sounds, and creates spatial installations, and her approach of mixing experimental documentary and home video results in hyper-real states that blend together everyday life and personal memories that are uniquely Taiwanese.

Presenter: Chew’s Culture Foundation
Organizer: Hong-Gah Museum
Sponsors: Ministry of Culture Taiwan, Department of Cultural Affairs, Department of Cultural Affairs,
Taipei City Government