Yuen Nga Chi’s Monuments: Flipper, Ada and Honey – Chapter 1: Ada (2023) is on view as part of the group exhibition Living Togetherness at the 8th Taiwan International Video Art Exhibition (TIVA).
The 8th Taiwan International Video Art Exhibition (TIVA) centers around the profound concept of care. Since the inception of the open call, diverse perspectives have been employed to prompt contemplation on beings beyond humanity. This contemplation unfolds across three dimensions: temporal disparities, unscalability of spatial dimensions, and the material sensory experiences of cohabitation. The title, Living Togetherness, was formulated after the jury process. Featured artworks thoughtfully respond to this theme by delving into the rich tapestry of human and non-human existence, exploring diverse situations and locations, all while examining the intricate web of care binding these beings together in the scale of deep time.
This artistic showcase delves into the multifaceted meaning of care, exploring the emergence of life together and examining the intertwined state of affections, materials, and cultures inseparable from the birth of life and its surroundings. Different species and matters each possess entirely distinct perceptions of time. However, in the moment of shared birth at a specific point in time, an inevitable and intimate entanglement is destined to unfold among them. How do we, as human beings, acknowledge these stories of natureculture from an anti-anthropocentric perspective in the scale of deep time?
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Yuen's three-channel video centers around the Chinese White Dolphin to compose the blues of disturbance beneath human privatization of nature. Through the close-up shots of the city and ocean, along with the ecology of the white dolphins in the Pearl River Delta, the video calmly recounts their emotions of loss and conflict in the human city. The dolphins are never seen in the pictures. Instead, the viewers learn about the stories of the white dolphins later on from the voiceover-seen in many places of Hong Kong as a mascot and statues. The white dolphins were turned from fishermen's taboo into a symbol today to commemorate Hong Kong's handover. The blues of disturbance has gone beyond the destruction of natural ecology, further intertwined with and traversing between fishermen, local life, and the blood and tears in history. The fates of the city and the Chinese White Dolphin seem braided together, looking out for each other...
Monuments: Flipper, Ada and Honey - Chapter 1: Ada (2023)
Three-Channel Video, 19 min
Text and images courtesy of Taiwan International Video Art Exhibition.
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