The centre of the forest is a lake like mirror

Chih-Chien Wang

Opening on Thursday, October 13 at 5 pm
The exhibition runs from October 13 to November 12, 2005

The gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday from noon to 5 p.m.

Yushan : …dinner?

Chih-Chien : Is it time already for dinner?

Yushan : We didn't have lunch?

I'm afraid you might be hungry.
You should take a picture.
There is a button.
You know how to use it, right?
Press it harder.
You didn't take the picture.

Transcribed dialogue from Smile Yushan (video, 30 secs)

We eat, we take images, a mouthful, an image, one after the other. We want to bite into every moment, capture everything, savour each morsel, be saturated, be versed, discover… and also to be fed.

Originally from Taiwan, Chih-Chien Wang has lived in Montreal since 2002. This displacement, this deliberate uprooting, is at the heart of his artistic practice. It has influenced his relationship to the world and to the objects that surround him; as much as it has impacted the way he perceives himself and his method of working. Compulsively, Wang accumulates, image upon image, video footage and photographic images. From this abundance emerges an unusual yet lyrical universe, with an unsettling aesthetic that speaks of a keen desire to create a place of belonging.

For The centre of the forest is a lake like mirror, all is in migration, indeed even in mutation. The individual, as much as the everyday objects that surround him, are inclined to be in a state of transformation. By quietly changing their intended function, Wang's objects are rendered sublime in their juxtaposition with the individual, often to the artist himself, prompting an allegorical reading of the work that steps outside of the linear or cause and effect interpretation.

Chih-Chien Wang is the first artist to benefit from the exceptional opportunity offered conjointly by PRIM and Dazibao to produce and diffuse work. Every year, a special call for proposals invites artists, for whom the photographic practice crosses over into video and audio media, to submit their project.

Born in Taiwan, Chih-Chien Wang lives and works in Montreal. He studied cinema and theatre at the Chinese University in Taipei before moving to Canada, where he is currently finishing an MFA in photography at Concordia University. His work was recently shown at the Musée de l'Elysée, Lausanne (Switzerland) in the exhibition ReGeneration, 50 Photographers of Tomorrow, 2005-2025.

The artist would like to thank the Centre interuniversitaire des arts médiatiques for its financial contribution.

Dazibao thanks the artist for his generous contribution and its members for their support. Dazibao receives financial support from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, and the Conseil des arts de Montréal. Dazibao is a member of the Regroupement des centres d'artistes autogérés du Québec.