Concept of the series Searching Center and Boundary:
In the project Searching Center and Boundary, I took a full-length portrait of myself and then photographed the five tips of my body (belly button, head, left hand, right hand, left foot, and right foot). I also photographed the center and the tips of Manhattan (central spot, northern tip, eastern tip, western tip, southeastern tip, southwestern tip). The photographs were enlarged so that I could find the center point of my body and of Manhattan Island. I wanted to define the boundary between what belonged to the body and what did not, as well as what belonged to the island and what did not. Searching Center and Boundary was in the beginning a project intended for Taiwan. However, since I did not have a car at the time, I was not able to take photographs neither in central Taiwan nor at its tips. When I was an artist in residence in New York, I completed the project because of the size of Manhattan made it accessible by bus or on foot. Against this backdrop, the Manhattan version of Searching Center and Boundary was completed in 2004 while the Taiwan version was completed in 2008, upon my return to Taiwan.

Due to the ever-changing nature of life and the rise and fall of islands, Searching Center and Boundary accentuated the uselessness behind the attempt to find subjectivity as well as emptiness of subjectivity. My life experience and the divergence of ideas in the recognition of Taiwan’s identity have resulted in my continuous contemplation and reflection about the question of subjectivity. I feel that the problem does not only lie with Taiwan. A country and its people may encounter changes in its land, and its existence and sovereignty are actually a kind of declaration or even fantasy. When we refer to ourselves as “us,” there is actually a political motive behind the term. Who do we refer to when we talk about “us”? Who is it that we are including? And who is it that we are isolating?

在〈尋找中心與邊界—曼哈坦版 〉一作中，我先拍攝身體的全身像，接著拍攝身體的中心與五個端點（肚臍、頭、左手、右手、左腳、右腳）；之後我拍攝島嶼的中心與五個端點（地理中心點、北、東、西、南端－東點、南端－西點）。我將這些影像逐漸特寫放大，尋找自我身體與島嶼中心點的所在，以及身體與非身體、島嶼與非島嶼的界線。《尋找中心與邊界》的構想，初始計劃是在台灣進行的，但是當時我沒有汽車，無法到台灣本島的中心與邊界點實地拍照。在紐約駐村期間，曼哈頓島的大小是我可以以搭車或徒步的方式在地完成此計劃，所以2004年我先完成〈尋找中心與邊界—曼哈坦版 〉，2008年回到台灣後才完成〈尋找中心與邊界—台灣版 〉。
由於人與島嶼生滅起落、變化無常，《尋找中心與邊界》的任務凸顯出尋找主體的徒勞與主體的虛無。我個人的生命經驗與台灣主體認同的分裂，讓我對主體性這個問題持續反省與探討。我認為這不單是台灣的問題，一個國家的人民與土地持續增減中，它的存在與主權其實是一種宣稱或幻想。人們說「我們」，其實是一種政治行為，話語者的「我們」，包括了誰？又排除了誰呢？

◆〈尋找中心與邊界—台灣版 〉2008｜行者全身像：59.5 x 42.5 cm，台灣全島影像：59.5 x 42.5 cm，身體及台灣島邊界：17.8 x 218 cm x 12 件，文件：42 x 29.7 cm