Statement of “A Trilogy of Contemporary Art Alchemy”:
“A Trilogy of Contemporary Art Alchemy” came together during the recent global financial crisis. As the commercial art market experienced the effects of the economic downturn, one after another, galleries came up with low-price group exhibitions as a coping measure; I decided to use a conceptual strategy in one incident. When I was asked to participate in this particular exhibition by providing works under 30,000 NTD (940 USD), I divided the surface area of a 120,000 NTD piece into one quarter and three quarters, pricing them 30,000 NTD and 90,000 NTD; the accompanying text were split in the same manner – one quarter and three quarters. I proposed that if the collecting party is interested in having the complete artist statement (the value of the concept), it takes an additional 60,000 NTD. As a result, the discombobulated works were sold out but the complete statement had very few inquiries. This is the origin of “Episode One: The Cost of CONCEPT” in the trilogy.
Not long after, I was again asked to be part of an under-30,000 NTD-group show. This time I used a one NTD coin, cutting it in half and attaching them to canvases, naming them “50 cent” and pricing them the same value. Once again the works were sold, but the gallery was late on payment; they had difficulties producing a quarter NTD (Taiwan government does not issue currency that small). Subsequently, I propose that the gallery purchase a piece of bread and use precision electronic balance to measure out twenty-five cents worth of breadcrumbs to solve this dispute. This is “Episode Two: ART Earnings”.
In Taiwan, the cover of an art magazine is for purchase. I was interested to have one magazine’s cover by exchanging works from Alchemy series with the publisher. I drafted a proposal that stated the exchange of the magazine cover, an ad, and three reviews; the reviewers are curators, collectors, and critics who I have or am currently working with. The publisher agreed with the deal at the end, and this became “Episode Three: Being COVER Project”.
“A Trilogy of Contemporary Art Alchemy” brings attention to the effects of materialization and commoditization on value and price of art works, the distribution of profit in the market, and the state of art media and criticism. With the aid of perhaps humor and wit, it is my wish to concern and reflect on the system of art.
《當代藝術煉金術三部曲》創作自述
肇始於2008年末全球性金融危機，當時藝術買氣嚴重緊縮，畫廊紛紛推出低價聯展應對市場，有一次我在被要求提供三萬元以下的作品參展時，決定以觀念藝術應對，將一件十二萬元的作品切成四分之一與四分之三送出，分別訂價三萬元與九萬元，伴隨的文件也只印出四分之一與四分之三的面積，然後提議購買者若是要完整的觀念文件〈觀念的代價〉，就要再付六萬元購買，結果切割的作品都賣出去，但是完整的觀念文件卻乏人問津，這就是《當代藝術煉金術》〈首部曲：觀念的代價〉的由來。
不久，我再次受邀參加三萬元以下的作品聯展，這次我將一個一元硬幣切成一半，貼在畫布上，取名〈伍毛〉，定價五毛。結果作品又被賣出，依照展約，藝術家與畫廊將就出售作品定價五五分帳，結果畫廊拖欠不給我錢，他們說不是不給，是給不出兩毛五。我於是提議畫廊到統一超商買麵包，以精密的電子秤切出價值兩毛五的麵包屑給我來解決此紛爭。以上就是《當代藝術煉金術》的〈第二部曲：藝術所得〉。
在台灣，藝術雜誌的封面是可以花錢買的，我於是想用煉金術這群作品跟雜誌老闆交換藝術雜誌的封面，我寫了說帖及計畫書，提議交換封面、廣告與三篇的藝評，評論者分別是我正在或過去合作的策展人、藏家、評論家，最後雜誌老闆同意這個交易，這就是《當代藝術煉金術》的〈第三部曲：封面計畫〉。
《當代藝術煉金術三部曲》顯示當代藝術的物質化與有價化對價格與價值的影響、藝術商業的利益分配、藝術媒體與評論體系的狀態。我希望這當中能藉著些許的幽默與機智，實現藝術的內部反省與關照。
“A Trilogy of Contemporary Art Alchemy” came together during the recent global financial crisis. As the commercial art market experienced the effects of the economic downturn, one after another, galleries came up with low-price group exhibitions as a coping measure; I decided to use a conceptual strategy in one incident. When I was asked to participate in this particular exhibition by providing works under 30,000 NTD (940 USD), I divided the surface area of a 120,000 NTD piece into one quarter and three quarters, pricing them 30,000 NTD and 90,000 NTD; the accompanying text were split in the same manner – one quarter and three quarters. I proposed that if the collecting party is interested in having the complete artist statement (the value of the concept), it takes an additional 60,000 NTD. As a result, the discombobulated works were sold out but the complete statement had very few inquiries. This is the origin of “Episode One: The Cost of CONCEPT” in the trilogy.
Not long after, I was again asked to be part of an under-30,000 NTD-group show. This time I used a one NTD coin, cutting it in half and attaching them to canvases, naming them “50 cent” and pricing them the same value. Once again the works were sold, but the gallery was late on payment; they had difficulties producing a quarter NTD (Taiwan government does not issue currency that small). Subsequently, I propose that the gallery purchase a piece of bread and use precision electronic balance to measure out twenty-five cents worth of breadcrumbs to solve this dispute. This is “Episode Two: ART Earnings”.
In Taiwan, the cover of an art magazine is for purchase. I was interested to have one magazine’s cover by exchanging works from Alchemy series with the publisher. I drafted a proposal that stated the exchange of the magazine cover, an ad, and three reviews; the reviewers are curators, collectors, and critics who I have or am currently working with. The publisher agreed with the deal at the end, and this became “Episode Three: Being COVER Project”.
“A Trilogy of Contemporary Art Alchemy” brings attention to the effects of materialization and commoditization on value and price of art works, the distribution of profit in the market, and the state of art media and criticism. With the aid of perhaps humor and wit, it is my wish to concern and reflect on the system of art.
《當代藝術煉金術三部曲》創作自述
肇始於2008年末全球性金融危機，當時藝術買氣嚴重緊縮，畫廊紛紛推出低價聯展應對市場，有一次我在被要求提供三萬元以下的作品參展時，決定以觀念藝術應對，將一件十二萬元的作品切成四分之一與四分之三送出，分別訂價三萬元與九萬元，伴隨的文件也只印出四分之一與四分之三的面積，然後提議購買者若是要完整的觀念文件〈觀念的代價〉，就要再付六萬元購買，結果切割的作品都賣出去，但是完整的觀念文件卻乏人問津，這就是《當代藝術煉金術》〈首部曲：觀念的代價〉的由來。
不久，我再次受邀參加三萬元以下的作品聯展，這次我將一個一元硬幣切成一半，貼在畫布上，取名〈伍毛〉，定價五毛。結果作品又被賣出，依照展約，藝術家與畫廊將就出售作品定價五五分帳，結果畫廊拖欠不給我錢，他們說不是不給，是給不出兩毛五。我於是提議畫廊到統一超商買麵包，以精密的電子秤切出價值兩毛五的麵包屑給我來解決此紛爭。以上就是《當代藝術煉金術》的〈第二部曲：藝術所得〉。
在台灣，藝術雜誌的封面是可以花錢買的，我於是想用煉金術這群作品跟雜誌老闆交換藝術雜誌的封面，我寫了說帖及計畫書，提議交換封面、廣告與三篇的藝評，評論者分別是我正在或過去合作的策展人、藏家、評論家，最後雜誌老闆同意這個交易，這就是《當代藝術煉金術》的〈第三部曲：封面計畫〉。
《當代藝術煉金術三部曲》顯示當代藝術的物質化與有價化對價格與價值的影響、藝術商業的利益分配、藝術媒體與評論體系的狀態。我希望這當中能藉著些許的幽默與機智，實現藝術的內部反省與關照。
