‘It breathes. It flickers. It flashes. It whispers.'
For the chance to step into an unworldly dimension of mechanical life, visit an interactive exhibition space featuring the creations of Korean artist Choe U-Ram running in Taichung City from June 3 through Sept. 3, 2017.
Choe, 47, is a Seoul-based kinetic artist whose mechanical sculptures move freely as defying gravity, filling their surroundings with soft breathe and life as if their existence were as old as the dawn of time.
The moments visitors enter the venue, they are met with a fantastical scene - mechanical organisms that echo the viewer's body temperature and footsteps with a slow movement and a warm, cosmic light. As the curatorial statement says, "The definition of life is ambiguous; once the machine starts to move, it is a life born.”
Choe's art works encompass elements from mechanical engineering, natural sciences, and the history of civilization development, creating fascinating organisms with stainless steel, delicate metals, electronics, ambient light sensors, and LED lights. Hailed as "anima machine,” they have the tender warmth of human nature and traces of their breathing are illuminated by a glowing light.
The special exhibition at the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts is titled "stil laif,” which can be phonetically interpreted as "Steel Life,” "Steal Life,” or even "Still Life.” Such is the ambiguity of emotions in exhibitiongoers encountering his nimble and flickering machines.
Choe's complex insights, astonishing artistic beauty, and new ideas outline a vision of a future that beckons. For a journey from antiquity to futuristic alchemy, visit Taichung for a showcase of 33 featured artworks spanning Choe's career from 2003 to 2017, his largest exhibition to date.
'stil laif'
- Date: June 3 - Sept. 3, 2017
- Venue: National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts
- Address: No. 2 Wuchuan W. Road Sec. 1, Taichung City, Taiwan (ROC)
- Site: www.ntmofa.gov.tw
- Artist: www.uram.net