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‘Mirage’

  • Date:2018-07-26
‘Mirage’

Mirage — a naturally occurring optical phenomenon in which light rays bend to produce a displaced image of distant objects or the sky — is the theme of this digital installation staged by Taiwan artist Tai Chi-hsien (戴吉賢) at the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts from July 26 through Sept. 30.


Based on the images of urban architecture, the work "Mirage" is dedicated to probing into and reflecting on the senses of estrangement, indifference, and isolation that permeate the urban life in the civilized world. In this work, the imbricated buildings are silhouetted against a space of weightlessness and conflicts. Embracing the idea of “quasi-parallel universe,” this work vividly reflects the acceleration and superficiality of contemporary digital life.


"Mirage" is a scene unfolding through an optical illusion, and "city" is a realm of dreams opened up by human beings. In this work, the heterogeneous space interlaced by a digital virtual world and real-life memories allegorically reflects the insatiable desire of humanity. What the desire-made spectacle tries to question is exactly the onward march of technological progress, or even the state of reaching the peak of perfection.


However, it is quite paradoxical that the exhibition-goers are the very people who simultaneously inhabit the city and observe its mirage. In the age of infoxication, identities switch easily between the virtual and the real. By virtue of one's desires, imaginations are stretched across the world of digital technology.


The vanity of sheer indulgence projected by such an ostentatious lifestyle is, after all, little more than interpersonal indifference and estrangement. These fuzzy and ambiguous fragments of life rush back to their very source — people — in a continuous loop.


Will the acceleration of this world end in an "irredeemable disaster" or a state of "going out of control" amid nothing but the switch between cities (computer programs**) and digital codes?


**Editor’s Note: In Mandarin Chinese, the words for city (城市) and computer program (程式) are homophones.


‘Mirage’