Taiwanese artist Luo Jr-shin (羅智信) is invited to present his installation art at the 11th Liverpool Biennale of Contemporary Art, the largest festival of contemporary visual art in the UK, which features works by more than 40 artists from 30 countries.
The Cultural Division at the Taipei Representative Office in the UK indicated that the 11th Biennale, themed around “The Stomach and the Port,” was organized by Ecuadorian curator Manuela Moscoso. Considering that “the stomach, similar to the port, is a place where the inside and outside meet and a process of transformation occurs” and Liverpool is a port city, the curator hopes that the artists, in developing their creative works, will explore the theme through the conception of the body, coupled with Liverpool’s city image and historical memory.
Moscoso visited Taiwan in August 2019 at the invitation of the Ministry of Culture. After visiting several artist studios, Moscoso personally invited Luo Jr-shin to participate in the 11th Liverpool Biennale.
Opening on May 19, the 11th Liverpool Biennale features artworks displayed in several historical buildings, in addition to outdoor sculptures and installations. Luo will present a site-specific installation titled "Like a Filter, Matters Passed through You and Became a Part of You" at the Lewis’s Building.
This work is an extension of Luo’s previous project in 2018 titled "Like a Urinal in a Nightclub, From Some Golden Liquid Turning into Another." This new installation is a nightclub toilet, and like a closed circuit, the installation shifts between a toilet and a nightclub. This is to highlight the cyclical drinking-urinating behavior of the human body. Surrogate fluids made from ingredients found in beer coats the floor in the space, which is a familiar sensation underfoot for club-goers, transporting the visitors to a certain mood, place or time.
Born in 1984 in Miaoli, Luo's practice revolves around the experimentation of a variety of traditional and unconventional materials – ranging from clay, resin, metal to food, chemicals and scent. He uses common, everyday objects and decontextualizes them to produce a different reality. His works have been exhibited in Taiwan, Japan, Brazil, and the United States.
Founded in 1998, Liverpool Biennial is the largest festival of contemporary visual art in UK. It takes place every two years across the city's public spaces, galleries and historical buildings. Taiwanese artists Chen Chieh-jen (陳界仁), Su Hui-yu (蘇匯宇), Chou Yu-cheng (周育正), and architect Hsieh Ying-chun (謝英俊) have participated in past festivals.