Double Square 双方藝廊

Double Square Gallery is delighted to present Shyu RueyShiann’s solo exhibition Between I / Nine Dreams – Hopscotch, which will open on October 28 and run through December 7, 2023. The exhibition is the artist’s second collaboration with Double Square Gallery since the 2022 Taipei Dangdai, and features two large-scale kinetic installations that the artist has thought about and developed for more than a decade. Using media of kinetic art to create the basic structure of visual impression, the artist incorporates graphic drawing, music, and sound to infuse a sense of humanity and life memory into cold, rigid mechanical elements. Through precisely combined components and the rhythm of cyclic movement, the texture and line of the mechanical installations form a deep exploration of unlimited possibility of kinetic art, transforming the visual aesthetics of industrial elements and conveying the unique language of life experienced by the artist.

The installation, Between I, featured in this exhibition was conceived during a residence in New York in 2006, and uses “trash can,” a common item in every household, as the visual center. Shyu’s work has been profoundly influenced by French artist Marcel Duchamp’s conceptual art, in which everyday objects are appropriated and given new meaning as a way to reexamine the framework of perceiving everyday life and art. On the other hand, the work is also inspired by the artist’s personal memory of his family, in particular, his feelings towards his mother being a scavenger. Consequently, discarded objects and household items salvaged from the streets have become a key medium in his practice. This time, Shyu specially invites more than a dozen of musicians from the Taipei Symphony Orchestra to record their live performance of classical music, which is embedded into the trash can to provide a feeling of spiritual comfort, developing a space for dialogues between two highly contrasting elements – “classical music” and “trash can.” By stepping on a peddle to activate the musical installation, the music and rhythm can be altered based the audience’s interaction with the work. Thus, the work not only escapes a standard, limiting framework, but also carries the thinking about social structure and environmental consciousness. Combining the kinetic installation with sound, music, and multimedia interaction, the artist is able to offer a fresh sensory experience through the work.

Another work, Nine Dreams – Hopscotch, has been developed since 2005. Having drawn nearly one thousand sketches to experiment the idea of this work, Shyu uses a child game known throughout the world – “hopscotch,” to create the visual imagery, making the familiar childhood memory a narrative entry point and extending it to taking a challenge on an unknown world and the spirit of taking adventures. Through the images of “nine dreams,” the artist places the dreams in the box, and looks for the central spirit of the work, enveloping different narrative details with structural layers, while utilizing simple and common memory language to carry and convey artistic meanings. The operation of the kinetic installation reveals his thinking about the working of life, and at the same time, expresses his reverence for nature, the environment, the universe, and dream that permeates the inner structure of the entire work, transcending limits and scale of the self while tracing back to self-challenges and respect for all beings.

Creative and Production Team
Hsu Studio
Kinetic Art Creation：Ruey-Shiann Shyu
Sound Recording Coordination：Ge-Wei Lin
Recording, Mixing & Production：Shao-Ting Sun、Tt.
Recording Assistant：Kai-Xin Chen
Audio & Program Control Engineer： Wei-Yu Lai
Sound Engineering：HeiMi Creative Studio--Anastasia Hsiao、Jessica Chiu、Barrett Lin
Automatic Control Engineer： Chao-Yu Lin

Performing Musicians
Conductor：Hsiang-Yu Liu
Flute：Li-Fang Chen、Wen-Hsin Weng、
Oboe：Tsai-Chun Wu、Chia-Chin Chen
Clarinet：Yueh-Hsiu Lo、Yin-Ling Liu
Bassoon：Chia-Chi Kuo、An-Chih Hsu
Trumpet：Tsai-yen Lu、Po-Han Chen
French Horn：Xiang-Jun Chang、Yung-Chi Yang
Violin 1：Chih-Yu Lan、Peng Tai、YA-SSU YANG、Jen-Hou Wu
Violin2：Wen-Ling Chang、 Bing-Rong Wu、 Yu-Cheng Chiang、Hsiang-Yun Liu
Viola：Chia-An Huang、Wen-hsuan Huang、Ting-Wan Lin、Yi-Ting Chu
Cello：Ming-Chun Lee、Chi-Yun Chou、Ping-Sheng Lin
Double Bass：Chin-Wen Tan