Everyday Thomassons
Everyday Thomassons will be on view at Double Square Gallery from 23 April to 22 May 2016. Curated by Tzu-Chieh Jian, this exhibition features the artworks by eight Taiwanese contemporary artists par excellence, namely Shih-Tai Chan, Wan-Jen Chen, Chien-Ju Chia, Yang-Cong Hsu, Chao-Hao Liao, Chien-Chung Liao, Takahiko Suzuki and Sih-Chin Wu.
The term “Thomasson” comes from the art of Street Observation. It is based on the name of Gary Thomasson, a star player in Major League Baseball. He was hired by Yomiuri Giants with a generous salary package in 1981 but had since frequently struck out and ergo had no choice but to end his career in professional baseball. This case was then defined as “Thomasson” in 1985 by Japanese avant-garde artist Genpei Akasegawa, editor Matsuda Tesuo, and illustrator Minami Shinbo in their edited book The Basics of Street Observation. They use this term to refer to “the detritus of urban architecture.” These useless objects tenaciously strive to make their presence felt even though they have been deprived of their original functions in the course of time. Scholars of street observation not only aim to find Thomassons from the perspective of passers-by, but also construe the self-eliminating action of daily observation as a behavior that helps stretch their horizons beyond the arts.
