Double Square 双方藝廊

Xindian Boys is a teamwork-oriented art group comprised of four artists par excellence, namely TSONG Pu, WU Tung-Lung, CHEN Shun-Chu, and SU Hui-Yu. They transcend disciplinary confines and adopt different kinds of creative media such as painting, photography, installation and video. Their collaborative artworks tend to be infused with their living experiences and the humanistic background of the mountainous area of Xindian, therefore bearing more than a passing resemblance to an alternative topography survey. Their first collaborative series The Determination of Life (2012) investigated the possibilities of a secluded life in the forest and the contemporary life from the perspective of oriental philosophy. Their three-channel video installation 0343 (2015) developed a counterpoint-based Weltanschauung on life and death, mankind and nature, as well as civilization and energy. CHEN Shun-Chu departed for heaven in this period, and it was not until one and a half years later that the other three members finished their third art series Lost in Interstellar Space: RED (2016) which addresses the issue concerning the relational trinities of artist/individual/life and society/world/universe, echoing the artistic, political and spiritual exile with images. As an art group, Xindian Boys sets great store by tacit understanding among the members rather than any radical artistic philosophy. Their sui generis “topographical art” is developed on the basis of their friendships and daily lives, which is why their artworks tend to take on lithe forms with a touch of profound emotion. To create The Determination of Life and 0343, the art group treated their leisure pursuits as the point of departure, facing up to the truth of their real lives, the topographical feature of the environment they live in, and even the issues of life and death by intuition. Besides, the dramatic impact of the illness and demise of one of its members galvanized the other three artists into publicizing their originally implicit philosophical attempt in all its manifestations, which led to the completion of the epic-scale Lost in Interstellar Space, an art series dedicated to re-assemble history and individuals as well as history and quotidian existence by weaving narratives of personal histories into those of the grand history or blending fantasy texts with true stories.

In 1985, the famous minimalist sculpture “Finite to Infinite” was accused of alluding symbol containing "Red Star". In the context of "fear of ideological problems", artist Lee Tsai-Chien was forced to repaint his work to other colors. This was caused a lot of controversies at that time. After a series of color replacement several times, “Finite to Infinite” has eventually rehabilitated and restored until now. “Lost in Interstellar Space” is presented to this mystery of Taiwan art history as a starting point which is a retro Sci-fi movie, and been molded by the conception “metaphysical exile” of the Soviet science fiction art film “Solaris”, directed by Andrei Tarkovsky. Through the space narrative, it reflects the absurdity and nihility of human beings. “Lost in Interstellar Space” scenes are taken from Xindian Creek after a typhoon disaster in 2015, at such changed terrain and barren dry riverbed, Xindian Boys elaborate this abstract art involves political issues aforementioned with their unique image style in order to introduce us into their Sci-fi journey.