For Kids
 
Why is a house more than a house? Can there be anything else? Don’t Worry! Let your brain relax first. Then, slowly approach the works of art, and you will see:
 
The house is submerged in water. It is dilapidated. Nobody lives inside. There are two skies. The weather is misty. It is very quiet. The city has sunk…
Colorful dolls. There are male and female dolls. Who are they and why are they in front of the house? There is only one bed in the room…
Very old house. It is like grandmother’s house. It is three-dimensional. Is this a housing advertisement? There is a sample house…
There is a pavilion. There are ancient clothes. Who painted on the wall? The room is weird. Whose home is this?
 
You have found some clues in the works, and then what? Follow the clues and think about the reasons. Unlike detective fiction, a work of art represents not just one truth. For example, the artist took a series of photographs, showing houses submerged in water and conveying senses of tranquility and tenderness. The series of works are entitled The Submerged Beauty of Formosa. It provokes curiosity: Why did the artist shoot the dilapidated houses? Why do they still look beautiful? Why are the photographs oval? According to the Chinese characters of the title, does it mean “no water” or “submerged in water”? So what happened? Something concerning the artist and his/her homeland is hidden in the works, waiting for you to decrypt.
 
Artists are storytellers, and they do not paint just what they see. They hide experiences, thoughts, and feelings in their works in different ways. They invite viewers to experience the works personally, open imagination, and explore art slowly. Viewers will find that art can be interpreted in many different ways.

 

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For Parents and Teachers
 
How to interpret a work of art? Under the theme of “house,” this exhibition attempts to encourage curiosity in children: “Why is a house more than a house?” When you have doubts about something, you will start to think. After experiencing a work of art in detail, you will see the meaning behind the subject matter.
 
How can you see? Changes continue in the art scene. When looking back to the history of art, you may find all people have the experience of being entangled with the times. Please think: the visual shock when Western people in the early fourteenth century first saw the representation of perspective in the two-dimensional space; the ridicule and puzzle in the art community during the birth of impressionism or cubism. 
 
Art is not only closely related to the times, but also involves human life. You should not expect that a work of art is like an electrical appliance manual, from which you can get instructions to understand what is represented in the work. Art has its own language system, and “art is in things.”
 
The meaning of art is sometimes delicate, like a ball of tangled wool, and because of the differences in age, culture, society, era, and value, everyone interprets art differently. Taking apple as an example, a gourmet will connect it to healthy food, a science enthusiast will associate it with Newton who was hit by this fruit, a Christian will link it to Eve’s temptation, a myth lover will recall the Trojan War triggered by an apple, and the one who is familiar with fairy tales will think of the poisoned apple given to Snow White by her stepmother…
 
Consequently, a house is no longer just a physical space represented by the artist, but a medium for expressing ideas and opening a dialogue with the world. The photographs of Yang Shun-fa’s The Submerged Beauty of Formosa show beautiful sceneries seemingly washed by spring rain, while implying the environmental damage caused by human behavior. In the meantime, the multiple meanings of the title of this work have the connotation of the artist’s attitude. Lee Ming-tse’s The Dandy Goes for an Outing: Convenience Store represents self-indulgence and self-loving in life after the gentle secular soul collides with Zhu-ge Si-lang, a hero of comic book. Through the male and female paper figurines in her work Little Guardians, Chen Yun sincerely reveals the emotions of youth and the comfort for loneliness, manifesting the unobvious existence, as well as the imaginary world of shy and introverted children. Lin Yu-ting’s Ideal House expresses sarcasm and reflection on the illusion of a bright future always promised by an advertisement or a real estate agent. In the section of illustration, artists silently convey their feelings through houses, and they form their thoughts about the subject matters with colors, space, rhythm, and tones.
 
When time moves in space, it leaves traces through creativity. You will find that there may be a little difference between art and what you originally thought.



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Supported by Ministry of Culture; Bureau of Cultural Affairs, Kaohsiung City Government
Organized by Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts
Appointed Deformaldehyde Coating Sponsor by HOPAX
 
Participating Artists
Egretllu Yu, Wang Chuen-tz, Lee Ming-tse, Cindy Wume, Lin Yu-ting, Lin Jia-dong, Lin Chuan-tsunh, Croter Hung, HOM, Hsu Wanying, Yang Shun-fa, Chen Yun, Rachel Chen, Aries Creative