Material Presents This, but Art Creates That:
Alchemy of Artists 

When viewing a work of art, have you ever thought why the artist used the objects at hand to create the work? Because of the diversity and complexity of contemporary life, artists have long broken through the limitation of conventional materials. For a creator, the material language of an object often has an irreplaceable charm. Its characteristics are sometimes ambiguous, but it is full of interest, personal meaning, and life experience. Therefore, the Material Presents This, but Art Creates That: Alchemy of Artists exhibition aims to explore which material the artists prefer to work with, how the materials function, and how the artists can be identified.
 
From the perspective of artists, the measurable world of materials becomes immeasurable relations of materials. Taking the confusing plastic for example, there is great difference between infusion tubes and ball-pit balls in terms of material. However, what artists care about is whether the material can convey their intension, transmit the spirit, or establish personal uniqueness. It does not matter whether the material is polyvinyl chloride or polyethylene. However, concepts always prevail in contemporary art. Consequently, for artists, is the function of material to serve for concepts, or to manifest aesthetic metaphors and social meanings? Viewers may find an answer from the participating works. In the meantime, for fashion designers, “material is the soul of design.” We have invited fashion designers to use the most important thing—clothes—to interpret the subtlety of this sentence.
 
This exhibition combines art and design in the hope of presenting diversity and interdisciplinary collaboration. Its attempt is that, through the ordinary materials in everyday life, viewers can understand better how artists interpret the philosophy of materials and transform them into spiritual forms. In fact, the sensory memory caused by the intuitive feeling of materials penetrates our soul more deeply than we can imagine. After entering the exhibition venue, viewers can explore the texture of materials and stimulate the sense of touch in the “laboratory of materials.” When confronting the works on display, viewers can think how materials interpret and carry the information of art.
 
2020.7.11~2021.8.29
Gallery202, Children’s Museum of Art
 
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
Shih Meng-xin; Huang Yen-chao; Liao Min-chun; Pan Ping-yu; Tsai Yu-ting; Chien Yu-jen
 
Participating Designers
Chou Yi-hung; Chou Tsai-feng; Fan Hsiu-chi ;Lai Chun-chen; Wei Tzu-yuan
 
Director │ Lee Yulin PH.D
Exhibition Supervisor │Chang Yuan-shuen
Curator │Hung Ching-chan
Administrative Cooperation  │ Chen Chong-you
Exhibition Spatial Design │U.U Design
Exhibition Graphic Design │U.U Design
Logotype Design │Chang Yu-chen