Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei

To Each His Own in Art?! To each his own is when artists pull apart from one another and widen the distances between them, each expressing their own personalities and rediscovering themselves through action. To each his own is the cognitive advantage of transcending collectivism and collective numbness. Not only does such transcendence help artists expand the conceptual boundaries of modern art in their countries and regions, thus returning modern art to its original primordial soup, it also transcends the overall system formed by the academic logic, the rules of the game, and the operational mechanisms of modern art, bringing art back to its point of creation. To each his own is when artists work separately to break free of existing artistic systems and institutionalism. Modern artists who emerged in the 1980s saw plenty of collectivist inertia. Elements such as collective memories, collective will and collective spirit constantly enveloped artists' individual expressions, to the point of obscuring their individual presence. Explosive examples can be found both far away, in the form of the Young British Artists (YBA), and close to home, in the form of Chinese modern art. The formation of these two collectives boosted the vigor of their rebellious spirits and focused international attention, making them popular central themes for many international art exhibitions from the 1990s and onwards. Then, times changed, and the famed artists of YBA were replaced by individualistic artists such as Damien Hirst, Marc Quinn, Tracey Emin and Douglas Gordon. A nebula of artists gradually diminished into a handful of lonely stars, each emitting its own light. Modern British art entered a new age of each artist doing his or her own things. On the other hand, Chinese modern art is still mired in collectivism. It started with the young artists that emerged from the '85 New Wave, through to the Political Pop Art, Cynical Realism, and Gaudy "Yen Su" Art trends that appeared after 1989, and finally proceeding to the rise of “international biennial exhibition syndrome” and the cartoon age. Throughout all this, new artists germinated in the murky fog of "Chinese modern art." Enthusiasm for collectivism formed the basis of the impact of artistic movements and became a rite of passage for modern trends. In contrast, new artistic language, exploration of personalities and styles, the academic logic of creation, and follow-up creative energies were, in comparison, neglected. From the perspective of creation, Chinese modern art is not just the shackle that binds the collective, it is also inseparable from Chinese identity anxieties, geopolitical anxieties, ideological anxieties and exotic foreign anxieties. While these issues may be interesting topics for discussion, they obscure the individuality, artistic flair and linguistic attractiveness of artists. Compared to the power of collectivism, and the results it generates, the starlight given off by individual artists is weak and flickering. However, humanity's future spiritual development can only be guided by a liberation of personality in art. For artists, the only way to cement their place in the artistic sphere and in history is to start from the beginning, from the self. The exhibition "Spectacle - To Each His Own" presents dissenting views on modern art, and shows artists' attitudes towards the status quo and the future. Examples include non-cooperation with global capitalism, a refusal to conform to the artistic market decided by consumer societies, and not participating in the fleeting fads and formalities that pass through artistic circles.