Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei

Creative collaborations that cross genres, realms, and platforms are an important developmental phenomenon of contemporary art that contributes to its compelling and contemplative values. Art with “cross-over” qualities broadens conventional perspectives by surpassing the restrictions of individual fields. The exhibition “X beyond O: Calligraphy-Sign-Space” focuses on art that challenges previously accepted boundaries. The artists included in the show are: Yang-Tze Tong, Alexander Yang, Ching-Yue Roan, Freeman Lau, Mathias Woo, Nancy Hu, Hsueh-Yi Chien, Wing-Hung Wong, Ray Chen, and the collective of Rainbow Team and the Industrial Technology Research Institute in Hsinchu. The exhibition is based on calligraphy and highlights various approaches to fusing the ancient art with contemporary visual culture. The theme comes from the idea of “making something out of nothingness.” The “nothingness” becomes “something” through an unprecedented creative process in which different people interact with the calligrapher Yang-Tze Tong. Genuine and artificial plants are used by architect Ching-Yue Roan to connect neutral architectural lexicon with icons that symbolize the warmth of family. The intention is to depict the connections between people, home and nature, and it is also a comparison between reality and the ideal. The cross-over collaboration between designers Freeman Lau, Xiao-Jie Zhu and Terence Lee begins with game concepts and character assignments and progresses to the development of rearrangeable furniture that combines elements of the new with the old. Mathias Woo creates new media work using elements of Tong’s style of calligraphy. By placing it in a contemporary dwelling, Woo seeks to prove the functionality of incorporating traditional elements in an everyday setting. Designer Nancy Hu created a vibrantly green and serene space that guides the viewer into the spiritual state that “a joyful heart derives from silence.” In contrast, architect Hsueh-Yi Chien abandons physical structure with an open space featuring lights and projectors that allow viewers to become part of the work. Amid the boundless possibilities and evolving images created in the space, new signs of beauty are derived from the subtle aspects of calligraphy. Wing-Hung Wong uses one genuine work by Yang-Tze Tong and four replicas of drafts the calligrapher usually destroys, challenging viewers to judge the works for themselves. Spatial designer Alexander Yang transforms parts of Tong’s calligraphy into iconic segments that take the form of stacks of paper. These works are installed in the corners of passageways to connect the exhibition spaces; the representation is a variation based on the trajectory of calligraphy. Ray Chen has constructed a space with three pieces of Tong’s work placed around the banks of a large ink pool. Audiences can relive the historical anecdote about the ancient calligrapher Xi-Zhi Wang, who turned the pond outside of his house completely black because he used it so often to wash his calligraphic brushes. The work is an experiment that mixes culture and education with an interactive, consumerist and game-like space. Yang-Tze Tong created “Nine Voids and One Existence” specifically for the exhibition. Though she employs a multitude of historical calligraphic styles, her personal characteristics remain uncompromised. At the entrance of the exhibition, “Nine Voids and One Existence” is reinterpreted on large screens that show images related to the historical documents referenced in Tong’s work. The cross-over collaboration between the Rainbow team and the Industrial Technology Research Institute created an interactive installation that begins with identity distinction and through the process of historical recognition, the goal of cultural acceptance is reached. The mission is the passing down of calligraphy to future generations, focusing on the variety of contemporary characteristics that calligraphy-based creative works can possess. “Nine Voids and One Existence” — reinterpreted at the starting point for visitors and shown in its original form in the exhibition’s finale — allows the audience to physically experience calligraphy.