The Ocean

LI Ping-Yeh Technology and Art Laboratory

Exhibition｜2024.05.25-08.04

Opening｜2024.05.25 (Sat.) 14:30

Venue｜U-108 SPACE, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts

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Supervisor－Ministry of Culture

Organizer－ National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts

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About the Exhibition

Since the 20th century, the impact of human activities on Earth has increased exponentially. Pollutants such as artificial radioactive materials, plastics, aluminum products, pesticides, and cement have been found during earthwork. These materials and substances have resulted in unprecedented geological patterns and also proven the impact of human activities on Earth. Geologists have therefore declared the arrival of the Anthropocene. In recent years, the concept of “Anthropocene” has expanded beyond geology studies and is widely applied in various disciplines, including environmental geography, political ecology, and anthropology, making it an important core concept in exploring the interaction between human beings and the Earth’s environment.

Eoching contemporary art’s reflection on the conditions of the Anthropocene and practices based on post-digital art philosophy, LI Ping-Yeh Technology and Art Laboratory has created this interdisciplinary reflective immersive theater, titled The Ocean. The project works with the immersive “carrier-like” spatial features available at the U-108 SPACE to create different dimensions of the “ocean,” proposing sensory conditions for the audience to contemplate the Anthropocene and the relationship between human beings and nature.

In the Posthuman era, Homo sapiens are using technology to enhance or evolve beyond the limits of traditional human biology, leading to the achievement of evolutionary or ideological transformations. The unique conditions available at the U-108 SPACE place the audience in the middle of images and technology, allowing a cycle of consciousness to be formed via technology. Furthermore, different techniques are integrated into The Ocean, including algorithmic audiovisuals, neural network generative motion graphics, and readymade installation, and the Ocean is presented in the following four dimensions: “Ocean of Life” which deals with natural life; “Ocean of Information” which focuses on information data; “Ocean of Reflection” that is spiritually reflective; and the imaginative “Ocean of Hope.” Combining physical island displays with immersive projection, a narrative is formed that integrates the real and the virtual, where the relationship and resonance between human beings and the natural environment are perceived through one’s physical perceptions, with the somatosensory experiences projected onto a speculative future.

2024

Immersive projection, light installation, microchip, ocean plastic debris, paper, metal, sea sand

LI Ping-Yeh Technology and Art Laboratory

LI Ping-Yeh Technology and Art Laboratory is a research and creative team established by Prof. LI Ping-Yeh of the Department of Arts and Design at the National Taipei University of Education (NTUE). Since its founding in 2018, the team has undertaken several exhibitions, as well as projects under the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Education, which have proven the capability of this team of young artists for executing both the creative and the academic sides of new media art. LI Ping-Yeh, WANG Ko-Chien, and LIU Zhen-Yu are the key production members of this project.

Some of the team’s major recent exhibitions and performances include Flower of Time: Universal Correspondence (2018) at the Gallery 108 of theNational Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts; Spirit Exposure V.2 at the 2018 Taoyuan Art x Technology Festival; Painting’s Layer of Derivative/Algorithm (2020) at the National Defense Art Museum of the National Defense University; Common Frequency in Variant State (2021) at the Dechum Gallery of the National Taiwan Normal University; The Throbbing of Dreams (2022), a part of an immersive technology media exhibition at the Taichung City Tun District Art Center; the 2023 faculty / student exhibition and concert of the Department of Music and the Department of Arts and Design, NTUE presented at the Museum of National Taipei University of Education (MoNTUE); and Ocean Waste Plastic Skull - A Generation, Fluidity and Duration, a part of the exhibition, Repetition and Difference: Posthuman．Diverse Species, presented at the Arts Center of the National Yang-Ming Chiao Tung University.

LI Ping-Yeh

New media artist and researcher LI Ping-Yeh was born in 1981 in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, and he is currently based in Taipei. LI holds an MFA from the University of Edinburgh and a Ph.D. in Digital Media from Newcastle University. He specializes in combining different art forms, digital technologies, and the maker ethos in his works and enjoys exploring the possibilities of information in the perceptual space and the value of media archaeology in art practice. LI’s recent creative work pays particular attention to the practices of social innovation that are sparked by the extension of human senses under the transformation of technology. Under this umbrella idea, he transforms social and environmental issues into live art experiences through the collection of readymades and the making of ceramic works and kinetic installations, as well as data visualization, wearable technology, and immersive virtual reality experiences, as he explores the imaginative relationships and situations on which human beings depend on for survival in the face of changing technologies and environments.

WANG Ko-Chien

WANG Ko-Chien graduated from the Department of Interactive Entertainment Design at the China University of Technology. He currently works as an animator and VJ at the Goodtime Design Studio and is mainly in charge of stage background animation for concerts and live performance production. WANG has worked on many projects, including Eve AI’s concert at the Taipei Music Center and concert tours of Victor WONG, Power Station, Atom Boyz, E.SO, Alin, Show LO, and other celebrities, where he was in charge of the concerts’ visual design.

LIU Zhen-Yu

LIU Zhen-Yu holds a master’s degree in music theory and composition from the Department of Music at the National Taipei University of Education. He creates modern music and electronic pop music in a diverse range of styles and has taken part in different types of concerts. Specializing in using electronic sounds in his creative work, LIU also incorporates different ambient sounds to create transformative changes. In addition, he also actively experiments with incorporating modern techniques into contemporary pop music to create new musical features.

Opening Performance
Date: 2024.05.25 (Sat.) 
Performer: TU Yen-Hao
Venue: U-108 SPACE, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts　

Production Team
Production: LI Ping-Yeh Technology and Art Laboratory
Music and Spatial Acoustic Design Coordinator:  LI Ping-Yeh
Immersive Visual Design: LI Ping-Yeh, WANG Ko-Chien
Collaborating Composer: LIU Zhen-Yu
Opening Performance: TU Yen-Hao
Installation Co-production: New Media & Interdisciplinary Course Student Team, Department of Arts and Design, NTUE--WU Yi-Yun, YANG Hsuan-Chi, CHAN Choi-Ning, CHAO Yun-Hsiu, YEN Ti-En

Notices for the Exhibition
∷ Screening time: Tue.- Fri. 9:10-16:45, Sat.& Sun. 9:10-17:45 
∷ The artwork is approximately 13 minutes in length.
∷ Please take off your shoes before entering and place them on the shoe rack. 
∷ It is dim inside, Please watch your step and refrain from touching the central exhibits. 
∷ Feel free to take photos/videos and share but please NO FLASH. 
∷ This is an immersive experience space. If the sounds or visual effects are causing you to feel dizzy or unwell, please proceed at your own discretion.