You know, to talk about art residency, or some kind of art intervention in the community as idea of a “residence” must be an illusional condition. But the problem is, neither can we deny it.
“Annual”, a quantitive word that can be both short and long, rapid and slow. It is both a short time, and a lasting time. In this noun that seems to be extremely past-tense, but also future-tense, it is about how individual’s point of view or viewpoint responds to the issues (events, sites) of the world. This exhibition happens in September 2011, it is also just one year since the residency started in September 2010. Thus titled as “Annual”. The exhibition and artwork responds to a period of change in history: in one year, how can a site change us? What is the past one year in a site? Or what will happen in the future one year? How can one year be the unit of our questions? “Treasure Hill Soup” - from residence artist Lo Shih-Tung, who finished his residency in February 2011 there. Lo regards the special textures present in our daily life, seeing them as in Walter Benjamin’s discourse, fragments and reflection of a complete structure, a whole world. His works are organic documents attempting to inquire and contemplate ever-changing warped messages. Through the process of creating and interacting with spectators and communities, the fragmented, fissured, and forgotten history can be restored or even fictionalized. It is about seeking one’s identity, residence, hometown, and city; those long forgotten, unseen ghosts.