NO SHOW MUSEUM

2nd

The Art of Doing Nothing

The Art of Destruction

i Lai Chih-Sheng

Life-Size Drawing. 2012

Life-Size Drawing, 2012

Life-Size Drawing. 2012

* 1971 in Taipei, Taiwan. Lives and works in Taiwan

Taiwan artist

Art historical context: Contemporary Art

Lai creates a minimalist, atypical reality within everyday circumstances. His artwork has a site-specific quality, involving concepts of labor and consumption, and raises questions about art and its production, while also drawing on his 13 years of experience as a professional bricklayer. His recent work responds to the contemporary art world’s reliance on display systems and explores subtle sensitivity in a self-referential way.

Exhibited works

Life-Size Drawing, 2012 1st \| B		"You are now standing inside the largest drawing you have ever encountered" is written in the wall text of Life-Size Drawing. Despite being nearly invisible, this large-scale drawing/sculpture/site-specific installation spans a huge gallery. The barely perceptible lines trace over the walls and floors and ceiling of the gallery space, including such details as thresholds and electrical outlets.

White Painting, 2017 1st \| B		Acrylic on Canvas, 322x190cm An achromatic color, white is without hue and because of that it is often overlooked. However, to Lai, white can be elegant and when looking closer, there could be myriad variations to be discovered in the white paint of White Painting. A large canvas meticulously painted in acrylic, shares the same height of the wall it leans against. By placing it on the floor instead of hanging it, the wall is given a respite from its obligation or duty.

8 cm inclination, 2017 1st \| B		Installation, based on Site Size This piece features two facing gallery walls that are tapered on the same end to appear as if they’re on an strong inclination. The gap between the walls and the floor, typically for cleaning or for leveling artwork, is generally meant to be overlooked, but the artist mines this detail to foster new circumstances in the site of the gallery. Occupying the largest space in the Eslite gallery in Taipei (3.5x7.2x21.3m), 8cm Inclination makes the floor appear erroneously skewed after Lai Chih-Sheng “fixed” the 8cm-gap under the walls by giving them a trim.

Resting on the dust_SL, 2017 1st \| B		Dust, Iron, Aluminium and Concrete, 40x134x42cm x 2, 6x59x8.5 cm Where does it come from, and when did it come about? Dust is an accumulation of fine particles through time. It is worthless yet found everywhere. This work was made for “Kau-Puê, Mutual Companionship in Near Future: 2017 Soulangh International Contemporary Art Festival,” an exhibition in Tainan, Taiwan. Between 2015 and 2016, Lai asked workers of Soulangh Cultural Park to collect dust as they cleaned the park, and he used that dust to make this work. The aluminum ruler on the wall was a tool he used to smoothen the surface of the benches, and the samples sitting on the ruler show a series of experiments he conducted to test the durability of cement-dust mixture. In the end the benches are made of 35% dust. Dust, hidden in the park corners, is a silent traveler that circles the site in procession. Lai hopes to transform or memorialize this unwanted thing from daily life to tender a subtle way to experience time and space. By cementing it in two benches and inviting visitors to come for respite, it becomes a warm and friendly sculpture.

Instant, 2013 2nd \| A		Video Installation, Loop: Download-Link. "Here is video's wasteland as well as its borders of time". (Lai Chih-Sheng). Nothing happens – a never ending in the download status.