《土地空》 Grounding Space I
Treasure Hill Historic Village, Taipei, Taiwan (2022)
Curated By: Taipei Artist Village Residency
Photo Credits: Chang Hong, Xinwei Che
Performance documentation of 《土地空》 Grounding Space, Treasure Hill Historic Village, Taipei, Taiwan, 2022. Photo credit: Chang Hong.
Outdoor Performance-Installation
Duration: 7 days
Materials:
Local raw clay, wind, rain, sun
The outdoor site of this performance-installation contains many traces of its complex history. First used as a strategic defence location by the Chinese Nationalist Party after retreating from Mainland China, Treasure Hill later grew organically into a squatter village constructed from found materials. In the 1980s, it was threatened with demolition but grassroots movements fought for its historic site designation, and the Taipei City Department of Cultural Affairs revitalized it into a mixed use site with original residents and art spaces.
Che pays tribute to this site by pinching hundreds of bowls from local clay and offering them to the ground that has witnessed the unexpected turns of human history over centuries. Seasonal rains, winds, and sun gather in these permeable bowls, causing them to sag, erode, and eventually transform into a topographical terrain that resembles mudflats and riverbeds. The labour of this performance is gradually lost to forces of nature. This performance-installation is both a study of material transformation and the impermanent nature of being human.
Xinwei Che. 《土地空》 Grounding Space. Local raw clay, wind, rain, sun. Treasure Hill Historic Village, Taipei, Taiwan, 2022. Photo credit: Chang Hong.Xinwei Che. 《土地空》 Grounding Space. Local raw clay, wind, rain, sun. Treasure Hill Historic Village, Taipei, Taiwan, 2022. Photo credit: Chang Hong.Xinwei Che. 《土地空》 Grounding Space. Local raw clay, wind, rain, sun. Treasure Hill Historic Village, Taipei, Taiwan, 2022. Photo credit: Chang Hong.Xinwei Che. 《土地空》 Grounding Space. Local raw clay, wind, rain, sun. Treasure Hill Historic Village, Taipei, Taiwan, 2022. Photo credit: Xinwei CheXinwei Che. 《土地空》 Grounding Space. Local raw clay, wind, rain, sun. Treasure Hill Historic Village, Taipei, Taiwan, 2022. Photo credit: Xinwei Che.Xinwei Che. 《土地空》 Grounding Space. Local raw clay, wind, rain, sun. Treasure Hill Historic Village, Taipei, Taiwan, 2022. Photo credit: Xinwei Che.Xinwei Che. 《土地空》 Grounding Space. Local raw clay, wind, rain, sun. Treasure Hill Historic Village, Taipei, Taiwan, 2022. Photo credit: Xinwei Che