Text by Cheng-zhu Weng
Free/Responsible－Free/Responsible—Chi-Chang, Hsieh's Artworks Exhibition is about a representation of the artist’s spirit and soul.
Introduced by Gilles Deleuze (1925-1995), postmodern French artist and thinker, the concept of the fold is about the unceasing changes of life that is akin to countless folds on a piece of fabric; and the existence of life seeks similarities among all variations, like the connection between the artist and his work. The exhibition Free/Responsible will guide its audience into the core theme of the artist’s creation–which is his representation of mind and soul. Life with unceasing changes is like repeated layering paint, for in a creator’s perspective, the artist’s life journey corresponds to the creative process of his work. Thus the works are presented to the viewers according to the artist’s transformation of life. To an artist, one of the fundamental issues about creation is about perspective on the past while seeking and making a difference. To viewers, the choice application of multiple media in the works ushers in a deeper sense of meditation on life, rather than just a discussion of the variations in media. Take the distinction between on paper and on canvas for example: paper easily absorbs the paint although it doesn’t support repeated layers on paint, and canvas is the opposite. The difference between these two kinds of medium can also alter the pace in a creative process, constructing some comparable development to life in different seasons and environments.
Viewers may recognize the signs of transformation of human life, marked by the time and the space, from the paintings in this exhibition. The unique symbolic trademark of the artist’s creative style may evoke the unintentional drawings in our daily experiences and recollections of life. On the other hand, human life experience has in fact tinted the life of painting, the flow of paint on each painting implies the artist’s body movement as well as unpreventable gravity, just like the spirit of freedom in the artist. Hence an artist can demonstrate the rhythm of life via his creative deeds, and so lead us to meditate: on the connection between life and art, also on how time and space may induce art and life of a man. Like the exhibition of Free/Responsible at two art sites, inviting an audience to come and thus experience appreciation and contemplation in a heterotopia.
