桃園市美術館 Logo

Curator: Kuo Cho-Yuan, Fang Chih-Hsuan

Raise your head and look at the sky; have you ever, like us, lifted your hands in the air to feel the dazzling sunshine and the breeze passing through your fingertips, then spread your arms and imagined yourself soaring in the sky?

A long, long time ago, before human technology caught up with our imaginations, some artists had already dreamt of flying in the sky, or expressed their visions of the expanse and beauty of the heavens through their paintings of angels and holy figures. Once Leonardo da Vinci put his designs of helical rotor flying machines to paper, the stage was set for humans to slowly begin exploration of not just the sky, but also the universe beyond.

Nowadays, flying is no longer an unattainable dream, but has become a tangible wish that every person can hope to fulfill someday. In this exhibition, parents and children are invited to immerse themselves in the boundless imagination of flying, through paintings, mechanical devices, videos, creative workshops, augmented reality, and innovative interactive zones that were developed through collaboration between 8 artists from Taiwan and Japan, including Wu Yi-Hsuan, Li Cheng-Liang, Yu Shih-Fu, Abe Nyubo (Japan), Hung Tien-Yu, Hsu Hui-Ching, Hsieh Chih-Hsuan, and Tang Jo-Hung.

Modern flying is a collective experience, and thus flying machines also lend themselves to endless creations of the imagination. In her paintings, the artist Wu Yi-Hsuan presents her own travel memories, employing the setting of being onboard a plane in flight as a creative motif to portray scenes of day and night outside the cabin window. For some, flying is a profession, and the artist Hsu Hui-Ching draws on her own experiences as a flight attendant to guide the audience in contemplating and examining the social, political, and gender issues reflected in the profession of “flight attendant,” via the Border Roaming spatial video device. Flying is a physical experience as well, and the artist Abe Nyubo has set up an AR (augmented reality) installation in this exhibition, inviting audiences to use their mobile phones as a medium to participate in different modes of “flying” in various environments. The artwork of Tang Jo-Hung further presents imaginative “flying machines” placed in comically interesting scenes of daily life.

Flying has expanded the human horizon beyond geography, borders, and even Earth itself. The artist Li Cheng-Liang utilizes a “space station” concept in his Wannian Station installation that inspires the audience to enter the cosmos directly from the exhibition gallery. The artist Yu Shih-Fu presents a mechanical device that captures the imagery of a bird flying in the sky, and employs metallic materials to embody the future of technology. The artist Hung Tien-Yu uses a “camera drone” to observe the surface of the Earth from a high altitude, compelling the audience to reflect upon the human destruction of the Earth. The artist Hsieh Chih-Hsuan further links the concept of “flying” with “floating” to craft the visual imagery of Floating Island as a hidden metaphor of solo flight. Children in the audience are invited to the accompanying creative workshop of the same name to collaboratively create artwork representing the independent yet close-knit links between each and every person.

Dear children, what are your dreams and aspirations about flying? Welcome to this Neverland island where dreams never disappear, and let us explore the many possibilities of flight together!