The tensions and conflicts that arise between the performer’s body, space, and the installation’s mechanics reflect the contradictions and controversies of contemporary social phenomena and how they shape the individual.
Performance on May 15 and 16 at 8:00 PM, exhibition until June 15
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Ya-Wen Fu has developed her new art project, NON-BODY, combining digital-mechanical installation, dance, and sound, in collaboration with the Choreographer and Dancer Shu-Yi Chou and the sound artist Daniel Romero Calderón for the WRO Media Art Biennale Wroclaw. Subsequently, it will also be shown at St Elisabeth’s Church in Berlin.
The dancer Shu-Yi Chou is connected to a digitally controlled acoustic-mechanical apparatus via body extensions and wire ropes. This apparatus exerts traction on his body and converts his movements into sound. The apparatus actively anticipates the movements. Shu-Yi Chou has to respond with counter-forces and change his usual movements. He can adapt or resist, but he has to deal with the future, which is digitally and mechanically predetermined by the apparatus.
The body extensions form the interface between his movement, the apparatus, and the sound design. Ya Wen Fu developed them in collaboration with a Taiwanese prosthesis manufacturer and customised them to the performer’s body. After the 30-minute performance, the dancer’s body disappears. The digital-mechanical installation and the body extensions can then be seen in the exhibition space, and the sound recorded during the performance can be heard.
The perception of physical movement combined with sound and installation immerses the audience in a complex interplay between beauty, compulsion, and resistance. In her work, Ya-Wen Fu explores the influence of social and political forces on the individual, their fragility, and powerlessness. In NON-BODY, she not only exposes the surface of social tensions, but also scrutinizes the hidden strategies and subtle power mechanisms that underlie the complexity of current conflicts.
Ya-Wen Fu’s work centers on exploring the relationship between the individual body and the social framework in which it operates. She engage with this dynamic not only by representing the individual within her environment but also through a nuanced conceptual framework and critical analysis of the individual’s presence within social and physical spaces. While some performers fully expose their bodies and vulnerabilities, Ya-Wen Fu employs protective constructions that envelop and support her. These constructions act as extensions of the human body, functioning as intricate apparatuses that blur the boundaries between human and machine. The figures in her work emerge as hybrid entities – half human, half machine – inviting reflection on the complex interplay between the individual and their societal context.
Her artworks have been exhibited at numerous prestigious venues, including the Künstlerhaus Bethanien solo exhibition “so absurd” in 2023, Berlin; Schlossmediale Werdenberg “Echo” in Switzerland (2022); Städtisches Kunstmuseum Taipei (2021); smac – Staatliches Museum für Archäologie Chemnitz for the POCHEN Biennale (2020); CYNETART Festival at HELLERAU – European Center for the Arts (2020); Tainan Art Museum II, Taiwan (2019); Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan (2019); “inSonic 2018: Algorithmic Spaces” at ZKM | Center for Art and Media (2018); Kunsthalle Exnergasse (KEX), WUK/Vienna (2017); and Museum LABoral Centro de Arte y Creación Industrial, Gijón (2014). In recognition of her artistic achievements, she received the Project Scholarship from the Hans und Charlotte Krull Foundation in 2021 and was awarded the Art Prize “A-i-R CYNETART 2018” in 2018.
In cooperation with the Choreographer and Dancer Shu-Yi Chou and the sound artist Daniel Romero Calderón
Co-production mechanics: Chiu-Hung Chung
Co-production Auxiliaries: YCPO Prosthetics, Lin Guo-Wei
Costume design: PROJECTbyH.
Installation assistance: Michael Kewitsch, Yan-Jun Huang
Graphic design: Michael Kewitsch
Photography: Cheng-Chang Kuo
Photo assistance: Chun Yen Kuo
Video documentation: Yessing Production Co, Ltd, NRUP.DE / STUDIO
Communication: Thomas Dumke, Lea Petermann, Shih-Ju Lo
Organizational cooperation between the WRO Biennale Wrocław and CYNETART platform
Funded by: Taiwan Ministry of Culture, The Foundation for Polish-German Cooperation, Department of Cultural Affairs Taipei City Government
With special thanks for their kind support to: YCPO Prosthetics, Yasco Enterprise Corp., Michael Ohme and Mechanman Lab. Ronson Huang
