Arrow Factory is proud to announce a new installation by Taipei-based artist Wei-Li Yeh and Beijing-based architects Li Mo and Kong. The collaborative work Go Jian Quest emerges from an evolving narrative that traverses ancient and modern histories, conflicted territories and idiosyncratic personal trajectories. The story begins with a painting of a 5th century BCE King Go Jian that the artist found in an abandoned military compound in Kaohsiung in 2005. A king of the Yue State in ancient China, Go Jian’s name is synonymous with the conquering of one’s enemy and as such has served as a rallying call for leaders from the Ming and Qing dynasties up through the 20th century. Struck by the ways in which Go Jian’s narrative—a story that begins with him suffering defeat and humiliation at the hands of his enemy and ends with bitter strategizing for 20 years to conquer them successfully—was co-opted by the Kuomintang government to articulate the struggle between the island and the mainland, Yeh grew fascinated with the painting and began to incorporate it into his photographic works. Over time Yeh has allowed the wood-based painting to deteriorate naturally. Now in tattered fragments, pieces of the painting have been resurrected inside Arrow Factory and situated alongside additional objects that link its narrative of revival and renewal to a new set of contemporary registers. Among these is an electric massage chair, a gift bestowed to Li Mo’s grandfather, a retired government official. The chair stands now as a tongue-in-cheek counterpoint to Go Jian’s allegory of hardship, humiliation and perseverance.
Specially designed for Arrow Factory’s setting, Go Jian Quest emerges from a cross-strait collaboration between Taiwanese Wei-Li Yeh and Beijing-based Li Mo and Kong. Working together to create a work that mirrors their parallel yet isolated pasts, Yeh, Li and Kong consciously bring the vicissitudes of history to bear on Arrow Factory, a location with its own historical connections to spheres of governance and officialdom.
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© Arrow Factory
