This July, Project Fulfill Art Space is pleased to invite international curator Sean C.S. Hu to curate “Insportsration”, which was inspired by the Olympics, it attempts to review and reinterpret sports and the multiple meanings behind them.

Six artists, Shuan Gladwell from Australia (the represent artist of Australia Pavilion in 2009 Venice Biennial), Riyas Komu from India (participating artist in 52 International Art Exhibition in Venice Biennial) and Liao Chi-Yu, Chen Ching-Yao, Chen Wan-Jen, and Yu Cheng-Ta from Taiwan will redefine the cultural meanings of sports, and integrate various sports such as gymnastics, soccer, dancing, yoga, and ultimate sports into the diverse languages of behavioral art, post-colonialism, national identity, international politics, class conflict, subcultures, and gender identity, etc. There will be 12 brand new artworks, never been shown in Taiwan, and also previous works that have the sequence idea about this theme. As we know, every four years the Olympics return as the biggest sports event that captivates the world. It is not only a form of demonstration of the host country’s capability and interactions between cultures but also a necessity to create a domestic market through massive construction projects as well as a great opportunity profits and promoting the host city. Moreover, it has also become a stage for the political struggle between nations. Therefore, the term, the Olympics, has become a complex noun as well as verb and manifested as an encapsulating spectacle in the era of globalization: the Olympics is not simply a sports event, and sports are no longer athletic games. In recent years, Taiwan has gained some particular insights on athletic competitions, from the criticism following the unexpected setbacks in the 2012 Olympics, to the excellent performance Jeremy Lin, etc. All these evidence point out that our lives are closely connected to sports and make visible our collective desire and reality in the era of globalization. Shuan Galdwell, the represented artist for Australia in 2009 Venice Biennial, had been shown in “Wondering”curated by Sean C.S. Hu in 2008, and 2008 Taipei Biennial, and also 2011 Asia Biennial in Taiwan.

Shuan Galdwell skillfully combines past and present in a street manner. In art historical terms, his embodiment of physical and aesthetic risk aligns him to artists who combine sport and art. There will be 5 video works (include 2 new works) shoot in the NYC Metro station, on the street, alone the coastline, and even into the sea shown in the gallery space. Riyas Komu’s work is intensely political. Invited by Robert Storr, the art director of the 52nd Biennale di Venizia, he has exhibited in the thematic exhibition of La Biennale in 2007. As a football fan, he often uses football players as his material, and explores how politics interferes with and influences football matches as well as how the body of the athletes embodies the victory of the match or the anguish of losing the game. There will be 1wood/copper sculpture and 11 photographs shown in the space. Four artists from Taiwan will all show brand new works. Inspired by Yoga, Liao Chi-Yu uses mirrors as part of the video installation, the viewer gazes into themselves through the mirroring and see the characters surface from the screen. They not only feel the weakness of the sufferers but also the strong existence born out of self-contemplation after the invisible incident. In Chen Ching-Yao’s video, when the movements of the exercise are internalized as the memory of our bodies, national collectivism enters our collective subconscious along with the melody of the “Taisou.” Chen Wan-Jen’s video installation was inspired by golf. The dialogue between the physical object and the virtual image continues: a funny interaction with suspense is intricately formed between the visible physical object and the virtual character in the projection. Last but not least, Yu Chen-Ta’s tennis player attempts to speak to our imagination about the image of sports. At the meantime, it brings out problems that come with the identification of one’s self and between different cultures.

“Insportsration” hopes to suggest an alternative direction as well as way of thinking for contemporary society in terms of the sports industry, environment and thinking.

image @ Shuan Gladwell