“TCAC Screening Program” is a series of routine screening events organized by TCAC since 2014. The Screening Program monthly presents a selection of video works from different single artist/group, and it investigates specific concepts or issues in contemporary art and society.
The first screening presents two video works of “Mage” series by Chang Li-ren.
In the field of anthropology, the migration of ethnicity is caused by the pushing and pulling factors. These two factors also lead to the escape of those “outlaws” shown in the film. The room in which they could express their self-worth was deprived in reality, which forces them to move away. This situation was similar to the eviction of American aboriginals in the 19th centuries. Outlaws were constrained to leave the realities and seek a new place where they could be accepted.
These two pieces investigate the group of people who are “mental outlaws” in contemporary society. They are called “Wotaku,” but there is also a legend about how they named themselves “mage.” The work “Mage” is an interview of one young animator who is becoming a “mage.” In “Alien Mage,” most of the episodes, music and voices were collected from the Internet. The artist CHANG Li-ren searched some videos that were suitable for the monologues and inserted some episodes filmed by himself. Those grammarless speech-synthesizing French monologues, translated via “Google Translate” directly, were written by CHANG.
*image (left)
© Chang Li-ren