Between Faces, Stories and Power
2023
Artist Book, Photography, Artistic Research
220×300 mm, 100 pages, 20 Editions
(TC) 在面孔、故事與權力之間
First Published in April 2023 in Germany and Hong Kong
Indigo digital press, Printed in Germany
Hand-bound by the artists
Exhibited at
Thousandfold Photobook Fair 2023, Cologne (DE)
BOOKED: Hong Kong Art Book Fair 2023 (HK)
This piece juxtaposes images captured during the artists’ visits to the three Palace Museums (Beijing, Taipei and Hong Kong) with archival images from the National Palace Museum (Taipei), exploring concepts of centralization and decentralization.
The three Palace Museums shared the same origin as part of the Chinese imperial collection in the Forbidden City. Throughout history, China has been a highly centralized place. This centralization is evident not only in political structures, but also in the accumulation of material archives. The imperial palace, was once the epicenter of this centralized power, where artifacts, documents, and treasures were carefully amassed and preserved.
By examining the power dynamics behind the artifacts’ symbols, it enables us to question whether these artifacts, imbued with symbols of power, continue to haunt us by offering a centralized Chinese history and thus a restricted imagination of cultural identity.
This work adopts a dispersed compilation with intersecting layers of various-sized pages, reimagining the material format of a traditional book. By doing so, the piece presents a non-linear and multifaceted narrative.
The three Palace Museums shared the same origin as part of the Chinese imperial collection in the Forbidden City. Throughout history, China has been a highly centralized place. This centralization is evident not only in political structures, but also in the accumulation of material archives. The imperial palace, was once the epicenter of this centralized power, where artifacts, documents, and treasures were carefully amassed and preserved.
By examining the power dynamics behind the artifacts’ symbols, it enables us to question whether these artifacts, imbued with symbols of power, continue to haunt us by offering a centralized Chinese history and thus a restricted imagination of cultural identity.
This work adopts a dispersed compilation with intersecting layers of various-sized pages, reimagining the material format of a traditional book. By doing so, the piece presents a non-linear and multifaceted narrative.
