Squeezing Citizenship

Jia-Hua Zhan, Marcus Chiu

2015

Digital media, 3D printed objects, Pressure-sensing pad, Black fluorescent tube

Luminiferous sound objects in the darkness

Squeezing Citizenship serves as a vehicle that retrospectively carries the citizens who had ever been part of social movements to the body memory (postures) at the very moment of demonstration. Digital technology is adopted to record and represent such body memory. Treating the body memory as the entry point, this work not only interprets the role that citizens’ bodies play in social movements, but also explicates the way they become luminiferous sound objects in the darkness of oppression. The artist expects this work to be a reminder, prompting more people to review the disputes and conflicts occurred on this land and pay attention to the rights and obligations of civil disobedience, thereby awakening them to the fact that their articulation through social movements will become the rays of light that illuminate this land. People realize that they must fight for their own rights, and therefore left common memories and historical trajectory for future generations to follow.

Squeezing Citizenship is produced with the participation of the citizens who had been involved in social movements through 3D body scanning, 3D printing, and sound recording. With the assistance of audio mixer and pressure-sensing device, this work allows the viewers to feel the vivid oppressive atmosphere by their tactile sense.

Jia-Hua Zhan

Artist introduction

Jia-Hua Zhan earned her master’s degree from the Graduate School of Multimedia and Animation Arts, National Taiwan University of Arts. As an independent artist, her works primarily revolve around the connection between “digital” and “body.” She won the first prize in the visual art category of the 7th Bains Numériques, and presented her works in Seoul Performing Arts Festival, International Exhibition of Scenography and Theatre Architecture Prague Quadrennial, and the Electronic Music Week of Shanghai Arts Festival. She had been an artist-in-residence at Edith-Ruß-Haus für Medienkunst, Oldenburg, Germany. She will be an artist-in-residence at Christopher Foundation for the Arts, United States, in March 2016.

Marcus Chiu

Art critic

As an independent curator, Marcus Chiu has long been focusing on the social movements in Taiwan and international affairs. He is interested in exploring the oblivion and preservation of the collective memories presented in artworks as well as the cultural performances that define one’s position in political demonstrations. In 2014, he curated the exhibitions The Eavesdropper and Tamsui Oddesey. The theme that treating “body” as the acting subject and the politically characterized carrier ran through both exhibitions.