2023-2024
Chang Hsin and the Abandoned Statue of Chiang Ching-kuo, 2023
Questioning, Understanding, and Becoming.
In 2021, while studying at the Taipei National University of the Arts, Chang Hsin discovered abandoned statues of Chiang Kai-shek and Chiang Ching-kuo near Guandu MRT Station. A subtle sense of discontent and aversion toward Taiwan’s authoritarian past and its party-state system prompted her to begin researching these statues.
Emotions are complex, just like history. Resentment is never made up of pure anger; it is intertwined with fear, avoidance, sorrow, and even love.
Through video, sound, and painting, Hsin has organized and reflected on her thoughts and emotions when confronting these statues, and on the gradual process of moving closer to “them.”
This project has so far been presented in two exhibitions and one performed lecture (conférence performée).
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Mind The Gap, Exhibition, 2023
“Mind The Gap” is a phrase frequently heard while riding the MRT, reminding passengers to watch the gap between the platform and the train. The exhibition takes its name from this announcement, which not only references the physical location of the statues in the show, but also metaphorically suggests the gaps between different eras.
The abandoned statues are located beside the MRT tracks, and the sound of passing trains occasionally echoes as viewers observe them. These tracks were originally part of the old railway line from 1901 to 1988 and were later replaced by the MRT. Because the Tamsui Line was once one of the most heavily used train routes, its dismantling was perceived by many as the end of an era.
In this exhibition, Chang Hsin uses images of the statues alongside the historical context of the railway to recreate her feelings upon first encountering the statues.
Everything Was Good, Exhibition, 2023
The exhibition Everything Was Good took place in a factory beside two monumental statues. This site once functioned as a statue factory that produced hundreds of Chiang Kai-shek sculptures during Taiwan’s authoritarian era.
Instead of building new display walls or panels, the exhibition made use of the factory’s existing structures and objects. No additional lighting was installed, and the works were illuminated only by the original industrial lights of the space.
Upon arrival, visitors first encountered the two large statues standing outside the factory. Many lingered there, observing the figures before stepping inside. As they entered, a sound piece began to play while their eyes slowly adjusted from the bright daylight to the dim interior. This sensory shift created a dreamlike and surreal experience, as if crossing from reality into another realm.
The exhibition presented a series of photographs in which I wear a Zhongshan suit and strike exaggerated, humorous poses, along with a video work showing me lying down in front of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. The Zhongshan suit, named after Sun Yat-sen, was Chiang Kai-shek’s most iconic attire in both his public and private life. In Chinese and English contexts, it is also known as the “Mao suit,” famously worn by Mao Zedong. Leaders such as Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-un, Ho Chi Minh, and Pol Pot have also appeared in similar clothing, linking it to broader symbols of socialist and authoritarian power.
By contrasting this symbol of authority with awkward and playful gestures, the works invite reflection on Taiwan’s lingering authoritarian spirit and how it continues to shape our collective memory.
The sound installation, created in collaboration with sound artist Chang Yun, reinterprets seven “anti-communist patriotic songs” from Taiwan’s authoritarian period. These songs were transformed into vaporwave tracks that loop continuously throughout the space. The use of vaporwave, a genre rooted in internet culture and parody, functions both as a form of irony and as a reflection on time. Through the blending and reassembly of different eras, the work evokes the blurred sense of temporality and the recurring cycles of power and history.
Everything Was Good: Lecture Performance (conférence performée)
For the lecture performance Everything Was Good, I invited two guest speakers. The first was Chien Wei-yu, a Taiwanese language specialist from the Taiwan Romanization Association, who discussed the dominance of Mandarin and its suppressive effects on Taiwan’s local languages, including Taiwanese Hokkien and Indigenous languages.
The second speaker, Jao Yi-chen, a junior colleague from the Department of Fine Arts at Taipei National University of the Arts, is a student researcher deeply engaged in the study of Mao Zedong. In her talk, she explored the complex relationship between Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong, and how their intertwined histories continue to shape Taiwan’s political and cultural landscape. She also shared a number of intriguing and lesser-known anecdotes about Mao.
Through this event, participants were invited to reconsider the notion of authority from multiple perspectives. The lecture performance took place inside the former statue factory—once a site of authoritarian image production—transforming it into a space of dialogue and reflection on history, power, and cultural identity.
Everything was Good: Exhibition Bulletin