一杯咖啡的消費得以窩在店裡一個午後，一份租約或一紙地契能換取一輩子安身立命。身體占用了地球的面積是有代價的嗎，彷彿得替我們自身的存在添置一方天地。也許這份忐忑僅僅是另一個資本主義的副產品，仍在集氣中的自信心危機，或反應了日益膨脹的人口在狹地上的掙扎?
我們總愛怪腔怪調的朗誦著，在台灣難以被忽略的搶眼的大面幅房地產廣告，稀有輕奢景觀三房，華廈透天美墅。從早期喜愛挪用歐美日城市國名，到富御豪賓悅桂逸璽佳芳善各式歷久不衰的華麗辭藻。紐約時報上林林總總億萬豪宅出售的新聞和政府頭痛的社會住宅短缺，普通市民對遮蔽物和領土的想望，歸屬的需求卻似乎少有梳理。
這一批新的系列借用了台灣早期的水泥屋瓦，沒落的口吹玻璃，荒謬的廣告，老派合室門，講述人們的棲地、夢想、寂寥和孤單。
Steph Huang，1990年出生於臺灣，現於倫敦打滾創作。藝術實踐研究了商業和量產、食品工業的跨文化和歷史面向，及此市場對自然環境的影響。藉由改變尋常空間和物體，創造出了許多極簡主義般的雕塑，在詩意和寂靜中引起觀者的迴響。她於2021年獲得皇家藝術學院雕塑碩士學位。近期個展包含倫敦泰德美術館(2024)；倫敦Standpoint藝廊(2024)；德國弗萊堡E-WERK (2024); 倫敦 Public 藝廊(2023)；倫敦金匠當代藝術中心(2022)；mother’s tankstation(2022) 。團體展覽於倫敦Sherbet Green藝廊(2023)；香港世界藝廊(2023)；臺北市立美術館(2022)；彭博社新當代(2022)；威尼斯A加A藝廊(2022)；倫敦貝爾馬茨(2021)；謝菲爾德布克計畫(2021)；南倫敦畫廊(2021)；立陶宛維爾紐斯學院(2020)。榮獲獎項包含Mark Tanner雕塑獎(2023-24)；Henry Moore 基金會藝術家獎(2023)；臺北美術獎首獎(2022)；臺北國際藝術村 Arts Catalyst 和 Platform Asia 駐村交流計畫(2021)。
The cost of a cappuccino allows you to cozy up in a coffee shop for an afternoon, whereas a lease or a deed provides a lifetime of stability. Is the allocation of space for our physical presence on this planet tied to a cost?It appears that we feel the need to claim a part of the world to validate our existence. Is this restlessness a result of capitalism? Is it a lingering crisis of confidence or a manifestation of the challenges faced by an increasing population on limited land? In a somewhat affected manner, we often recite the eye-catching and hard-to-ignore large-scale real estate advertisements in Taiwan: rare, semi-luxurious three-bedroom scenic apartments, condominiums, townhouses and mansions.These advertisements have evolved from the early practice of borrowing city and country names from Europe, America, and Japan to utilizing unfading and opulent terms such as "Prosperous," "Prestigious," "Delightful," "Luxurious," "Comfortable," "Regal," "Exquisite," "Fragrant," and "Virtuous."The New York Times contains coverage of billion-dollar mansions for sale, alongside the government's challenges over the shortage of social housing. The longing of ordinary citizens for shelter, belonging, and a sense of place seem rarely addressed. The works draw on early Taiwanese cement tiles, declining mouth-blown glass skills, peculiar advertisements and traditional Washitsu sliding doors to portray people's habitats, aspirations, solitude, and loneliness.
Steph Huang (b.1990, Taiwan) lives and works in London. She received her MA in Sculpture from Royal College of Art in 2021. Recent solo exhibitions include There Is Nothing Old Under The Sun, Standpoint London, UK, 2024; The Water that Bears the Boat, E-WERK Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany, 2024; I will see you when the week ends, Public Gallery, London, UK, 2023; Taipei Art Awards, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan, 2022; Deep Shallow, Volt, Eastbourne, UK, 2022; A Great Increase In Business Is On Its Way, Goldsmiths CCA, London, UK, 2022. In 2023, Huang was awarded the Mark Tanner Sculpture Award and was a recipient of The Henry Moore Foundation Artist Award. In 2022, Huang was awarded the Grand Prize at the Taipei Art Awards. Art Now: See, See, Sea, Tate Britain, London, UK, 2024.
Photo: ANPIS FOTO 王世邦