双方藝廊將於2019年12月7日至2020年1月18日推出廖建忠個展—「更衣間裡的蛇」，本次為藝術家在双方藝廊的首次個展，延續其「表面工程法」創作脈絡，廖建忠試圖用一種模型擬仿的方式，偽裝虛有其表的真實事物，探討真實與假扮之間的灰色地帶並回應自我個體處在當代社會的種種困境與問題。本展特別邀請國立彰化師範大學美術系副教授吳介祥擔任學術研究，預計展出9件裝置作品，其中包含三件藝術家甫於今年夏天在蘇格蘭參與「格蘭菲迪駐村計畫」且受典藏的駐村作品。

「這種恐懼是一種無法忽視的惡意，在生命經驗中持續存在著，無法擺脫的政治現實，階級逃避的日常，不完美的時代，我們的命運。」—廖建忠

「更衣間裡的蛇」展名取自藝術家的日常經驗，廖建忠長期工作及生活在台北八里山區，即使對於蛇的出沒習以為常，仍會將昏暗更衣間所掉出來的皮帶誤認為蛇而驚慌失措。對於人們因預設立場而失去判斷的準確性，不論是辨別社會階層的差距抑或道德規範的束縛，存在的焦慮及不安的心理狀態深深吸引著藝術家，廖建忠認為這種想像出來的恐懼，根植在現實中可能存在的威脅。廖建忠擅長利用展覽空間既有的條件，兼用視覺幻術和舞台道具的戲劇感，對於展出作品及展名吳介祥表示：「『更衣間裡的蛇』的布局一再製造出道具與藝術間的張力，以福禍預示的情境塑造，呈現日常感與危機感的並存瞬間，而牽動觀眾即時又複雜的心理機制。面對這些作品，觀眾對未知的不安和災難的想像，就跟藝術家乍見毒蛇爬進更衣室時的驚魄感一樣。」藝術家透過異質的介入，刺激人們審視習以為常的環境，試著喚醒被模仿物背後所指涉的個人生命敘事，並帶出各項社會關注。

本次展出作品中，〈小發財車〉為一件由木板、金屬及塑膠等打造車禍事故發生的停格畫面，廖建忠以實際比例仿造出一台具有外觀卻無實際功能的小貨車，周圍則充斥著躍出及倒下的瓦斯桶；〈鋼構制震結構〉是藝術家用木頭製成的室內制震鋼架，藉由鋼架的介入，使藝廊變成一幢危險建築樓，除了略帶緊張氣氛卻製造出奇妙的趣味性。廖建忠透過實體模型雕塑，以一種寫實的造型擬真出「假」的概念，作品的呈現在真實的事物、藝術的裝置、失敗的偽裝間進行辯證的思考。

廖建忠於2019年暑假前往蘇格蘭，在格蘭菲迪單一麥芽威士忌酒廠進行駐村創作，在駐村期間，藝術家從了解威士忌的傳統製程、當地環境、品牌歷史與價值，並結合多年磨練出的精湛工藝，生動巧妙地模仿製作了在達夫鎮每日所見的平凡物件：看似笨重卻輕而易舉的橡木桶、不起眼但在酒廠內扮演著重要角色的生鏽水溝蓋以及無法開啟進入的酒廠木門等。藝術家以木材與塑膠模擬酒廠的物件，這些除去真實用途只剩擬態表皮的作品，留給觀者更多玩味的空間。

廖建忠，1972年出生於台北。1996年畢業於國立藝術學院 (現國立台北藝術大學)美術學系，目前除了從事藝術創作外，亦為獨立手工家具品牌「外口制作」的負責人。曾受邀展出於國立台灣美術館、台北當代藝術館、毓秀美術館、伊通公園、非常廟藝文空間及寶藏巖等，並獲選為法國巴黎西帖國際藝術中心及蘇格蘭格蘭菲迪藝術家駐村藝術家，作品典藏於澳洲白兔美術館。

Double Square Gallery is pleased to present artist Liao Chien-Chung’s first solo exhibition at the gallery, titled The Snake in the Dressing Room, which runs from December 7, 2019 to January 18, 2020. In the exhibition, the artist continues the creative context of Surface Engineering Method to explore the gray area between reality and pretension while responding to various conundrums and problems that individuals encounter in contemporary society. Wu Chieh-Hsiang, Associate Professor at the Department of Fine Arts, National Changhua University of Education, is specially invited to serve as the academic chair of the exhibition that features nine installations, including three works created for and acquired by the Glenfiddich Artists in Residence program in Scotland during this summer.

This imagined fear has taken its root in the potential threats in reality—a kind of unignorable malice that persists in our living experiences, such as the political reality, the class-specific everyday escapism, an imperfect era and our collective fate, all of which we lack the ability to break away from.
—Liao Chien-Chung

The exhibition title, The Snake in the Dressing Room, is inspired by the artist’s personal daily experience. Living and working for years in the mountains in Taipei’s Bali, the artist thought he has grown used to seeing snakes; however, he was still spooked by a belt on the floor of a dark dressing room. The artist has been drawn to explore the existential anxiety and uneasy mindset revealed by people’s preconceived ideas that have cost them the ability to make accurate judgments. Be it about recognizing differences in social class or restraints of moral codes, for Liao, the imagined fear is closely intertwined with the potential threats in reality. Additionally, he has exceled at using features of a given exhibition space as well as drawing power from the theatricality based on visual illusions and stage props. Regarding the exhibited works and the exhibition title, Wu states that “the arrangement in The Snake in the Dressing Room continuously produces a tension between props and artworks, and presents scenarios that forebode misfortune while demonstrating the everyday life informed by a sense of crisis, tantalizing the audience’s immediate and complex psychological mechanism.” By introducing heterogeneous elements, the artist motivates people to examine the familiar everyday environment, draws out the narrative of personal life behind the mimicked objects, and expresses the social issues he cares about.

On view in this exhibition is a work entitled Pickup Truck, which comprises of wood plank, metal and plastic. The artist creates a freeze-frame scene of a car accident with a realistic yet unfunctional pickup truck in 1:1 ratio that is surrounded by flying and fallen gas tanks. Earthquake Resistant Steel Structure reveals an indoor steel structure for resisting earthquakes, which is in fact made of wood. Because of the “steel structure,” the gallery seems to be housed in a high-risk, dangerous building, rendering the atmosphere rather nerve-wrecking yet intriguing. Utilizing mimetic sculptures, Liao delineates the concept of “fake” with realistic forms, formulating a dialectics between real objects, art installations and failed disguises.

In the summer of 2019, Liao conducted an artist residency at a distillery in Scotland, during which he learned about the traditional production method of whisky, the local environment, the brand’s history and value. He then combined what he learned with his refined skills to ingeniously replicate everyday objects he saw in Dufftown, including a wine barrel that seems heavy but is in fact light, a rusty manhole cover that is inconspicuous but plays a crucial role in the distillery, and a wooden door of the distillery that permits no entry. The artist uses his wood and plastic works to imitate objects from the distillery, and these works with mimetic surfaces stripped of real functions create an imaginative space that invites further rumination.

Liao Chien-Chung was born in Taipei in 1972. He received his BFA from the National Institute of the Arts (now Taipei National University of the Arts) in 1996. In addition to being an artist, he is also the founder of Outomade, an independent handcrafted furniture brand. He has been featured in exhibitions at the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei, Yu-Hsiu Museum of Art, IT Park, VT Art Salon, Treasure Hill, etc., and has been selected as the artist-in-residence by the Cité internationale des arts in Paris, France and the Glenfiddich Artists in Residence program in Scotland, UK. His work is included in the collection of the White Rabbit Gallery in Australia.