Self-Testing Starts

About the Exhibition

After nearly a decade of experience taking buses, I encountered these texts on a scrolling marquee on a bus for the first time. It read, “Self-testing starts.” Not a notice for the next stop, nor a reminder about not eating or to ring for a stop. It was a statement without a clear target; or rather, not addressed to any passenger, not even to the driver or the maintenance crew (otherwise, it could have at least said, “System testing starts,” right?), but a self-addressed remark, a sentence be thought aloud.

Who was the speaker?
Continuing this scenario, I attempt to write a script that isn’t a monologue:

A says to themselves, “Now, my self-testing starts.”
B hears this and asks, “Who are ‘you’?”
A: “‘I’ am the one who just said that.”
B: “What are ‘you’ testing?”
A: “Testing if ‘I’ am functioning rightly.”
B: “And if ‘you’ are?”
A: “Then ‘I’ am the ‘I’ who just said that.”
B: “And if not?”
A: “Then ‘I’ am no longer the ‘I’ who just spoke.”
B: “Can you still call yourself ‘I’ then?”

Time’s up. A simply states, “Self-testing concluded.”

Let’s return to B’s monologue.

This exhibition is a play that isn’t just a monologue, where B plays multiple roles.
These roles stem from B and their imagined, infinite versions of dialogue with A, thus leading to infinite versions of B.
And “I”, am both A and B.

On the Ground

single-channel video / 03’26” / 2020

Photo by Chu Chi-Hung.

Listen, talk. (My Tribute to Vincent van Gogh)

3D scan of the artist’s body parts, 3D printing / 18(H)x18.5x16, 16(H)x18.5x16cm / 2023

Photo by Chu Chi-Hung.

Two-Faced

single-channel video installation / 05’32” / 2022

Photo by Chu Chi-Hung.

Seasons Change

single-channel video / 01'11" / 2023

Photo by Chu Chi-Hung.

Mind-Blowing

single-channel video, fan / 06’16” / 2023

Photo by Chu Chi-Hung.

Double-Channel I: eye(s)

video, mobile phone, 3D printed interactive arms / 35(H)x70x25cm / 2023

Photo by Chu Chi-Hung.

Road Movie: A Trip to the Moon

single-channel video, car seats, PVC / 14'56" / 2021

Photo by Chu Chi-Hung.

setInterval()

double-channel video, PVC / 02'55", 07'41" / 2024

Photo by Chu Chi-Hung.

Exhibition view (filmed by KO LAIHE; edited by LIN Pei-Yao)

Credits

Organizer: King Car Cultural & Educational Foundation
Co-organizer: King Car Cultural & Art Center (KCCA)
Sponsors: Department of Cultural Affairs, Taipei City Government; King Car Cultural & Educational Foundation; Sunnydance Co.
Exhibition Coordination: Chao Yu-Wei
Exhibition Space Construction: Sam Yong
Woodworking: Sam Yong, Liu Yu-Ting, Tso Chin-Wen, Chiu Yu-Sheng
Installation Assistance: Wu Yi-Jhen, Xu Ming-Qian, Chien Li-Yun, Yun-Rung Chu, Chih Yi-Long, Grace Wu
3D Modeling & Printing (Double-Channel I: eyes): Lo Chih-Chieh
Sound Design (Road Movie: A Trip to the Moon): Justin Lin, LIN Pei-Yao
Audio Installation (Road Movie: A Trip to the Moon): Lin Cheng-Feng
Technical Support: Xu Ming-Qian, Shih Li-Jia, Yun-Rung Chu
Photo Models: Ceci Tseng, Amber Wu
Special Thanks: Chiow Liang-Cherng, Justin Lin