Award-winning Taiwanese artist Allen Tao Ya-lun has a way of turning the most uninspiring objects - a plank of wood, for example - into something sexual. His first solo mechanical installation exhibition in Hong Kong, The Linear Space, is based on the premise that the human body is like a house full of emotions, waiting to be explored.
His work Self Conscious, for instance, consists of two large wooden platforms in the shape of meat placed on either side of a small path. When people walk past them, it symbolises the act of procreation. Or there's River Love, in which a boat and a pool of black water are separated by a jetty. The artist uses this piece of mechanical work to express grief, longing and sorrow. Tao gets philosophical - and mind-bogglingly profound - when explaining the concepts behind his works, like Breathing A Sign (right). 'If we long to become more intimate with the world, we must first re-establish our relationship with the world,' Tao says. 'We must face our existent behaviour in a completely unfamiliar way. First, I clear all my thoughts to enter a state of tranquillity, and to transform my self-consciousness into a state of non-consciousness, which is based on unselfishness and self-confidence.'
In this state of tranquillity, he adds: 'I can use my heart to witness the activities of the body, balance spirit and natural impulses so that my bodily instincts become a helping force and are no longer a cause for sin or a source of destruction.' Yes, this really is how the 33-year-old fine arts graduate expresses himself. Since the National Taiwan Normal University in 1993, Tao has exhibited his works extensively in Taipei, Singapore, the Philippines, Australia, Europe and the United States. He is now an artist-in-residence at 1aspace and will be giving a talk on his exhibition tomorrow at the Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre. His exhibition will run from August 5 to 23, also at the Visual Arts Centre, 7A Kennedy Road. 10am-9pm daily (closed Tue). Tel: 2521 3008.
