“Making art is like giving a physical shape to philosophy,” says Hsiang-Yun Huang (1991). The video artist (she/we) studied philosophy in Taiwan and pursued a master’s degree in art and theory in the Netherlands before switching to visual art. According to Huang, Western philosophy lacks an appreciation for the body and emotions. The artist is also critical of its strict distinction between body and mind. Consequently, Huang’s own work is about the interconnectedness of everything: human as well as non-human entities. In this way, the artist is adding a visual and physical dimension to philosophical concepts.
At Prospects, Huang is showing the work The Circle of Mourning (2023). It consists of three excerpts from previous, longer films by the artist, all based on poems on the subjects of grief, the limitations of the body, and the interconnectedness of bodies. Huang: “The scrips of my films are often based on the poems I write. I subsequently collaborate with the choreographer Shiou-Fen Li and performers to deconstruct the poem and translate it into a video featuring dance.” Together, the three excerpts form an intimate portrait of grief, and how it may physically manifest itself. The first scene from When the Party Is About to End (2022), for instance, is based on Huang’s poem about the funeral of a friend who committed suicide. In the excerpt we see how performers are moving through a film theatre while transience is pouring through the nooks and crannies of the auditorium. This how Huang makes grief tangible.
Text: Milo Vermeire
Translation from Dutch to English: Marie Louise Schoondergang