Fakeology, solo exhibition by Liao Chien Chung

【Fakeology, solo exhibition by Liao Chien Chung】 Exhibition Duration 4/30 sat. - 5/29 sun. Talks 4/30 sat.14:00 Artist + Panelists －

Liao Chien Chung , Po-Hsin Chiang（Assistant Professor, Tainan National University of the Arts）, Yuan-Ta Hsu（Ph.D. in the Fine Arts in Art, Texas Tech University） Opening Reception 4/30 sat. 16:00

【Statement】

Fakeology —Except for ______ , we are the same. I put a set of common maintenance equipment from a garage beside the entrance of this exhibition, a two-pillar lifting jack. With this item, I meant to change atmosphere and metaphor of the space. This lifting jack is just by the window. People can see it through the window without entering the art gallery and may have the allusion that this place is a garage, not to mention that they won’t find out the lifting jack is nothing but a piece of decoration, a fake device in a fake place. To those, the lifting jack is a common item in an ordinary garage. Without the participation of those who do not enter the gallery, this very fake device, a lifting jack in a garage, is turning true and real. That is a tricky paradox. People always think that they are conscious of their own condition and behave according their own will. That is ,everything is under control. Somehow, psychologists suggests that “people are lost in a self-deception condition with the results from experiments. Researchers in the MIT Media Lab monitor people’s lives through specific electronic devices. The results show that over 90 percent of people’s behaviors could be categorized as routines. Some even could be predicted with formula. This study observe people with a mechanical perspective. John Bargh, a psychologist in Yale University, once said, “I know it is hard to believe, but in daily lives, people do not decide things with their ‘free will’. Instead, the decision is ‘caused’ by the circumstances and their mental status.” I do not really care about the detailed process as well as the validity and accuracy of this experiment. Somehow, Professor Bargh’s words stirred my anxiety, making me wonder about fatalism or fate -- life is all determined in advance, and how to get rid of my fortune. Our lives seem to be dominated by all kinds of reality and pretence. We are forced to work, to accept the worsening environment, the imperfect system, the cruel reality, the unwanted changes, and the habitual responses. Whether our inability causes the unwillingness or our being-forced condition causes inability, the mutually affected relationship represent a kind of “dominance”. Thus, I call it ________________. This exhibition is a lasting attempt derived from the “Surface Engineering” series. With model parody, I simulated reality with models. What’s different in this exhibition was that I tried to demonstrate more subjectivity. It was similar to mimicry in biology. With the basics and demonstrations of Fakeology, I meant to uncover the ______________ behind contemporary reasonable world. The art works were like the definition of “pretend” in dictionary, “to behave as if something is true when in fact you know it is not, in order to deceive people or cover truth”