Yiri’s Horse Farm—CHANG Chun-Yi Solo Exhibition

One day, I dreamt that I became a human vector.

Circling, rocking, galloping…, in the world of vectors, black steeds flit past a crack, running back and forth in a moment’s time. As if framed within the webpage, the horses in captivity, dependent on and programmed by the instructions and codes, seem to keep a specific digital identity, while following their own internal laws of motion and waiting to return to reality in the everlasting “horse care center”. Composed of a series of works focusing on horses, Yiri’s Horse Farm is mainly inspired by carousel music box, British photographer Eadweard Muybridge’s horse in motion by sequence photography, Taiwan Toy Museum’s collection of wooden horses, and cyberspace images. By the genesis and translation of images and semantics, it is actually a horse farm that coexists online and offline in parallel. The online horse farm demonstrates various dynamic equestrian vectors of SVG* format; the offline one transforms the horses on the internet into different forms—painting, sculpture, sound and video installation. In Carousel, ±1, two halves of the carousel diverge from the shared timeline and the left and right circles go without a common rhythm. The galloping posture of Eadweard Muybridge's Horse depicts the abrupt break in a circling instant. Wooden Horse ceases to rock, endowed with texture and volume of material in the tangible reality. The lonely black horse on the Marquee is still galloping desperately, and the striplight turns to be its eternal race track. In the black box stand a field of Coded Horse[s], eating, neighing, walking or shaking their heads and tails. Galloping is the only exercise they will not do.

* SVG stands for Scalable Vector Graphics, a common graphic format on the internet today. SVG images can be scaled in size without loss of resolution.

Online Horse Farm

01 Carousel #2, 2021, loop webpage

No one on the seats; no hilarious ringing to set off; no end of the constant movement, just like a planet revolving according to its own internal law of time. The work silently transforms the three-and-a-half-minute circling into eternity.

02 Circling, 2021, loop webpage

The running horse photographed by Edward Muybridge is nailed to a stake, which renders its dynamic gallop stagnant again. It transforms into a wooden horse going in circles on the webpage. In the role switching, the secret words about “dynamics and speed” are exchanged.

03 Rocking, 2021, loop interactive webpage

The colorful rocking horses horizontally move in sequence. Once lightly touched, it will rock, turning into a black horse vector.

04 Galloping, 2021, random webpage

In the random online races, the horses gallop forward like flowing water; every time the webpage is browsed, a brand-new race is launched.

05 Standing, 2021, random interactive webpage

The codes are revealed in forming and shaping the horse vector. Like a scrolling text on a marquee, they slowly outline its various postures—shaking its head and tail, bowing to eat, raising its head, neighing, and pacing.

Offline Horse Farm

01 Carousel, ±1, 2014-2021，loop dual channel video, LED display

Two halves of the carousel diverge from the shared timeline. At different speeds, the left and right circles go without the same rhythm.

02 Eadweard Muybridge's Horse, 2021, painting, acrylic paint, 420 × 620 cm

The horse vectors endlessly circling on the webpage come to an abrupt end here, turning into a monochrome painting on the wall, which beckons the horse’s galloping posture by sequence photography.

03 Wooden Horse, 2021, sculpture, wood, 52 × 540 cm

The black horse vector on the webpage has gained texture and volume of material in the tangible reality.

04 Marquee, 2021, mixed media, LED board, iron, 800 × 32 cm

A horse is racing on the marquee; a black horse flashes between the lights on and off, and the striplight is its eternal racing track.

05 Coded Horse, 2021, audio-visual installation, LED display, speaker, dimension variable

The horse vectors kept in a black box are like horses resting in a stable: eating, neighing, walking, or shaking their heads and tails. Running is the only exercise they will not do.

Online Horse Farm
Website | chunyichang.com/yirihorsefarm

Offline Horse Farm
Date | 2021.12.23—2022.01.23
Venue | YIRI ARTS
Add. | No. 1, Lane 86, Xinming Road, Neihu District, Taipei City 114030, TAIWAN
Organizer: YIRI ARTS
Sponsor: Department of Cultural Affairs, Taipei City Government
Webpage Consultant: Domoidea Design, Sense Info
Sound Effect: Yannick Dauby
Special Thanks: Taiwan Toy Museum, Department of Fine Arts and Yo-Chang Art Museum of NTUA