A Polite, Clichéd, and Condomless Exhibition Opening

Text/Photos by Chen Chi-Hsiang. Toph’s “Untitled” solo exhibition finally opened at the Chiayi District Prosecutors’ Office, allowing me to witness firsthand a farce of bureaucratic exposure: a polite, clichéd, condomless-to-condom exhibition opening ceremony for “Untitled” at the Chiayi District Prosecutors’ Office. It gathered social elites and highly honored officials, legislators (all wearing blue shirts embroidered with their names, though no one likely recognized them), Lions Club members, Young Chambers of Commerce representatives, foundation chairmen, local power brokers, and other VIPs seated in hierarchical order. Behind them were the painting association president, painters, art enthusiasts, and the public, joining forces with a host of nameless figures. The host introduced guests by calling out or roll-call, displaying class-conscious differentiation, flattering officials and social elites. There were endless titles everywhere: international masters, world-renowned painters, teachers, and various unknown celebrities.

Officials and social elites took the stage to deliver speeches using every trick in the book—clichéd, polite, condomless-to-condom rhetoric that sounded better than singing, with witty remarks like pearls and countless compliments about beauty and youth, all dripping from their lips. When did art exhibitions become stages for officials and elites to seek fame and fortune or socialize? A waste of everyone’s time. In an art or painting exhibition opening, shouldn’t art and the artist be the protagonists? Think about it: from the perspective of art or art workers, what should be subverted is the system and social norms. Where do “officials” come from? It was nonsense. Unknown officials were created through flattery. Actually, during the opening ceremony, the artist should be the most important. Unexpectedly, when the painter took the stage to speak, he was cut short after three minutes due to time limits. Is an art exhibition merely a charity from the organizers? I sigh: has art been neglected? What is the role of the artist? Has he been abandoned?

Art has become makeup for the bureaucracy, a rhetoric of society, a pretentious display of sycophancy where most have forgotten who they are. After the opening ended, hierarchical officials and legislators gathered with various groups of chairmen to exchange pleasantries and business cards. Clearly, the art exhibition opening served as a networking event for each group. Careful observation of this bureaucratic scene revealed that no one truly approached the paintings to taste them; even a glance seemed too wasteful. In this field of artistic exchange, what was missing was art itself. I deeply felt the arrogance of the bureaucratic system (under the transaction of flattery and imagined power). The paintings hung on the walls, shedding tears, watching helplessly as this group of well-dressed art-blind men used the name of art to whitewash their own identities. One begins to doubt the meaning of the exhibition opening. Alas, let me witness a farce of bureaucratic exposure.

Appendix – Two anecdotes: First, after the opening, the venue was bustling with noise resembling a vegetable market. I was invited to share thoughts on Toph’s exhibition. Picking up the microphone to give a tour, besides friends from a qigong class who came to support me, there was a group of amateur female painters. They wisely noted that art indeed helps people maintain beauty and enhances personal sensitivity and perception. I enthusiastically played along, dedicating my passion for art and serving it seriously. Another anecdote also proved the theory of art’s uselessness. During the opening tea party, tea and snacks were prepared at the far end. After the opening, the organizers announced that everyone could enjoy the snacks and tea freely. Unexpectedly, only empty plates remained. The audience was amazed: where had the pastries gone? Everyone looked around, puzzled. Finally, a passerby witness stated that they had been eaten by a group of citizens appearing in court at the prosecutors’ office, proving that satisfying one’s stomach outweighed respecting ancestors, becoming a humorous aside to the exhibition. This is another unique story of the prosecutors’ office organizing art and humanities activities. How far is art from us? Art has become a utopia of real life.