Born in 1991, Chang Wen-Hsuan currently lives and works in Taipei. The artistic practice of Chang questions the narrative structure of institutionalised history with re-readings, re-writing, and suggestions of fictional alternatives. To expose the power tensions embedded in historical narratives is a way of managing the relationships and dynamics between individual stories and the writing of history. Through versatile platforms including installations, videos, and lectures, she often navigates skewed documentations and first-person accounts to trigger reflections on how the understanding of history affects the purport of the present and thrust of the future. In 2018, she launched the project Writing FACTory.
Whether in the domain of mass media or in behavioral psychology, ways in which associations are created between the language and actions of public figures often become metrics for analyzing the success or failure of a speech. Anthropologist Ray Birdwhistell’s research reveals that around 60 to 70 percent of communication involves non-verbal behaviors. When gestures, gazes, pace, and scales of motion are all considered communication content, all speech and actions exist beyond the scope of the conveyed language content; what matters most is the creation of image when before an audience. The creating an image for the audience is far more important. The title and content for the Life Preparation Show｜Victoria Chang Foundation” parodies the reaction videos or film analysis videos often seen on YouTube. Artist Wen-Hsuan CHANG will analyze real-life examples of images and “non-verbal behaviors” as well as the relationship between these behaviors and displays of power.
