【Not a river】Crystallize Object Wu Yu Jung & Yen Yu Tien

Exhibition: 2025.3.24 (Mon.) - 2025.4.28 (Mon.) / Education Hall, Room 113 Art & Creativity Space

Opening: 12:00-18:00, Mon. to Fri. (Closed on weekends)

Wu Yu Jung, an artist from Crystallize Object, graduated from the Graduate Institute of Applied Arts at Tainan National University of the Arts. Deeply concerned with the relationships between people, society and the environment, she has been actively creating and participating in exhibitions with her partner, Yen Yu Tien, who is also from Crystallize Object art studio. Recently, their works have been presented through mixed media, installation art, and dyeing techniques, reflecting the artist’s observations of the urban paths she traversed daily. Through the atmosphere in the air, the silhouette of rivers that reflect modern civilization is silently sketched. Once a multifaceted source of life—providing irrigation, sustenance, transportation, and energy—rivers embody an era's memories. Yet, the invisible cost quietly casts its shadow over every inch of land.

“Not a river” is a profound reflection on the relationship between ourself and the environment. The artist is inspired by the changes in color and odor of the Fongshan River, her hometown river, which have been caused by pollution since childhood. She combines them with natural plant dyes used in traditional textile crafts and explores what the representative color of the contemporary environment is. The main visual element of the work is the spool, symbolizing the Industrial Revolution and labor. Through field research and on-site visits, the artist went to the polluted rivers to conduct bleaching and dyeing processes, which transform the river water into dyes by utilizing its washing and medium properties. The heavy metals left mottled rust marks on the fibers, while the natural flow of the polluted water also presented deep and strange hues. The dyeing, as given by the artist, honestly shows the sticky stains, corrosive traces and decaying smells, revealing the invisible cost of silent transactions and the quiet mark of the times.