Pleased to share Yang Chi-Chuan’s presentation of “In Terms of Sport” at the New Taipei City Art Museum. Coinciding with the 2024 Paris Olympics, the NTCAM, adjacent to the Yingge Civil Sports Center, is presenting “In Terms of Sport,” an exhibition that integrates indoor (playgrounds, stadiums) and outdoor (cities, streets) sports. This thematic exhibition aims to dismantle and challenge contemporary society’s mainstream perceptions of “sports.”

This physical education class at the museum unfolds through a look at art, architecture, and sports. An artwork about a ping-pong table without actual ping-ponging through the lens of Hayahisa Tomiyasu; a community sports center designed by Lina Bo Bardi that cannot host formal sports games, but only leisure activities; a professional athlete and the epitome of “sports is life” named Chang Hsing-hsien, who represented Japan, Manchuria, and Taiwan in international sports contests. Together these three examples from different time periods, geographical contexts, ethnic groups, and social structures encapsulate what remains the mundane nature of sports: it never is just sports.

Suspended by rotating mechanical devices, ceramic wind chimes sway, generating sounds that oscillate between harmony and discord—akin to the uncontrollable heartbeat during physical exertion or the tense physiology intertwined with attempts to maintain composure amid intense or anxious emotions. In the exhibition space, the artist unfolds narratives driven by mechanics with two sets of works, Tiny Drops of Sweat and Jumping High, Running Fast. Within seemingly joyful moments of play and competitive celebration, body sensations are concurrent and inseparable. It may be the fervor of a vigorous effort, the body’s and mind’s reactions to overwhelming speed and frustration, or the mingled tears of joy and sorrow after (unexpected) failure.

“Plastonki” (2020) is a species created by the artist, derived from “Plastic” and “Stone.” They are peculiar ceramic creatures resembling plastic trash, found on beaches, appearing mythical to other beings. From a scientific perspective, integrating geological and evolutionary narratives with a satirical tone, the artist recreates the scene of littered beaches within the art space, questioning the origin of these rock-hard “Plastonki.”

Echoing the popular “Water Playground” at the New Taipei City Art Museum, Plastonki’s Playground creates a new context for this species from the idea of a playground. The installation merges elements such as plastic beach toys and upward-going climbing wall rocks with discarded pottery frequently encountered in the local mountains, presenting an alternative evolutionary scenery of “Plastonki” from sea to mountains.

When we talk about sports, what do we talk about? What do we truly observe when we watch sports? These exhibition narratives weave together identity, colonial history, political dynamics, and social issues, offering an alternative routine of sports as well as a different kind of physical education class at the museum.

— Courtesy of artist and the New Taipei City Art Museum.