/ Last Words

—— The article extended the on-site creation Last Words created by Chou Shu-Yi in the exhibition Leave a message ——



Last Words
Chou Shu-Yi


In life, many messages cannot be fully conveyed. What tangible or intangible things can humans leave behind? Is it text, sound, images, or perhaps an object? Are these remnants useless? What purpose do they serve?

The way humans record language development has been changing to this date. It has evolved from verbal expression to written text, from inscriptions on rock walls to bound books. Communications have progressed from signal codes to facsimile conveyance and from digital computers to mobile devices. This transformation spans from the silent to the audible, from physical to virtual, shaping the evolutionary process of transmitting ideas between individuals.

Leaving messages is a form of message recording that conveys information or emotions. It also encompasses many things that are difficult to express face to face. A message can be simple yet it carries complex thoughts and feelings about life.

The messages we transmit and leave behind can sometimes be eternal and timeless, while others may be time-bound. Some of them might not necessarily be useful, and some could be temporary and seemingly pointless. Nevertheless, they all represent voices that once existed, forming a pleasant and well-rounded language.

Last Words was a piece by the artist Chou Shu-Yi, continuing his creative exploration in recent years of issues such as urban peripheries and the vanishing of life.

Here, a space is created to store time, where each object is the evidence of its existence during a particular moment in life. The language messages that were once created and left behind are a form of proof and they could also become relics or memories. What purpose do these objects serve as people and time move on?

If this were the last day of your life, what message would you leave for this world or yourself? Will those once useful messages become worthless or powerless?

The artwork will be placed on a hollow iron frame, existing within a realm of space and time where light and shadows intertwine. The visual pieces will showcase a combination of two videos titled After sea-level rise, I… and Break & Break! capturing and preserving the messages emanating from the human body.

Last Words is presented in forms including video, static installation, and light and shadow presentation. The piece invites different individuals to engage in dialogue during the exhibition and to decide on the messages they wish to leave. Together, they will confront this ever-changing world and the voices their lives choose to leave behind.



Video Collection I：Break & Break!

Break & Break! © Jhan Kai
Artist：Chou Shu-Yi 《Break & Break!》




Video Collection II：After sea-level rise, I…

After sea-level rise, I…  © William Lu
Artist：Chou Shu-Yi 《After sea-level rise, I…》 



Move-in team

tamtamART established in Berlin in 2009, and is offering an experimental contemporary art platform, this art space congregates various artists and creations of different domains and disciplines. At the same time, tamtamART and The ASC (The ART SHELTER AND CINEMA) organise OSMOSIS Audiovisual Media Festival together. Their recent projects are the exhibition and screening project “Digital Break: New Perspectives on Taiwanese Moving Image” throughout the UK, 2017, the exhibition “Data Mania” at CCI Fabrika, Moscow, Russia, 2018, and an international and cross-regional exchange exhibition “SUPER-TRAJECTORY” in Tainan, Taiwan and Singapore in 2019 and 2020.

In recent years, tamtamART has continued to participate in the curatorial unit of WHATZ Contemporary Art Fair. The exhibition "Useless Message" (tentative) is involved together by Fu Ya-Wen and Hung Yun-Ting.