Huang Po-Chih. Blue Elephant

At the center of Huang's presentation at mumok is the multipart work series Production Line - Made in China & Made in Taiwan (2014-2021). Based on his essay Blue Skin: Mama's Story (2011-13), in which he recounts the tumultuous working life of his mother, Huang addresses the rise and fall of textile production in Taiwan and its gradual outsourcing to Shenzhen, China. Huang's mother and other former, now unemployed textile workers participated in this project as producers for a temporarily established production line of denim shirts, which traces a route from Shenzhen back to Taipei. Huang viewed the Shenzhen Sculpture Biennale (2014) and the Taipei Biennale (2014) as platforms for multi-step production and sales, exploring how art (in the form of goods or events) can introduce new meanings and definitions within complex social relationships. Text: Karola Kraus, Heike Eipeldauer, Huang Po-Chih, Amy Cheng.