Study for Plants II

作品賞析

The artist Chang San-Hsueh loves ferns, which have existed since before the time of the dinosaurs. He has successively collected a large number of ferns native to Taiwan and imported from abroad, and he grows them on the third-floor balcony of his apartment. Study for Plants II depicts a hybrid between a ginger fern and an oak fern that he purchased at a flower market. For him, the Tropic of Cancer at 23.5 degrees north latitude, which crosses Taiwan, marks the boundary for the survival of plants and animals during the Ice Age—after which, sea levels rose, and Taiwan separated from the Eurasian continent and became an isolated island in the Western Pacific. Also, because of its unique geographical location and diverse terrain, it has a rich ecology of flora and fauna. Chang feels that his balcony is like a refuge. No matter where the ferns come from, their survival on the balcony is a matter of luck. Just as Taiwan’s special geography and environment gave rise to different cultures and histories, their integration is also closely related to the island context.