Artwork Appreciation
WU Cheng-Chang’s Vision of Taiwan series captures scenes and cultural elements that are unique to Taiwanese society. Vision of Taiwan – Billboards shows a mess of billboards from various shops and even a temple placed at an intersection, arranged in such a way that it resembled a family photograph. Convex mirrors that were supposed to promote traffic safety could hardly be noticed when surrounded by these advertisements. The artist also included his own image within the scene, but focused strong lighting on his face to completely remove it from the photograph as a symbol for blindness or loss of sight. WU Cheng-Chang made use of this photograph as a critique of environmental hazards that were created because of politics, economy, and culture as well as to highlight the powerlessness and apathy felt by ordinary people under such an environment.