Artwork Appreciation
In The Counterattack on the River Embankment: In the Name of Nature, the artist Huang Chien-Hua reconstructed the scenery of Kaohsiung’s Love River embankment into a virtual scene, paying tribute to the contemporary photography masterpiece Rhein II by Andreas Gursky. Among the three shoebill storks in the picture, one is about to peck the camera, one is standing guard next to an antique camera in the frame, and one is flying above with film trailing from its bill. Huang uses birds as a metaphor for humans and here implies that photography’s rapid evolution has resulted in people today having different attitudes toward traditional photography. There is an old TV set on the back of the flamingo swimming in the river. The white slogan on the left reads “NO PHOTO NO LIFE”—a reflection of the contemporary attitude that life is inseparable from photography. The “No Photography” notice in the center reminds us that people may be unwittingly and secretly photographed anytime, anywhere. Huang Chien-Hua uses image splicing and multi-layered symbolism to make viewers think about the relationship between themselves and photography.