Artwork Appreciation
Since the 1990s, CHOU Ching-Hui has been using photography to capture special groups of people living in the modern society. Animal Farm: Social Environmental Frame Series I is a collection of works using a surreal and theatrical zoo setting. Children within these images are either using string phones to communicate with each other, looking for each other with torchlights, or simply standing by the side and doing nothing. Despite being so close to each other, they nevertheless chose to use alternative means of communication instead of face-to-face dialog. This served as a powerful analogy of our extreme reliance on network communication and social media. CHOU Ching-Hui used the work to create what appears to be a modern dystopia filled with powerful contradictions and portray the mental state, absurdity, and awkwardness of urban life that viewers could reflect upon.