Zhang Xu Zhan: ‘Compound Eyes of Tropical Zhan (Animal Story series)’
Zhang Xu Zhan, Compound Eyes of Tropical (‘Animal Story’ series), 2022. Video, 17 min, colour, sound. Courtesy of the artist
About the Work
Compound Eyes of Tropical (‘Animal Story’ series) explores the interplay between local Taiwanese culture and global influences. Inspired by Taiwan’s ‘Yi zhen’ folk dance and Southeast Asian folk tale ‘The Mousedeer Crosses the River’, the animation features a half-mousedeer, half-fox shaman puppet dancer. It weaves similar narratives from various cultures, reflecting on global mobility, identity and connections btween the universal and local. The story, seen through a fly’s compound eyes, traverses interlinked narratives, illustrating how cultural meanings are transported and transform across regions.
About the Artist
Zhang Xu Zhan (b.1988; based in Taipei, Taiwan) was born into a paper-crafting family in Taiwan. The Hsin Hsin Paper Offering Store specializes in making paper sculptures for religious rituals and funerals, including effigies, animals and houses. Zhan’s animations are full of bizarre, grotesque images, a means of discussing society and human experience. He won Deutsche Bank’s Artist of the Year Award (2021); Future Generation Art Prize (2024); Dok-Leipzig Mephisto 97.6 Audience Award (2023); Presidential Culture Awards – Creative and Innovation Award (2023); Recently he had his solo exhibition ‘Jungle Jungle’ in Taipei Fine Art Museum and won Golden Horse Film Festival Award in 2022.
About EMAP x FRIEZE FILM SEOUL
For the third year in a row, Frieze Film returns to Frieze Seoul 2024. This year’s programme is presented in partnership with Ewha Media Art Presentation (EMAP) and is on view from 2 – 6 September at Ewha Womans University and online at frieze.com.
Curated by Joowon Park and Valentine Umansky, this year’s programme is titled ‘All that Weaves the Universe: Of Quantum Entanglements’. It brings together time-based media works of 37 international artists, unfolding under eight chapters.
