The Touch of Light :
Technological research and artistic innovation at NTHU 2024
Curator: Cheng-Yu PAN
This year, Tsing Hua National University is presenting three research and creative development projects, including advanced laser colouring technology led by Professor Hung-Wen Chen. The project aims to build a bridge between art and quantitative technology, led by Professor Cheng-Yu Pan, and experimental VR work by Yu-Ching LIN from the Institut Supérieur d’Art et de Technologie.
Professor Hung-Wen CHEN, who specialises in research into advanced optics, has led his students into nanoscale laser machining technology, capable of mixing colours on the surface of steel at pixel level. This technology defies the traditional concept of “painting”: while traditional painting involves the manual application of pigments to a surface, Professor Chen’s team, with the “Îlha Formosa“2, considerably reduces the materiality of pigments as well as the physical gesture of the artist, creating images at the moment of light-material contact, thus opening up another possibility in the creation of artistic painting.
The project Pont d’Art Quantique directed by Professor Cheng-Yu Pan, head of the Art in Action Laboratory, in collaboration with Professor Ray-Kuang Lee’s Quantum Optics Laboratory, and the LumiSound XR Laboratory directed by Professor Yi-Chun Ko, seeks to establish an initial field of practice in Taiwan by bringing together technological art and quantum experiments. As this is a highly experimental project, their initial focus is on exploring the possibilities of interdisciplinary bridges, with the current task of establishing such a ‘bridge’, in the form of a simultaneously artistic and scientific initiative that includes practice and theory to link two fields, projecting the quantum states of light into macroscopic space-time, thus creating new entanglements and superpositions in art.
Yu-Ching LIN’s work, “The Tactile Labyrinth”, stands out from conventional operations that simply offer virtual reality experiences, by integrating VR technology, 2D flat painting and tactile experiences. This combination allows the audience to move between virtual immersion and real physical sensation, exploring the challenges facing the body in the face of today’s rapid virtualisation process.
Îlha Formosa
Artists : Hung-Wen CHEN, Pei-Chia LIN, Hsuan LIEN / Aerial image: Pei-Yuan LIN / Image processing: Chi LO
Our work combines the metallic laser colouring technology developed by our team with images of Taiwan’s landscapes. It invites the public to navigate between the works of metallic laser colouring that symbolise reality and the tapestry of the film that recounts the virtual landscapes of Taiwan, and to explore the superimposition and interweaving of time. In the ‘Real Time (Laser Metal Colouring)’ section, we were inspired by the mountains, plains and oceans of Taiwan and etched their images onto titanium metal plates. These metallic paintings capture the timeless beauty of nature and a dialogue between traditional and modern printing techniques. Works coloured on titanium metal plates are either colourless or coloured. In the monochromatic works, we go back to past technology and recreate the original retro feeling by depicting monochrome contours. At the same time, in the coloured works, a scene full of vivid colours after titanium colouring also shows the progress and evolution of modern laser metal colouring technology.
“Virtual Time (Video of Taiwanese Landscapes)” is a dreamlike journey. Scanning the QR code on the side takes visitors to videos showing the natural features of Taiwan, with its mountains, seas and plains. This exhibition aims to explore the multi-dimensionality of time.
In “Temps Réel”, the eternity of natural landscapes and the evolution of laser metal colouring technology weave together the continuity of time. “Virtual Time” demonstrates the flexibility of time. Using images as a medium opens up a new world of infinite possibilities！
Pont de l’art Quantique :
Superposition et intrication de la Physique Quantique et du Tech Art
Project PI. : Cheng-Yu PAN / Project Co-PI. : Ray-Kuang LEE, Yi-Chun KO / Members :Chien-Ming WU, Jiahe ZHAO, Tang-Chen CHANG, Tsai-Wen LING, Ming-Shan TAI, Shao-En HSU, Chun Huang LIN, Kai-Yu LIN
Quantum Mechanics and Tech-Art are two distinct pioneering fields. The former continues to expand the limits of human knowledge, while the latter explores the intrinsic structure of technology and its cultural effects, as well as the boundaries of human perception. This project involves collaboration between three laboratories at Tsing Hua National University: the Quantum Optics Laboratory at the Institute of Photonic Technologies, the Art in Action Laboratory, and the LumiSound XR Laboratory at the Higher Institute of Art & Technology. The aim is to establish the first practical field in Taiwan that combines Tech-Art with quantum experiments. As a highly experimental initiative, our main interest lies in exploring potential cross-domain collaborative solutions. A key task is to create what we call a ‘bridge’ – an artistic initiative that includes both practical and theoretical methodologies to bridge these two fields.
Le Labyrinthe Tactile
Artist: Yu-Ching LIN
“Le Labyrinthe Tactile” combines VR technology with spatial installations, allowing spectators to explore freely in space. The imagery in VR shows scenes of virtualised private domain objects, while the texture of the objects that viewers touch will differ from their usual visual experiences. Unlike conventional VR works that focus primarily on immersive experiences through the visual and auditory senses, this piece emphasises the connection and disjunction between virtual and tactile experiences. It also attempts to create a virtual atmosphere in a real setting, exploring the potential state of transition to a semi-virtual space.
