Department of Cultural Affairs

All languages are abstract, but some are more abstract than others. Written language serves as the foundation for communication because it provides a common standard, contextualizing communication and enabling us to achieve various ends. The high compatibility and universality of written language have made it the dominant medium for description and interpretation. In contemporary art, however, this dominance has become a new measure of creative pursuit.

“No Language” is not an artistic statement opposing linguistic classification. Rather, it reflects the artist’s search for spirituality in materiality, inspiration in interpretation, transcendence in reality.

Creativity in every era is marked by struggle. One of the challenges we face today stems from the overabundance of a highly media-saturated world. Algorithms cater to our preferences, showing us numerous possibilities but not necessarily allowing us to experience more. It’s like standing in a climbing gym in all our brand-new gear, gazing up at the towering, multicolored holds. We discuss each other’s climbing routes, analyze each challenger’s physical abilities, and imagine adventure through the act of watching—while the air is thick with the smell of sweat. Yet we still haven’t even cut the price tags off our high-performance clothing.

This sense of excess makes us feel perpetually behind, hesitant to act. We long for the sensation of sweat but treat passion like a microwave food, easy to reheat in the rush from one engagement to the next. We binge-watch without question, eventually becoming swept up in self-imagined narratives, reduced to models being trained by AI, rather than using AI for our own ends.

But what if we transformed unconscious browsing into conscious wandering? Perhaps we could see this “excess” as an opportunity to cultivate a new way of perceiving within the act of viewing. 

AI language models approximate the world by identifying correlations in vast datasets—using the “known” to predict rather than exploring the “unknown” as art does. In the same way, if we can establish new orders of meaning at the edges of awareness, then excess can still be generative. 

In this context, we might think that art has long strived to create “models of feeling” beyond the generative capabilities of mere language models. AI pursues efficiency, with clear objectives, whereas art seeks an existential value—one that, despite endless attempts at definition, remains forever abstract.

This exhibition represents a significant effort by Taiwan’s established and emerging artists to create resonance beyond issue-driven critique and intellectual gatekeeping. It offers a more humble form of insight, distinct from the endless accumulation of field research. These artists position themselves as outsiders within language systems, weaving visions of the distant even as they negotiate proximity and detachment from reality. What is distant remains abstract, and at its extreme abstraction leads to purity—a purity that, in turn, opens new possibilities for universality.

▍No Language

Dates | January 17 to May 4, 2025

Venue | Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei (No. 39, Chang-An West Road, Datong District, Taipei, Taiwan 103)