Jataka Tale of Beloved King Kong Vajradhara

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Temple of sublime beauty by Yang Maolin 

Venice Biennial 2009 presented by MoCA Taipei curated by Schoeber Felix, June- August 2009

Yang Maolin at the 2009 Venice Biennial | S. Giovanni e Paolo, Sala S. Tomaso

Yang Maolin’s double exhibition in Taipei and Venice will probe into the proliferation of semi- religious elements in modern secular culture. The starting point of this multifold exploration will be the space of the museum, which, as has been observed by Carol Duncan in her 1995 article "museum as ritual", in its space of heightened aesthetic attention provides a "sublime“ and therefore "liminal“ or semi- religious experience, albeit its designation as a space of secular science.

In Taipei, Yang Maolin will transform MoCA Taipei into a temple of manga and Hollywood superheroes, by placing them in the disguise of Nara- style buddhist bronze deities front of the building, transforming MoCA Taipei into the site of a special religious ceremony dedicated to the appearance of those new deities. This can be further illustrated with Slavoj Zizek’s observations on Hollywood cinema: on the surface a medium of innocent entertainment geared to please a postmodern market, yet a closer look reveals numerous elements of religion.

A classic example is the cartoon character "superman“, who in his selfless quest for the salvation of humankind, and his genealogy as the son of an outer- space / heavenly father evokes Jesus for many aspects. Yang Maolin transforms him and other superheroes such as King Kong, Godzilla and Peter Pan into buddhist deities, assigning each a position in his new pantheon, by placing them like door- guardians on top of ferocious beast, or let them stand on animals and lotus flowers like bodhisatvas, or collocates them on a throne with a big halo on the back like a buddha.

In Venice, the Sala S. Tomaso, part of the chiesa S Giovanni e Paolo, will be transformed into a temple of this pantheon of superheroes. Especially in the case of film heroes such as King Kong (1933), Godzilla (1954), and Superman (1933/1938), one could argue that there is a strong link between their emergence and the growing paranoia of what has been called the contemporary "risk society": a society where the development of modern science has created a growing disparagy between knowledge and the potential risks included in any decision. The classic example is nuclear technology: albeit its known benefits, its use entails dangers that can potentially put an end to human life on the globe.

In fact, most superheroes are linked to science and technology in one way or another: Godzilla is the result of genetic alteration after nuclear tests in the South Pacific, Superman is the last representative from a technologically more advanced society in outer space whose home planet has exploded.

MoCA Taipei

MoCA Taipei is the first museum in Taiwan dedicated exclusively to contemporary art. Built in 1921 as a typical example of historicist architecture during the period of japanese colonial rule, the two- storey and perfectly symmetrcial brick building features a main entrance hall and a bell tower, as well as many small and big rooms. In the japanese period, it was home to the Jan Cheng Elementary School. After the end of WWII, it became the office of Taipei city government. In 2001, it was transformed into a museum for contemporary art, while at the same time being designated a historical landmark.