Relational Field: The Cultural Landscape of New Taipei in the 1990s│405│Yao Jui-chung│Roaming Around the Ruins

Yao Jui-chung Roaming Around the Ruins I – The Civilization Built by Skeleton 1996 Gelatin silver prints 42 x 60 cm / each, 36 in total Collection of New Taipei City Art Museum Roaming Around the Ruins – The Civilization Built by Skeleton & Paradise Lost 1992-2001 Giclée prints 150 x 100 cm / each, 9 in total Single-channel video (color, sound) 15’00” Posters 60 x 85 cm [The script of this episode] The series of works you see here is Roaming Around the Ruins – The Civilization Built by Skeleton by Yao Jui-chung. Begun in 1991, the project spanned 14 years, during which the artist traveled across Taiwan to photograph abandoned spaces and buildings. Most of these ruins were left behind due to industrial relocation, such as the Songshan Cigarette Factory in Taipei, the Sintung Sugar Factory in Dulan, Taitung, or former export processing zones that once flourished but were eventually shut down. The nine pieces on view here were selected by the artist specifically for this exhibition. Taken between the 1990s and 2000s across what is now New Taipei City, the works portray deserted landscapes from the Shuinandong Smelter in Ruifang, a sewage treatment plant in Bali, the UFO Houses in Sanzhi, to Hongludi in Zhonghe and the Zhenzhuling Amusement Park in Linkou. Each site tells a decades-old story that invites reflection. Through the artist’s lens, the ruins are no longer merely derelict buildings, but silent archives that prompt us to consider why these places fell into decay, and what industries once thrived there. Yao began his journey of climbing Taiwan’s 100 Peaks when he started a mountain climbing club in college. This also marked the beginning of his photography series on ruins, in which he documented large, abandoned buildings on the urban fringes and in remote mountain areas. These desolate ruins, like cautionary tales, or relics left behind by the passage of time, transport us beyond temporal and physical limits to historical scenes of social change, industrial decline, and labor migration, all seen through his humanitarian lens. ---------- Relational Field: The Cultural Landscape of New Taipei in the 1990s 2025.08.16-12.21 ｜Curator｜ WANG Pin-hua ｜Artists｜ WANG Fujui, WU Mali, LIN Chi-wei, YAO Jui-Chung, KAO Jun-honn, HUANG Ming-chuan, LIU Chen-hsiang ｜Oral Archive Providers｜ Sisy CHEN, CHIEN Ming-hui ｜More Information｜https://ntcart.museum/EN/exhibition/H2507001