Amoebas, despite their classification among the most basic of all living things, continually create changing conformations of their bodily shapes to gain motion and in display of other aspects of their infinite adaptivity to a constantly changing environment.
In admiration of the one-celled animal's dedication to changing form, five young artists, then fresh from art school, formed an art circle, calling themselves the "Amoebas," That was in
Twelve years later, this small circle of professional colleagues and good friends is still small -11 members-but under its later designation, "Amoeba Design Association," has become one of the most dynamically influential graphic designer groups in the Republic of China, They continue pursuit of their "amoebic" goal: creating art forms consistent with everyday life. Their newest "protrusion" is an "Asian Designers' Invitational Exhibition," which opened in Taipei November 20 and is scheduled to continue on in Taichung and Kaohsiung till February.
In their first 10 years, the Amoebas have held four successful co-exhibitions with Korean designers-especially with the Experimental Modern Designers' Club of Seoul. But this lime, such important Japanese artists as Salo, Awazu Kiyoshi, Nagai Kazumasa, and Yokoo Tadnaori and Hongkong influences as Michael Yu and Kan Tai Keung, are taking part. This, then, is a wider Asian exhibition, in which 150 works, mostly full size, full color posters, contributed by invited artists, will be shown.
A combination of texture and treasure. (File photo).
"The show will, hopefully, stimulate local designers," says Ho Peng-cheng, Amoebas chairman, "None of the works on exhibition will have 'exotic' impressions on local audience, but they all will 'feel' 'different.' Designers from the four areas create within respective environments whose cultural heritages are overlapping. Yet, these similar cultural traits have inspired totally different reactions, therefore, different expressions, hink the results are extremely interesting.”
Indeed, in works all inspired by Chinese-writing characters, designers from the different areas demonstrate distinct viewpoints. A full-size poster by Kum-nam Baik of Korea employs such unrelated Chinese characters as green, to build, strength, tea, silent, shrink, in a random, crowded order. Lining his characters with bright colors, he achieves an end product that, while very lively, is still, surprisingly, not at all modern design.
Daniel Wu of Hongkong uses characters for in, out, and peace, juxtaposed in a very rational way against an extremely sedate, dark green background, in a poster for the Hongkong subway system, bidding passengers a pleasant journey.
Wu Jin-Sheng, Republic of China, made a New Year greeting card, chuckfull of small but equal-sized characters meaning blessing. Superimposed on this Chinese-character pattern is a rising stair· case. This is his way of wishing friends career advancement in the coming year.
By and large, the works of the Japanese artists, despite their commercialization, exert the most design individuality. Nagai Kazumasa a world-famed designer, uses the themes of ocean, sky, and horizon to subject viewers to experiences of the unlimited space of the universe. In his extremely cool and rational settings flame the passions of intensely subjective creativity. Be it the image design for Toshiba electric appliances or his expression for Shiseido cosmetics for women, the viewer feels vibrations that are ra· tional and objective, but imbued with the passionate and subjective.
The dynamism of bold, shifting color on an engraved ground. (File photo).
Awazu Kiyoshi's old world of exotic colors and pure Japanese patterns sends completely different vibrations. Using an aesthetically successful rainbow background, a style that he has maintained for years now, Awazu employs inarticulated Japanese images of Noh masks, iris flowers, and slender-eye expressions in his creation, enflaming an audience nostalgia for a world one century back.
Hongkong designers, in contrast to their Japanese counterparts, react with high technique, but a low profile, to their highly commercialized society. If the 14 designers fail to inspire audiences here with a single work or expression of thought, their 42 works, nevertheless, display a maturity in design and printing technique which are generally admired. Audiences here are, also endeared to their Hongkong “cousins” approach to Chinese culture.
'In a work “Life and Design,” Hon Ang Wah employs the basic lines of signboard usually posted in front of a palm reader's house. On the palm of a hand, he inscribes words such as dots, line, phase, functional esthetic, creative, directly leading viewers of Chinese cultural background to combine fortune, life, design and art into one.
While individuality crept out from behind its veil of commercialism, Daniel Wu uses simple lines and symbols to express the rational side of life. Allan Chan You Kin, in contrast, toys with the joyful mood of life in a commercial poster for Chariot shoes-thousands of blissful children romp around a pair of giant-size rubber shoes.
The Korean designers, this year, chose to elaborate the theme of the '88 Olympic Games which will be stayed in Seoul. At least three designers have recreated the Ying-yang symbol of the Republic of Korea.
Kum-nam Baik, who has participated in all the group's previous Taipei exhibitions, has discarded his silk- painting-framed-in-black motif in favor of a fresh, current style based on the permutation or Chinese characters and signs.
The Amoebas, as representative of the host country, decided on the nien hua traditional prints (mostly wood-block) used by Chinese as New Year decorations, as main theme of the exhibition. The theme was carried out by 11 designers in posters and greeting cards employing modern nien hua.
Traditionally, nien hua are wood-block prints, colored by hand. They depict the life of the people, their gods, folklore, and hopes for future; and very often, they illustrate lessons in loyalty, honesty, and filial piety. With their bright colors and simple, but strong, structure, nien hua light up rooms and business offices during the New Year holidays. Since many of the nien hua on the wall in welcoming the New Year is a Chinese custom dating from as far back as, at least, as the 11th century.
As a folk art, nien hua may be short of being art in any classical sense. Since they reflected the life of the common folk, participation of intellectuals in their design was rare and, as a result-as with other folk arts-the craftsmen's techniques and creative level did not develop. Gradually, woodblock-carving techniques became coarse, and nien hua as an art form, diminished in importance to Chinese society. Still, almost everyone buys a couple of nien hua for the New Year holidays as auspicious signs.
With their storming of new ideas in modern Chinese society, as well as their influence in improvement of printing technique, over recent years, the Amoebas hoped to give new style to the traditional arts of the people, since these are still so much loved.
A graphic message utilizing the most familiar items in forceful display. (File photo).
"You may not think about it, but the works of art designers pervade our living environment-traffic signs, office signs, commercial boards, etc., in all colors and shapes. We are so used to them that we rarely consider their form. Such is the case of the nien hua. We accept nien hua as a kind of crude woodblock print that we buy at the end of the year and throw away as soon as the holidays are over. We do not think of the need for change. A little improvement may actually make life so much more pleasant," commented Ho Peng-cheng.
It is the Amoebas' dedication to the promotion of art in life that brought them to chose nien hua as this year's exhibit theme. "Amoeba has dedicated itself to changing forms to adapt to changing situations. We try to use the customs of modern society, religious thoughts and cultural background-to integrate them with the concepts of traditional New Year holidays and modern expressions, and thus to create new Chinese forms of “nien hua,” says Yang Kuo- tai, one of the Amoeba's five original members.
Much traditional symbolism can still be seen in the show's modern nien hua. Here are still the familiar symbol of fish-for abundance, the staircase-for elevation of society, a hat-indicating promotion in office, and oranges and persimmons- "everything goes well"
The old story-telling functions of nien hua have been lost in modern society. Not one work in the exhibition conveys a message needing more than one sentence of explanation. On the contrary, one sees unique permutations of the traditional and ultra-modern, a visual shock, but not attempting to convey narrative messages. Shieh Yi-chang chose to put two auspicious signs, the unicorn and a light source, next to each other. Che Shiu-ke has her Goddess of Mercy descending to a surging sea in a simple triangle, against a pop art version of the sun.
If the messages are simplified in modern nien hua they are transmitted in much higher voltage. Abandoning old woodblock techniques, the Amoebas chose sophisticated silk painting techniques, employing a large array of colors in their thickest form. Che Shu-ke made a greeting card displaying an exquisite flower-the homonym of peace in Chinese-featuring iris and leaves of peach pink, shocking pink, light velvet, and grass green. Though the portrayal extremely modern and stylish, the concept is 100 percent traditional Chinese. "Man in modern society is attracted to simple but bright images. He does not have the time and patience to study subtle implications," says Che of her work.
When the Amoebas organized 12 years ago, they promised each other to embrace continual change, to explore new art forms, and to experiment with new styles in order to maintain their creativity. With the Asian Designers Exhibition, they have indeed succeeded in yet another phase of the amoeba.
The Amoeba members continue to look to joint shows with their Asian counterparts to serve as stimulators to future change. Will they, themselves, become graphic artists with strong individuality like the Japanese, or gravitate to the Hongkong model, more technique commerce oriented? "We pursue constant change toward greater diversity. The shapes of our diversities will be dependent on the environment we live in," said a spokesman. -By Kathy Wong