Taiwan Today

Reflective materials and natural structural patterns bring excitement to public spaces.

Each day, staff entering the main building of a leafy technology park in New Taipei City are greeted by a 4-meter installation that pulses with soft lights in a soothing heartbeat rhythm. Entitled Altruistic Tree, the work responds to passersby with different combinations of colorful lights and coalescing words that appear and vanish as viewers’ perspectives shift. Color schemes change throughout the day, and at dusk firefly-like glows appear among the silver branches as the lobby lights are turned off for the night and the tree sinks gently into slumber.

The piece was commissioned by Taipei City-headquartered high-tech enterprise Advantech Co. to mark its 40th anniversary and completion of the final phase of its 35,000 square meter AIoT Co-Creation Campus. It was made by creative duo Calvin Lin (林家慶) and Isaac Chen (陳柏年), jointly known as TenonArt, to embody the company’s core values of sustainability and altruism. “I was drawn to TenonArt’s precision,” Advantech Art Director Suzee Hsu (許書慈) explained. “Every line, every shape is rigorously refined, showing a mathematical beauty and sense of order, as well as great technical expertise.” The two artists, who each bring unique skills and knowledge to their projects, view the installation as a summation of their 13-year artistic journey together.

  Material Fusion
The Altruistic Tree reflects Advantech’s commitment to innovation and societal enrichment while providing beauty and interest to a clean and linear environment. Drawing on themes of energy, Chen and Lin conceived a tribute to the legendary tree under which Buddha attained enlightenment, crafting an organic form using stainless steel, recycled wild tamarind wood, transparent acrylic, polished glass lenses, LEDs and discarded circuit boards.The angles of the lustrous suspended leaf forms generate intricate reflections, and the entire installation is arranged in a Fibonacci spiral set atop a mirrored pool embedded in the marble floor. 

  The final sculptural element is lighting designed to mimic diurnal and nocturnal rhythms. For this the duo developed a computer-controlled system that incorporates random changes triggered by motion sensors as well as programmed color shifts at different points in the day. Lin and Chen’s joint expertise in electronics, theatrical lighting and automated laser cutting machinery serendipitously combined to produce a relaxed and dreamlike manifestation of Advantech’s corporate vision. “The final result resonated with staff members, who commented that the creation is a visual experience of the technology and principles that shape their work,” Hsu said.

Complementary Strengths
Chen and Lin’s artwork explores life through the process of deconstruction and reorganization, using a pared-down structure that remains recognizable without being representational. Lin has a particular talent for rendering a flat shape in three dimensions, which he attributes to his experience in the family printing business. Flat forms would come to life as they were assembled into ornate and complex boxes for festival gifts or other important events. As printing became increasingly computerized, he studied electronics at university, spending his free time immersed in drama and theater productions.

  Meanwhile Chen studied interior design and lighting, undertaking large commercial building projects that called for public sculpture and decorative pieces. He encountered Lin during one such venture, and they set up TenonArt in 2009 to produce large-scale installation art combining light, reflective surfaces and recurring geometric patterns. Named for the technique of mortise and tenon joints, their work channels light in a way that appears kinetic, bringing theatricality to static space and harnessing the inherent properties of materials.
TenonArt pieces have appeared in pop star A-Mei’s (張惠妹) 2009 music video for the song “Amit,” the 2016 Incheon sculpture festival in South Korea and Taoyuan City’s 2019 Agricultural Expo, as well as in exhibitions in China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore. The pair has also worked with cultural creative industries in Dadaocheng, Taipei City’s historical merchant district, where wealthy traders built shophouses reflecting a glorious mix of decorative influences. Chen and Lin developed 3D model kits of the century-old buildings and other local landmarks that capture light, space and history on a miniature scale.
  Renew and Reuse
Collaborating on projects that prioritize local materials is a recurring theme for TenonArt. The Taiwan branch of philanthropic organization Rotary International, which brings together professional leaders to provide humanitarian services, commissioned a sculpture for presentation to then-Vice President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) to commemorate a speech he made on sustainable values. The team created a piece using wild tamarind wood that had been cut down to allow the replanting of trees native to Taiwan. The charity’s regional director at the time, Huang Yong-hui (黃永輝), was so impressed with the choice of material and the image of a winged Earth poised for flight that the body invited TenonArt to produce a large-scale version for the National Museum of Marine Science and Technology, which has a focus on sustainable technology. Rotary again turned to Chen and Lin to help research uses for wild tamarind when it was tapped by the Ministry of Agriculture’s Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency to implement an invasive species elimination project. The artists noted that working with wild tamarind presents challenges as there are two species, each with slightly different qualities, prompting the duo to create sculptures using the wood in both slices and spheres to test its properties.
  According to curator Emerson Wang (王崑生), former executive director of the annual Art Taipei expo, TenonArt’s flawless works seemingly emphasize the meticulous steps involved in each piece. “By blowing images apart and installing them component by component in sweeping aerial curves, they comment on the notion of perfection,” Wang said. “It’s the process that matters, not just the beautiful final result. They highlight the value of the entire creative journey.”

  Chen and Lin find inspiration for their visual language all around them, from the joyful way their dog ran in the park to the ever-changing urban landscape surrounding their studio. “Taiwan is a very inclusive place,” Lin said. “You can just be yourself. If you ask someone what represents Taiwan in 2024, they would probably say Nymphia Wind at the Paris Olympics, but the year before it could have been something completely different and just as unexpected. There is room for all sorts of imagery like winged horses, Formosan black bears, centaurs and temples.” The same goes for materials: TenonArt is happy to work with whatever is available, from recycled wood to high-tech waste materials such as circuit boards. Like their delicate model of a fortune-telling carousel that spins to reveal both Western and Eastern astrological signs and sayings, Chen and Lin craft their own visual synergy from their surroundings, unbound by tradition or convention.

Write to Nai Li at mhchung@mofa.gov.tw