Huang Hua-Cheng
Directing
Biography
Huang Hua-Cheng was born in 1935 in Nanjing, China, and died in 1996 in Taipei, Taiwan. He graduated from the Department of Fine Arts at Taiwan Provincial Normal University in 1958 and soon after was recognized as a representative figure in Taiwan's 1960s modern art movement. His practice crossed multiple domains, including literature, advertising, design, theater, film, and visual art forms such as painting, ready-mades, installation, and conceptual art. In addition to being a core member of Theatre Quarterly, Huang was the sole and founding member of “École de Great Taipei”, which along with his pioneering concepts and uncompromising attitude, propelled him to a leading position in postwar avant-gardism in Taiwan.
Known For
An in-depth documentary on the reclusive Taiwanese artist Huang Hua-Cheng and his avant-garde legacy. Commissioned by the Taipei Fine Arts Museum for the retrospective exhibition: “An Open Ending: Huang Hua-Cheng” (2020).
Regarding Huang Hua-Cheng
Starring Chuang Ling and with cinematography by Hu Qi-Yuan, The Joy of Life consists of closeup shots of technically speaking only four simple gestures of pinching on a sugar cube, drinking coffee, lighting a match, and smoking a cigarette, and it is without any lines or specific plots.
The Joy of Life
Originally written by HUANG Hua-cheng in 1966, the script centres on the dialogue between a couple sitting in the audience of a play. 51 years later, original actors CHUANG Ling and LIU Ying-shang are invited back to the theatre to recreate the groundbreaking original.
The Prophet
In 1994 HUANG Hua-cheng showed his 8mm film Experiment 002 during a seminar titled ‘Theater Quarterly and Me’ at the Chinese Taipei Film Archive. This film is a recording of the seminar, documenting how the film was played and the seminar proceedings. HUANG passed away in 1996, and his earlier films have been lost.