“No issues could dominate the thoughts of this century to the degree that ‘the Other’ did.” (Michael Theunissen, The Other, 1965)

Today, the “Other” concept, which has involved the widespread concept of “subject except self”, is not only appropriate to different countries and nationalities, but also different species in the nature. In the scope of country and nationality, the “other” concept is also appropriate to different cultures, languages, religions, classes, power, genders, groups, and even different individuals. Therefore, what divides self and other is the differences. And the development of these differences is the key factor to the growth of a nation and its culture.

The discussions on other in contemporary art from the end of 1980s and the beginning of 1990s to present, including “multi-culture”, “other culture”, “cross domain”, “globalization”, and “localization”, have always been in the scope of ‘Other’ consciousness. The “Other” is a complex but critical concept, to exceed which in future might be a breakthrough in the whole human cultural history.

Taiwan contemporary art grew in the same way that Taiwan culture developed. The current lively, multi-cultural, and wonderful Taiwan contemporary art came into being after absorbing, digesting, and transforming the cultures, ideological trends, and schools’ theories from all over the world in different periods.

Ten artists are invited to take part in the Measurement of the Other --Contemporary Art from Taiwan, including Yang Mao-Lin, Lee Ming-Tse, Tao Ya-Lun, Lai Chiu-Chen, Chen Ching-Yao, Wu Chi-Tsung, Chu Chun-Teng, Fan Yang-Tsung, Chen Wan-Jen, Chen Ching-Yuan. Except Chu Chun-Teng who is now studying at Goldsmiths College for over one year, they are native artists born, brought up, studying, living and working in Taiwan, with their age between 26 years old and 57 years old, and the media for their creation including painting, sculpture, photography, video, computer graphics, digital video production, mechanical dynamics and devices. They are expecting to take this rare opportunity to demonstrate a variety of characteristics of the contemporary art from Taiwan rater completely and in a diversified way from the aspects of generations, creative ideas and contexts, to do the accumulative basic work well for future long-term exchanges of contemporary art.