In early April, our show at the Taiwan–Soulangh Cultural Park International Art Village drew to a close. This interview captures some of our reflections on the exhibition. We thank photographer and interviewer Shenghua for delicately documenting the event.
In the exhibition ‘You Do Not Need to Worry About What We Said,’ we explored non-textual history through a material lens. A selection of architectural fragments used in the exhibition-wooden doors, carvings, and thin roof tiles-were collected from old houses across Taiwan by the Heritage Architectural Materials Vault in Tainan. Through these materials, our works explore the narratives that lie beyond written records.
The old wooden doors dating back to different eras now serve as the exhibition’s entrance. Visitors entered the exhibition space as though they were stepping into someone’s old home.
Anthropologist Eric Wolf’s ‘Europe and the People Without History’ argues against the Eurocentric view that societies without writing are ahistorical. Taiwan’s indigenous groups, without written scripts, relied on oral traditions to preserve their memory and past. The surviving written documents are mostly colonial-era accounts by Europeans, Chinese, and Japanese. The exhibition revisits Taiwan’s overlooked histories, we re-examine Eurocentric and Han-centric historical narratives. Against this backdrop, we asked: without written text, do we still have history?
Watch the interview to see how we reconnect these forgotten threads of history.
四月初，我們在臺南蕭壠國際藝術村的展覽已圓滿結束。非常感謝負責拍攝與訪談的聖華，他不僅細心記錄展覽，更用心理解我們的想法。要你聽我們破爛的國語，真的很不好意思。
在《你們都不用害怕我們所說的話》這次展覽中，我們嘗試從材料的角度，思考非文字的歷史。每一塊從建材銀行借來的木材——舊木門、木雕裝飾、屋頂薄木片——都承載著自身與環境的歷史軌跡。這些曾屬於老房子的木門，如今成為展覽的入口，邀請觀眾彷彿走進某人的舊居。
人類學家 Eric Wolf 曾在《歐洲與沒有歷史的人》中反駁以歐洲為中心的觀點，指出將沒有書寫文字的社會視為沒有歷史。我們提出疑問：沒有文字，我們是否仍有歷史？展覽重新審視臺灣歷史中那些被邊緣化的聲音。臺灣原住民主要透過口述傳統來保存歷史，而可供閱讀的書面文獻多來自殖民時期的歐洲、中國與日本，屬於他者的書寫。我們在南部的原住民西拉雅族的脈絡中，重新審視歐洲中心、漢文化中心的歷史敘事。
歡迎看看訪談回顧，了解我們如何重新連結這些被遺忘的歷史線索。
Ein riesengroßes Dankeschön an alle, die zur Eröffnung unserer Ausstellung gekommen sind! Ein besonderer Dank geht an Stacho und Victor für eure Unterstützung sowie an Thomas für deine großartige Rede! Die Ausstellung ist noch bis zum 22. Juni 2025 geöffnet, wir freuen uns auf euren Besuch!
A huge thank you to everyone who joined us for our exhibition opening! Big thanks to Stacho and Victor for your support, and to Thomas for your wonderful speech. The exhibition is open until 22 June 2025, hope to see you there!
from ab to zu
Lai Ping So and Wai Lun Hsu
17.05.–22.06.2025
9k-Galerie für Ding Bild Wort Laut
Hardt 9k, 47877 Willich, Germany
Curated by Thomas Neumann @studiothomasneumann
At the Time When (2024)
In the vast archive of the German Clock Museum (Deutsches Uhrenmuseum) in Furtwangen, a city located in the Black Forest of southwestern Germany, hundreds of timepieces stand silent. The clocks all stopped at different moments. For instance, one clock froze at 8:10, another at 4:00.
This work responds to these specific times, using them as cues. During our trip in June, in the longest days of the year, we captured photographs and made observations at the exact times shown on the museum’s clocks, creating a temporal link between the historical artifacts and our contemporary experience.
The artists’ book “At The Time When” employs a three-part structure, exploring the concept of time by its measurement. Time was once a fluid concept; we relied on sun, shadows, or combustion for communicating time. Mechanical clocks synchronised and homogenised the unit of our time. The clock, Karl Marx argued, was the first automatic tool introducing “regular motion”, reshaping timekeeping, industrialised production, and our daily patterns.
位於德國西南部黑森林的Furtwangen有一個德國鐘錶博物館（Deutsches Uhrenmuseum），在其龐大收藏中，數百個鐘錶靜靜地佇立著。它們分別停止在不同的時間。例如，一個鐘錶凝固在8:10，另一個則停在4:00。
這件作品回應了這些特定的時間，將它們作為線索。我們在博物館的鐘所顯示的時間拍攝照片並進行觀察，從而在這些歷史物件與我們當代體驗之間，建立了時間上的聯繫。
《At the Time When》這本藝術家書籍分為三部分，每部分代表不同的時間，藉由時間的測量方式來探討時間的概念。我們對於時間的概念曾經是流動的；我們依賴太陽、影子或燃燒來記錄或傳達時間。機械鐘的出現，令我們的時間同步化和同質化。馬克思認為時鐘是帶來「規律活動」的首個自動化工具，重塑了計時方式，影響了工業化生產，以及我們的日常節奏。
———
At the Time When (2024)
Volume I When the Sun Is Above
Volume II When Shadows Point East
Volume III When the Night Bells Ring
Concept
Wai Lun Hsu, Lai Ping So
Research and Text
Wai Lun Hsu, Lai Ping So
Photography
Wai Lun Hsu, Lai Ping So
Illustrations
Lai Ping So
Salt Prints
Wai Lun Hsu
Publisher
mmmmor studio, Düsseldorf
mmmmor.com
First Edition, July 2024
Edition of 60
Printed in Germany
Hand-bound by the artists
Thank you to The Baden State Museum and The German Clock Museum for their valuable archival work and generous assistance with images for this project.
感謝巴登州立博物館和德國鐘錶博物館的慷慨協助，為本計劃提供寶貴的圖像。
Just wrapped up 5 days at FotoFest Biennial 2026 @fotofest in Houston, attending “The Meeting Place” Portfolio Review.
Very Intense schedule! 18+ sessions with curators, photo-editors, and archivists from around the world. Huge thanks for the fresh perspectives on our work and all the love for our books!
Grateful for the generous support from Camera Obscura and b minor.
FotoFest Biennial
Houston, the U.S.
2026
#fotofest2026
#unitedstate
#houston
#fotofestbiennial
#fotofest
February highlight: made a hand-carved modular block printing system to engage the audience at the CCC Flower Market Art Zone. Many interesting conversations came out of it, thanks to all San Francisco and Bay Area folks for coming by!
»Juergen Staack expanded«: Was ist und was kann ein (fotografisches) Bild? @juergen.staack lotet seit mehr als zwanzig Jahren die Schnittstellen von Fotografie, Konzeptkunst, Performance und Sprache aus. Anhand zahlreicher Abbildungen und Texte wird nachgezeichnet, wie Vorstellungen, Lesarten und Begrifflichkeiten der Fotografie von Staack künstlerisch erweitert werden.
Fragen zur Bildproduktion, Repräsentation, Autorschaft und der Verfallszeit medialer und fotografischer Bilder stehen im Zentrum von Juergen Staacks Arbeit. Er versteht es, die Bedingungen und Grenzen des Mediums selbst zum Gegenstand seiner Untersuchungen zu machen. Klassische Bildproduktion verknüpft er mit performativen Situationen und zeigt anschaulich künstlerische Gegenstrategien zur heiß gelaufenen Bildproduktion im 21. Jahrhundert.
Herausgegeben von Sabine Maria Schmidt (@kassandraoptimista ), mit Texten von Sabine Maria Schmidt, Stefanie Kreuzer (@stefzanone ), Ory Dessau (@dessauory ) und Peter Friese. Gestaltet von Lai Ping So (@mmmmor.studio ).
#juergenstaack #expanded
two months in the desert, first time in the US. learned some history, met new friends, made some art. will miss these all so much. thank you b minor for having us.
three of our artists’ books are now showing at 茨木アートブックフェア Ibaraki Art Book Fair by THE COPY TRAVELERS
@iabf.tct2025@the_copy_travelers
4–21 December 2025
12:00–7:00 PM (thur–sun)
茨木市福祉文化会館（オークシアター） 1F
Ibaraki City Welfare and Culture Hall, 1F
special thanks to @studiothomasneumann
for bringing our projects all the way to Japan!
today until Sunday, we’ll be at Between Books, presenting artistic projects developed between 2023 and 2025. Joining us is Thomas Neumann @studiothomasneumann , who will show his The Oak Tree from Schlossplatz Berlin.
Students from @somely classes will also take part @15weekbeans , sharing their editorial design projects from WS23/24 and SS25.
Hope to see you there!
Photo: Frank Lam
_ Sonntag in Berlin _ 15.Juni _ miss read Kunst Buchmesse _ Die Eiche vom Schlossplatz Berlin _ Booklet in Kooperation @mmmmor.studio _ Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin
https://www.dieeichevomschlossplatz.berlin/news/
#artistbooks
#missread
#dieeichevomschlossplatzberlin
#eiche
I’m so happy to share some of my favourite book projects here in Kyoto! Thank you so very very much to @mariko.takagi for inviting me and organizing the exhibition at Doshisha Women’s College of Liberal Arts. I was lucky enough to visit the beautiful uni campus @doujo.plus in April, where I gave a lecture and a workshop. The exhibition runs until July 15th, and (!) there will also be another exhibition by the master type designer Akira Kobayashi 小林章 (!!!) starting next Wednesday and running till July 14th, almost at the same time. Come by if you’re around.
PAPIERRÄUME 紙の空間 by Lai Ping So
12.06.2025—15.07.2025
A book is a curated space. As we unfold each page, we move through its architecture like wandering from room to room. Much like arranging an exhibition, every decision: from the first impression to each carefully considered detail of size, materials, and weight, shapes how we navigate and experience its world.
Papierräume presents the intimate paper spaces crafted by artist-designer Lai Ping So. The exhibition showcases a selection of her books from the last five years, including editorial design works spanning Germany and Hong Kong, alongside a selection of her self-published artist books. Through So’s practice, each publication becomes a designed environment where typography, materiality, and narrative come together.
Curation, Design & Photos by @mariko.takagi
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一冊の本は、ひとつのキュレーションされた空間である。ページをめくりながら、私たちは部屋から部屋へと渡り歩くように、その建築の中を移動していく。展示会を企画するのと同様に、一つ一つの決断がこの本の世界をどう横断し、感じるかを決める：第一印象から、大きさ、素材、重さなどの細部に至るまでがデザインの対象となる。
Papierräume（紙の空間）は、アーティストでありデザイナーでもあるライ・ピン・ソーによる親密な紙の空間を紹介する。この展覧会では、ドイツと香港にまたがるエディトリアルデザインの作品を含む、過去5年間の彼女のブックデザインと、自費出版されたアーティストブックからなるセレクションを展示する。ソー氏の制作を通して、各書物はタイポグラフィ、素材、物語が一体となり、デザインされた建築に仕上がる。
展示期間
2025年6月12日(木)ー7月15日(火)
9:00〜19:00 土日休館
場所
同志社女子大学 mscギャラリー
(京田辺キャンパス知徳館6号棟1階C163)
出展者
Lai Ping So氏
