Abstract

Taiwanese artist Chen Chieh-Jen began to employ experimental art actions in the early 1980s. Beginning in the mid-1990s, photography and video installation became the primary media of Chen Chieh-Jen’s artistic practice. While Chen Chieh-Jen has been greatly concerned with the idea of the documentary photograph and video as means of accessing the reality of performance, one wonders why the artist eventually takes up imagery, be it still or moving, as the prime mode of exploring bodily memories, inner experiences, and elusive states of being. One focus of this essay is to examine the connection between the artist’s early and later practices—while shifting from making actions to making images—to consider how the artist is still making actions. As Chen Chieh-Jen constantly experiments with archival materials in his photography and video works, another focus of this essay is to analyze the relationship between action, image, and archive, and in doing so, to provide a new way of thinking about art at the intersection of society.