The Promise of If_Cave
2016
13 Video(2001-2016) Installation view
Gestures and Archives of the Present, Genealogies of the Future, The 10th Taipei Biennale

The Promise of If_Cave (2001-2015) consists of archives of some disappearing areas, performances, videos and installations. It is like an abnormal chronicle disturbing the viewer’s memory and presents a cosmos of illusions and fear with its chaotic and non-linear timeline. It shows an artistic imagination and contemplation by reflecting upon the relationship among individual, community and nature—an attempt to transcend the boundary between the living and the dead.

Articulation—Bone Anonymous (2012), Wearable Road (2015), Home (2012-2015), Monument 300—Chasing Watermarks (2013-2015) and Liquide Commune (2011) are excavation projects to counter urban development. Farewell (2011) encourages the viewer to use their imagination to search for an oblivious presence through the precious artifacts in restoration premises.

New Town Ghost (2005), S.O.S.—Adoptive Dissensus (2009) and The Weight of Hands (2010) are Lim’s video installations documenting disappearing places and people. In New Town—Point, Line, Plane (2009), Lim uses deserted linoleum discarded from rooftop houses. Later in Planet (2015), latex is poured into a site scheduled to be demolished due to urban regeneration. With the technique similar to development in photography, the miscellaneous stuff attached to the latex grout then becomes clues for the remains left behind.

An on-going series of works combining installation and performance art, Portable Keeper creates spatial and temporal chaos by using both natural and synthetic materials, such as a totem pole from a primitive tribe. The work takes the viewer onto a trip spanning across time and space where they will encounter a cave while the work leads them in search of their memories. A place of absence formed through the flow of time, the cave is where human beings survived through acts of documentation and rituals. In that sense, the cave is a very anti-nation site that can never be conquered.

Wearable road installation view

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 The Promise of If_Cave   Installation View 
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 The Promise of If_Cave   Installation View 
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 The Promise of If_Cave   International Calling Frequency 
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 The Promise of If_Cave   New Town_Point Line Plane (?~2009)