Paul Sermon has been commissioned by the Taipei Artists Village (TAV) to create a new artwork.

TAV is a four storied building located in the heart of Taiwan Governmental District in Taipei City.

TAV's Mission

'With Taipei city as the backdrop for creativity, Tav will provide freedom and opportunity for innovation in the making of visual art, music, literature and performance, art, and exchange between Taiwan and the rest of the world.'

TAV's Vision

'Achieving a Creative City by promoting interactions between artists in different fields and the general public.

We hope to develop into one of the leading sites for Arts and Culture in Asia by building a strong network locally and globally.'

For more information about TAV see [link]

This is what Paul Sermon says about himself in relation to this project:

'The audiences form an integral part within these telematic experiments, which simply wouldn’t function without their presence and participation.'

'Initially the viewers seem to enter a passive space, but they are instantly thrown into the performer role by discovering their own body-double in communication with another physically remote user on video monitors in front of them. They usually adapt to the situation quickly and start controlling and choreographing their human avatar. Nevertheless, the installation set up in the form of an open accessible platform offers a second choice of engagement: the passive mode of just observing the public action, which often appears to be a well-rehearsed piece of drama confidently played out by actors. Compelling to watch, it can be a complex issue to discover that the performers are also part of the audience and are merely engaging in a role. The entire installation space then represents two dynamic dramatic functions: the players, controllers, or puppeteers of their own avatar, absorbed by the performing role; and the off-camera members of the audience, who are themselves awaiting the next available slot on the telematic stage, soon to be sharing this split dynamic.'

'As an artist I am both designer of the environment and therefore ‘director’ of the narrative, which I determine through the social and political milieu that I choose to play out in these telepresent encounters.'

All abstracts are from [link]

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