The Guide to Post-Apocalyptic Survival on the Third Planet of the Solar System
By｜Li-Hao Chang
Prologue: Animals of the Imagination
In 1957, Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986), one of the most iconic Argentine writers of the 20th century, published Mannal de zoologia fantástica, a book detailing 82 imaginary creatures. In 1966, a revised and expanded edition was published, with the title changed to El libro de Los series imaginarios (Book of Imaginary Beings), and the number of species included in the book increased to 116. Of course, according to his idea, the number could be increased perpetually.
Therefore, if at some point in time the term “Parrotman” is finally included in this book, perhaps the following explanation will appear: “A social animal with a parrot head and human body that does not know exactly to which planet they belong. They are simple and clumsy, and often behave in ways that are difficult for others to comprehend. The first Parrotmen who came to Earth were archaeologists, biologists, and other scholars from different fields, and were tasked with investigating human civilization before the apocalypse.” This imaginary creature is the work of artist Chang, Teng-Yuan.
Hence, the story unfolds.
Chapter 1: The Other Me in a Parallel Universe
“I like hourglasses, maps, eighteenth century typography, the taste of coffee and the prose of Stevenson; he shares these preferences, but in a vain way that turns them into the attributes of an actor. It would be an exaggeration to say that ours is a hostile relationship; I live, let myself go on living, so that Borges may contrive his literature, and this literature justifies me.”
— Jorge Luis Borges
Chang likes to read science fiction, collects countless toy figures, and has a studio full of caudex plants… he is a novelist who prefers writing with visual imagery. Some people distinguish the creation of fiction into two approaches: one is the creation of a whole world and then the creation of characters in it; the other is the creation of characters and then the development of a new world through them. If we apply this term, Chang’s works is closer to the latter.
Through a view of the universe akin to that of a parallel world, and a character set up with a perceptible imagery of a Parrotman, the inspiration for the creation of the work is derived mostly from real experiences. But the important thing is not to reproduce, but to create the fiction of reality in an elaborate way, so that all the things in the image will change in nature, and then construct a narrative that is both familiar and distinct.
Chang has always been accustomed to using the year as the basic unit, by selecting key words as the entry point of each creative stage, so that his works are mostly in line with contemporary events. Therefore, observation, fragmentation, trends, reality and fiction, and transformation …… are undoubtedly the key words to understand his creations.
Therefore, only the curious viewer can stimulate his or her own imagination and be rewarded with a kaleidoscope of variations.
Chapter 2: The End and the Beginning
“Those who knew
what was going on here
must make way for
those who know little.
And less than little.
And finally as little as nothing.”
— “The End and the Beginning,” Wisława Szymborska
Let’s rewind the clock a bit to September 11, 2001; a scene that is perhaps the closest thing to an apocalypse for most humans alive today: two planes hijacked by terrorists crashed into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York, a major American landmark, and the specter of terrorism has loomed over every corner of the world ever since. Paradoxically, as the media keeps replaying the same images to eyes around the world, their authenticity seems to be diluted and come into doubt, forming a special scene of the digital age.
By leveraging this event as a catalyst, since 2011, Chang has been trying to apply the immersive experience of the viewing effect to his works, expanding the imagery and context of his paintings. During this period, he has also focused on his inner self and emotions, utilizing a more symbolic approach to deal with some elements in large strokes before detailed refinement, and even using some stroke patterns similar to traditional ink and wash to compile an extremely pronounced language and spectrum of painting.
For example, in 2016, Chang’s focus was on the refugee influx in Europe. By incorporating this ongoing event into his work, he not only documents the choices made by human beings from a bystander’s point of view, but also reminds himself of how to avoid an absolutely singular perspective in retrospect. In particular, through his adept use of perspective, his compositions sometimes take on a distant view to imbue the work with an epic scale, while at other times they are interspersed with sudden close-ups and details, creating a sense of a linear break in time when the viewer looks at his work, as if breaking into a spiral of other substances that may burst into existence.
Chapter 3: Imitation, and the Inevitability of Misunderstanding
“Come, let us go down, and there confound their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.”
— Genesis 11:7
The core of the Parrotmen’s logic of thinking is the two verbs “imitate” and “misunderstand”; they try to understand human beings by imitating human behavior, and they are not at all concerned with the increasingly ridiculous behavior. The seemingly dumb and garish actions of the Parrotmen infer to humans who want to challenge the authority of God and are unable to communicate with each other.
“After imitating humans, Parrotmen began to want to become humans,” said Chang. In order to demonstrate such a will, the Parrotmen have reached out to a wider and wider scope of activities. In addition to setting up laboratories on the apocalyptic Earth to cultivate, assemble and create new species, they can be seen in geological surveys, space exploration, and even in the face of the current pandemic, they can be seen entering some spaces where there is no trace of human life. The imaginary world suggests a cold and pretentious stage; the many characters played by the Parrotmen are a true repetition of the political, economic, military, and cultural perversions of the real world, and the absurdity of human existence that is all too real.
Chapter 4: The End has Arrived, and the Holy Temple is Among Us
“We are ignorant of the meaning of the dragon in the same way that we are ignorant of the meaning of the universe; but there is something in the dragon’s image that fits man’s imagination, and this accounts for the dragon’s appearance in different places and periods.”
— Jorge Luis Borges
Some artists’ creations always throw out abstract questions when one least expects it. The Garden of Earthly Delights by the 15th century Dutch painter, alchemist, and cult member Hieronymus Bosch (1405–1516), for example, is a masterpiece that reinterprets biblical texts and folklore with intricate painting techniques and a multitude of obscure and cryptic symbols, creating an eerie and preternatural landscape that is both contemporaneous and chronological, with many unanswered questions.
Like Bosch, Chang is always searching for the most suitable way to create his works, such as by exploring the juxtaposition and intertextual possibilities of the real and the virtual to the fullest extent. As he approaches the first decade of his creative career, the epidemic continues unabated, and the Parrotmen, who were also trapped in a flurry of worries, became interested in the history of human art, and once again echoed the concept of multiverses. In these works, which are still evolving, fragments of human history are cast in varying shades. For example, the glory of the Medici family is again briefly reflected in the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore (Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower), albeit with some obvious distortion. Perhaps it is as futile as man’s attempts to figure out how nature works.
In the end, the so-called exceptions, fallacies or misjudgments continue to occur again and again in a similar time and space. We have no way of knowing the meaning of the existence of the Parrotman; therefore, for those who feel confused and disappointed in the reality of life and want to change the status quo, Chang’s creations may not be able to bring salvation to people, but to a certain extent, it enables us to understand better that the end is here in the present, and the holy temple is also in the human world. When you get up and take the first step, you should be mentally prepared. The journey begins after everything has collapsed in the universe, and the destination is in a distant and unknown universe. Welcome to an apocalyptic world where all logic is reset; be sure to pick up the Guide to Post-Apocalyptic Survival on the Third Planet of the Solar System, because the story continues......
— Originally published in the catalogue 《張騰遠作品集 2015–2021》, pp. 6–9