The Zoo Hypothesis
(Lecture Performance)
Hsu Che-Yu
Taipei
Categories
The Zoo Hypothesis
(Lecture Performance)
Hsu Che-Yu
Taipei
Categories
Lecture performance for the video installation by Hsu Che-Yu.
A taxidermist talks about his work and describes the lives of animals that died long ago. His story charts the progress of a wild horse, a chimpanzee, and an orangutan through wars and into the zoos and animal parks that have shaped and homogenized how humans view the world. After years of studying animals in laboratories, zoos, and rehabilitation projects, artist Hsu Che-Yu was commissioned by Theater der Welt 2023 to research the history of zoos in Germany and Taiwan. ‘The Zoo Hypothesis’ consists of a video installation and a lecture performance that explore the role of technology in archiving the world and constructing human memory. At its center lie the tense relationships between animals and humans, and between matter and memory.
Photo: ©Hsu Che-Yu
About the Artist(s)
Hsu Che-Yu, based in Taipei and Amsterdam, creates animations and films in which he explores media in relation to individual and collective memories. After completing a Master’s degree at the Graduate Institute of Plastic Arts, National University of Tainan, he has continued his studies at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam since 2022. His work has been shown at the Shanghai Biennale (2018), London Design Biennale (2018), 34th Bienal de São Paulo (2021), VIDEONALE.18 (2021), the New York Film Festival (2020), and the International Film Festival Rotterdam (2018, 2020, 2023).