Taking Part in Mettiment

From 1992 to 1997, Kuo focused on his Taiwan Windows series, which explored Taiwan’s history over the past century through the lens of folk culture. Taking Part in Mettiment (Dou Re-nao) is regarded by the artist as the most significant and definitive work in this series. Drawing on folk imagery and historical scenes commonly seen in early Taiwan, the work portrays the cultural transformation of society from the classical to the modern and postmodern. Through this process of revisiting the characteristics of Taiwan’s history, Kuo evokes complex experiences spanning different eras, as well as collective memories that are at once unfamiliar and yet familiar.