The Taipei Cultural Center in New York is pleased to invite moviegoers and art enthusiasts to join us for the premiere screenings of FACE THE EARTH, a documentary by the acclaimed filmmaker Ming-Chuan Huang showcasing the groundbreaking work of the performance artist Chin Chih Yang whose lifelong focus on the culture of waste, on this weekend of Nov. 18 and 19.
FACE THE EARTH puts viewers right next to Yang as 30,000 aluminum cans are dumped on his head to call our attention to the vast amount of waste each of us creates - the average person uses and discards 30,000 cans in their lifetime! Sit alongside Chin Chih and passersby in New York City’s storied Union Square, on a giant block of ice and ponder the possibility that the polar ice cap will be gone by 2050. Watch the public participate with the artist to help him create his Giant Can Family at the Contemporary Art Museum of Taipei. Learn how he makes sturdy whole cloth out of discarded potato chip bags and gain insight into how each of us can FACE THE EARTH and contribute to her resuscitation.
The special screenings will take place on Nov. 18 and 19 at the Queens Museum and Anthology Film Archive respectively, both followed by Q&A with the filmmaker Ming-Chuan Huang and artist Chin Chih Yang. Visit queensmuseum.org/ for more information and RSVP for seating.
About the filmmaker, Ming-Chuan Huang
Born in Chiayi, Taiwan in 1955, Huang Ming-Chuan lives now in Taipei. Graduating from the Department of Law of National Taiwan University, he left Taiwan to study Lithographic Printmaking in Art Students League of New York and Fine Arts and Photography at Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles. Huang’s feature film THE MAN FROM ISLAND WEST claimed an Excellent Cinematography Award at Hawaii international Film Festival and a Silver Screen Award at Singapore international Film Festival in 1990. In 1998 his FLAT TYRE was awarded Best film in the non-commercial category at Taipei Film Festival and Jury Award at the Golden Horse Festival, Taiwan. As a documentary director, Huang has made numerous documentaries on art subjects and has been the artistic director of the Chiayi City International Art Doc Film Festival since 2014.
About the artist, Chin Chih Yang
Multidisciplinary artist Chin Chih Yang was born in Taiwan, and has resided for many years in New York City. He holds degrees from Pratt Institute and Parsons School of Design. Yang’s interests in ecology and constructed environments have resulted in interactive performances and installations in the United States, Poland, Finland, Austria, Germany, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong. He has exhibited/performed at Rockefeller Center, the United Nations, Union Square Park, The Queens Museum, the Godwin-Ternbach Museum, Exit Art, Flux Factory and in 2016 the Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei hosted a major retrospective. Yang strives to lead audiences to a more direct awareness of the effects of contemporary technology and engender compassion for all humanity.
Screening schedule
*Both screenings are followed by Q&A with Dir. Ming-Chuan Huang and artist Chin Chih Yang
The Queens Museum (Flushing Meadows, Queens, NY)
Saturday, November 18, 2 pm
FREE admission with RSVP: http://www.queensmuseum.org/events/premiere-screening-of-face-the-earth-by-ming-chuan-huang
Anthology Film Archive (32 2nd Avenue, Manhattan)
Sunday, November 19, 7 pm
FREE admission by invitation only. For media specific inquiries, please contact Caren Wu at wth@moc.gov.tw