About the Artist
Shih Chieh Huang was born in Taiwan. In his childhood he was inspired by the busheling movement and lights of night markets in Taiwan. From a young age he enjoyed taking apart toys and electronics to learn how they worked. One of his artworks that takes advantage of this is his short film EP-2 which uses sculpture with photo resistor sensors from night light to turn on and off parts of the sculpture when a recorded image of an eye looks in a certain direction.
Most Notable Works
Reusable Universe is the name of his most resent exhibit at the Worcester Art Museum. This name is significant in two ways, for his use of up-cycling and for the way he reuses his sculptures with slight additions and rearrangements in his new works of art. In this way, his creatures evolve with his
Synthetic Microcosm shows some of the same components as Reusable Universe in a more primitive form.
Components
- Materials:
Plastic bags, PC fans, LED rings, LED strips, steel wire, zip ties, plastic containers, aluminum extrusion, copper wiring, tubing, highlighter fluid.
- Technology:
Complex light/fan control program and Custom PCB power distribution board
Tools and Technique
Shih Chieh Huang frequent “up-cycles’ ordinary modern manufactured components into his works of art. He specializes in combining mundane modern materials and technology in creative ways to form complex sculptures. Here we can see the tupperware container used to house the micro controller and power distribution board for many of his sculptures.
Concepts and Ideas
Inspired by deep sea life after his fellowship at the Smithsonian where he worked with preserved deep sea creatures. Many of his works have an organic feel especially when taken in from a distance then only when the observer gets closer can they see the complex circuitry that makes his sculptures possible. This way he manages to capture some of the magic of exotic organic creatures through extremely inorganic means.
Use of sound
Shih Chieh Huang’s work also takes advantage of passive auditory effects to form part of the surreal experience. Seductive evolution takes advantage of the mechanical relays that turn on and off the different parts of the sculpture to create a perfectly synchronized sound.
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