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Juror's Statement

HUANG Chih-Yang

類 書 法
In addition to drawing people's attention with attractive prize moneys, Da Dun Fine Arts Exhibition's exciting award ceremony and diverse promotion
activities have also achieved exceptional results and made it an irreplaceable brand among art competitions. Thus, Da Dun Fine Arts Exhibition often
attracts skilled veterans or young talents with great potentials to join the competition, and therefore, winning a prize and getting selected to the exhibition
are no easy feats.
This year's Calligraphy category received 120 entries for the preliminary review, including four overseas entries, revealing the exhibition's rather
unique international ambition and vision; to prize winners, this further adds to their sense of achievement. The jury consisted of CHEN Chin-Chung,
CHEN Wei-Teh, CHUANG Yung-Ku, WU Chih-Chen, and HUANG Chih-Yang, who jointly evaluated and selected 15 entries for the final review of
original works. After several rounds of scoring and selection, the jury selected three top prize winners and nine Award of Merit winners.
First Prize went to YEH Hsiu-Hung's "The Poem of SU Shi," which features SU Shi's poem written in running and cursive scripts at the center,
demonstrating continuity and fluidity of energy; the two sides feature a couplet in clerical script that exhibits a calm and elegant style. The author
combines two separate pieces into one work and adds variations to the font and color, displaying ingenious creativity. Calligraphy
Second Prize winning "Trying Ink. Zhang Qin's Five-Character Couplet" by CHEN Yu-Lin was originally a couplet, but mounted into a central
scroll. The inscriptions have been deliberately placed at the center to present a sense of design with powerful contrast. The seal script is magnificent and
bold, showcasing masterful techniques, and the small-font characters are elegant and lovely, exhibiting a modern yet vintage quality.
Third Prize went to CHI Kuan-Ti's "Poems of Visiting Baojue Temple in Late Spring," in which he uses cursive script to express an abstract
aesthetics of interweaving dots and lines. The work features extensively square brush stroke to imply a carving-like style. Beveled corners constantly
appear to jointly create a contradicting yet harmonious charm with fluid cursive script; however, it seems that the overall format could be bolder.
Award of Merit winner "Poem by XIAO Yan" by CHOU He-Shan features bold seal script with both square and round elements; however, it seems
that the work somewhat lacks the simplicity of seal script. Another Award of Merit winner, HUANG Kuan-Yu's "Ode to the Red Cliff," is inspired by the
Slender Gold style. The work presents powerful and meticulous strokes, but the spacing could be more spontaneous. Award of Merit winner "The Poem
of PEI" by CHOU Hsin-Hui references the style of WANG Jue-Si, featuring concise strokes and neat characters; however, the author could use more
liberty for the ink color and size of characters to enhance liveliness. Other selected works are all impressive, jointly displaying various calligraphic styles
at a high level.
The truth is, art jurors must strike a balance between objectivity and subjectivity, and every juror has own independent standards. Therefore, the
important thing is to demand and insist on fairness and objectivity in the evaluation process; however, the outcomes depend on contestants' traditional
strengths and modern creativity, as well as jurors' objective tastes, and it is only natural that people have different opinions. Nonetheless, to win a prize
is highly applaudable, and all the selected entries demonstrate high levels of expressiveness. I believe that, by participating in the competition, all artists
understand the importance of cultivating one's abilities and the humility of embracing and accepting the outcomes; I'd like to encourage all participating
artists that this is perhaps the very attitude and mindset required of a calligrapher.
Thanks to the Cultural Affairs Bureau of Taichung City for offering such great platform every year, allowing outstanding calligraphers to learn from
others and be part in friendly competition, jointly exhibiting temporal charms of the culture of calligraphy.