{"id":6578,"date":"2025-10-22T14:23:40","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T06:23:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/01x10.tw\/en\/?page_id=6578"},"modified":"2026-06-02T20:22:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T12:22:29","slug":"comment-creating-a-parallel-universe","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/01x10.tw\/en\/comment-creating-a-parallel-universe\/","title":{"rendered":"Comment- Creating a Parallel Universe"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n \n
\n
\n

Creating a Parallel Universe<\/h2> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n \n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

Creating a Parallel Universe \u2014 Hsieh Chun-Te\u2019s Brave the World<\/h4>\n

By Chen Fang-Ming (Writer, Scholar)<\/strong><\/p>\n

When Hsieh Chun-Te invited me to participate in his photography project\u00a0Brave the World, he gave no elaborate explanation. All he asked was that I arrive at a studio in Zhonghe at a specific time. After getting lost among the maze-like rooftops, I finally found the location\u2014only to see architect Hsu Ching-Yue already half-naked under the studio lights. The scene startled me. I didn\u2019t yet know what the project was about. I later learned that many other writers in Taipei had already participated\u2014Sun Ta-Chuan, Wu Jing-Ji, Tsai Shih-Ping, Hsiang Yang, Chiu Kun-Liang, Lin Wen-Yi\u2014this gave me some reassurance. Clearly, there was a larger meaning behind this.<\/p>\n

Before the photo session, I was interviewed by volunteers from a Catholic foundation for people with dementia. They had read my essay \u201cFlowing Into the Sea,\u201d written in memory of my mother who had Alzheimer\u2019s. The deepest sorrow as a son, I wrote, was sitting beside one\u2019s mother\u2014her warm palm still in yours\u2014while her eyes stared vacantly through you. I would tell her funny stories to try to elicit a reaction. Sometimes, a slight smile flickered on her lips, which I took as a sign of connection. Other times, she would fix her gaze on a distant point, seeing things that weren\u2019t there. \u201cWho\u2019s standing outside the window?\u201d she would ask. No one was.<\/p>\n

Knowing that Hsieh\u2019s project aimed to speak for the elderly with dementia\u2014and to advocate for Taiwan\u2019s long-term care policy\u2014I felt it a duty to participate. Watching Hsu Ching-Yue rehearse over and over under the hot lights, I knew I couldn\u2019t retreat. Sitting there, I asked myself: what is a soul?<\/p>\n

Hsieh once told me: \u201cI\u2019ve met many elderly people with dementia. They\u2019re always smiling, seemingly happy. But those smiles are meaningless\u2014the soul is already gone. Only the body remains.\u201d His explanation shook me. Had my mother\u2019s soul left long ago? Had heaven, in its mercy\u2014or cruelty\u2014allowed her body to stay with me while taking her essence away? I had no answer. A doctor\u2019s X-ray showed the gap between her brain and skull widening. The folds of her hippocampus slowly flattened. If memory is gone, is the soul gone, too?<\/p>\n

I watched her slip away piece by piece, her mind returning to her seventeen-year-old self. Speaking again in elegant Japanese, she regressed into another time, another world. She was still alive beside me\u2014but I was already losing her. And she never looked back.<\/p>\n

At the shoot, none of us knew our roles. Hsieh moved us like chess pieces\u2014calm, confident, rehearsing each shot again and again. He adjusted our bodies, our pace, the flow. His attention to detail was astonishing. The costumes he designed\u2014white caps, short capes, flowing skirts\u2014resembled angels in religious paintings. A group of elders over sixty, dressed alike, looked almost holy.<\/p>\n

Each shoot took thirty to forty minutes. It felt like we were hovering\u2014not standing\u2014on the white backdrop. No shadows. No context. No weight. Just twelve figures in white, gliding through an imagined void. This was Hsieh\u2019s parallel universe.<\/p>\n

His aim was not only to portray dementia, but to meditate on aging and mortality. As Taiwan enters an aging society, and as he himself grows older, Hsieh remains an artist of social conscience. Back in 1992, when I directed the DPP\u2019s publicity department, I invited him to design campaign posters for the \u201cElderly Pension\u201d initiative. He created one image of a baby symbolizing the future, and another of an elderly face representing social neglect. The posters made a significant impact. Our friendship began there.<\/p>\n

Now, by inviting writers and scholars to embody early aging, he reconnects art with historical memory. We\u2014those who lived through Taiwan\u2019s turbulence\u2014stand together in stillness. No hierarchy. No ranking. In Hsieh\u2019s parallel universe, all souls are equal.<\/p>\n

His aesthetic is an act of liberation. In the clean, weightless world he conjures, there is no fear\u2014not of age, not of forgetting, not of death. His angels are free of memory, and thus free of suffering. They drift between worlds, emptied of time and history, unburdened by emotion.<\/p>\n

Hsieh\u2019s vision is not just about Alzheimer\u2019s. It is about how we remember, and what it means to forget. Memory is the soul\u2019s home. To forget is to relinquish meaning\u2014and perhaps, paradoxically, to be free.<\/p>\n

Through\u00a0Brave the World, I have come to terms with my mother\u2019s death. She may have lost all memory, but perhaps that too was a form of happiness. In forgetting, she was released. Through Hsieh\u2019s art, I learned to let go.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Creating a Parallel Universe<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-6578","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","has-post-title","has-post-date","has-post-category","has-post-tag","has-post-comment","has-post-author",""],"yoast_head":"\nComment- Creating a Parallel Universe - Hsieh Chun-Te<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/01x10.tw\/en\/comment-creating-a-parallel-universe\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Comment- Creating a Parallel Universe - Hsieh Chun-Te\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Creating a Parallel Universe\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/01x10.tw\/en\/comment-creating-a-parallel-universe\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hsieh Chun-Te\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-02T12:22:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/01x10.tw\\\/en\\\/comment-creating-a-parallel-universe\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/01x10.tw\\\/en\\\/comment-creating-a-parallel-universe\\\/\",\"name\":\"Comment- Creating a Parallel Universe - Hsieh Chun-Te\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/01x10.tw\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-22T06:23:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-02T12:22:29+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/01x10.tw\\\/en\\\/comment-creating-a-parallel-universe\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/01x10.tw\\\/en\\\/comment-creating-a-parallel-universe\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/01x10.tw\\\/en\\\/comment-creating-a-parallel-universe\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/01x10.tw\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Comment- Creating a Parallel Universe\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/01x10.tw\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/01x10.tw\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Hsieh Chun-Te\",\"description\":\"Taiwanese Contemporary Artist\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/01x10.tw\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Comment- Creating a Parallel Universe - Hsieh Chun-Te","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/01x10.tw\/en\/comment-creating-a-parallel-universe\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Comment- Creating a Parallel Universe - Hsieh Chun-Te","og_description":"Creating a Parallel Universe","og_url":"https:\/\/01x10.tw\/en\/comment-creating-a-parallel-universe\/","og_site_name":"Hsieh Chun-Te","article_modified_time":"2026-06-02T12:22:29+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"8 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/01x10.tw\/en\/comment-creating-a-parallel-universe\/","url":"https:\/\/01x10.tw\/en\/comment-creating-a-parallel-universe\/","name":"Comment- Creating a Parallel Universe - Hsieh Chun-Te","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/01x10.tw\/en\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-10-22T06:23:40+00:00","dateModified":"2026-06-02T12:22:29+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/01x10.tw\/en\/comment-creating-a-parallel-universe\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/01x10.tw\/en\/comment-creating-a-parallel-universe\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/01x10.tw\/en\/comment-creating-a-parallel-universe\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/01x10.tw\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Comment- Creating a Parallel Universe"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/01x10.tw\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/01x10.tw\/en\/","name":"Hsieh Chun-Te","description":"Taiwanese Contemporary Artist","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/01x10.tw\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"builder_content":"<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">Creating a Parallel Universe<\/h2>\n<h4>Creating a Parallel Universe \u2014 Hsieh Chun-Te\u2019s Brave the World<\/h4> <p><strong>By Chen Fang-Ming (Writer, Scholar)<\/strong><\/p> <p>When Hsieh Chun-Te invited me to participate in his photography project\u00a0Brave the World, he gave no elaborate explanation. All he asked was that I arrive at a studio in Zhonghe at a specific time. After getting lost among the maze-like rooftops, I finally found the location\u2014only to see architect Hsu Ching-Yue already half-naked under the studio lights. The scene startled me. I didn\u2019t yet know what the project was about. I later learned that many other writers in Taipei had already participated\u2014Sun Ta-Chuan, Wu Jing-Ji, Tsai Shih-Ping, Hsiang Yang, Chiu Kun-Liang, Lin Wen-Yi\u2014this gave me some reassurance. Clearly, there was a larger meaning behind this.<\/p> <p>Before the photo session, I was interviewed by volunteers from a Catholic foundation for people with dementia. They had read my essay \u201cFlowing Into the Sea,\u201d written in memory of my mother who had Alzheimer\u2019s. The deepest sorrow as a son, I wrote, was sitting beside one\u2019s mother\u2014her warm palm still in yours\u2014while her eyes stared vacantly through you. I would tell her funny stories to try to elicit a reaction. Sometimes, a slight smile flickered on her lips, which I took as a sign of connection. Other times, she would fix her gaze on a distant point, seeing things that weren\u2019t there. \u201cWho\u2019s standing outside the window?\u201d she would ask. No one was.<\/p> <p>Knowing that Hsieh\u2019s project aimed to speak for the elderly with dementia\u2014and to advocate for Taiwan\u2019s long-term care policy\u2014I felt it a duty to participate. Watching Hsu Ching-Yue rehearse over and over under the hot lights, I knew I couldn\u2019t retreat. Sitting there, I asked myself: what is a soul?<\/p> <p>Hsieh once told me: \u201cI\u2019ve met many elderly people with dementia. They\u2019re always smiling, seemingly happy. But those smiles are meaningless\u2014the soul is already gone. Only the body remains.\u201d His explanation shook me. Had my mother\u2019s soul left long ago? Had heaven, in its mercy\u2014or cruelty\u2014allowed her body to stay with me while taking her essence away? I had no answer. A doctor\u2019s X-ray showed the gap between her brain and skull widening. The folds of her hippocampus slowly flattened. If memory is gone, is the soul gone, too?<\/p> <p>I watched her slip away piece by piece, her mind returning to her seventeen-year-old self. Speaking again in elegant Japanese, she regressed into another time, another world. She was still alive beside me\u2014but I was already losing her. And she never looked back.<\/p> <p>At the shoot, none of us knew our roles. Hsieh moved us like chess pieces\u2014calm, confident, rehearsing each shot again and again. He adjusted our bodies, our pace, the flow. His attention to detail was astonishing. The costumes he designed\u2014white caps, short capes, flowing skirts\u2014resembled angels in religious paintings. A group of elders over sixty, dressed alike, looked almost holy.<\/p> <p>Each shoot took thirty to forty minutes. It felt like we were hovering\u2014not standing\u2014on the white backdrop. No shadows. No context. No weight. Just twelve figures in white, gliding through an imagined void. This was Hsieh\u2019s parallel universe.<\/p> <p>His aim was not only to portray dementia, but to meditate on aging and mortality. As Taiwan enters an aging society, and as he himself grows older, Hsieh remains an artist of social conscience. Back in 1992, when I directed the DPP\u2019s publicity department, I invited him to design campaign posters for the \u201cElderly Pension\u201d initiative. He created one image of a baby symbolizing the future, and another of an elderly face representing social neglect. The posters made a significant impact. Our friendship began there.<\/p> <p>Now, by inviting writers and scholars to embody early aging, he reconnects art with historical memory. We\u2014those who lived through Taiwan\u2019s turbulence\u2014stand together in stillness. No hierarchy. No ranking. In Hsieh\u2019s parallel universe, all souls are equal.<\/p> <p>His aesthetic is an act of liberation. In the clean, weightless world he conjures, there is no fear\u2014not of age, not of forgetting, not of death. His angels are free of memory, and thus free of suffering. They drift between worlds, emptied of time and history, unburdened by emotion.<\/p> <p>Hsieh\u2019s vision is not just about Alzheimer\u2019s. It is about how we remember, and what it means to forget. Memory is the soul\u2019s home. To forget is to relinquish meaning\u2014and perhaps, paradoxically, to be free.<\/p> <p>Through\u00a0Brave the World, I have come to terms with my mother\u2019s death. She may have lost all memory, but perhaps that too was a form of happiness. In forgetting, she was released. Through Hsieh\u2019s art, I learned to let go.<\/p>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/01x10.tw\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/01x10.tw\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/01x10.tw\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/01x10.tw\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/01x10.tw\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6578"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/01x10.tw\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6578\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8063,"href":"https:\/\/01x10.tw\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6578\/revisions\/8063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/01x10.tw\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}