Artists Rhett Tsai and Chang-Ching Su have presented tandem projects at Chicago's Watershed Art & Ecology, inspired by a joint research trip to fishing villages on China's Huangqi Peninsula. Their works explore the practice of light-lure fishing, with Su creating photographic exposures using the green LED lights from squid-fishing boats and translating satellite fishing data into sculptural installations. Tsai's contributions include CGI films and a VR video that depict the rhythms and social realities of coastal communities, focusing on the Tanka boat-dwelling people.
The exhibition matters for its critical engagement with the ecological and geopolitical implications of industrial fishing. The artists use light as a medium to investigate environmental pollution, cross-strait tensions between China and Taiwan, and the social alienation within global supply chains. Their work transforms technical data and field research into immersive art that makes systemic issues tangible, prompting viewers to consider complicity in environmental disruption and the human cost of standardized labor.