Taipower Art Festival — Sleepless in Stone (2024)
Curated by Eva Lin

These photographs are a nocturnal exploration of both the human and natural history from what remains of the mining industry that defined Jinguashi (金瓜石), a small mining town on the northeast coast of Taiwan, from the discovery of gold and copper in the late 19th century until the closing of the Shuinandong Smelter (水湳洞選煉廠) in 1987.

Although the ruins and physical evidence from this recent epoch are becoming forgotten in the dense vegetation, the memories of prosperity and pain still linger. My photography is an observation of this passage between eras as the distant past melds into the present. The transition is evident on geologic and human time scales, as lived experiences transform into history and eventually myth. This period is characterized by various forms of collapse: from distant stars collapsing and forming gold in their explosions to the collapse of an empire that led to the extraction of one precious mineral to another and finally to the global market of that commodity collapsing and shuttering the local mining industry. Unlike so many ghost towns left behind in the wake of collapse, a new future has emerged as visitors from around the world are drawn to this small town’s charm, natural beauty and historical preservation.

All of these photographs were made at night during solitary walks between Shuinandong Harbor (水湳洞漁港) and the summit of Teapot Mountain (無耳茶壺山). Many of these photos are illuminated using ultraviolet light to reveal the otherwise unseen fluorescence of certain minerals and organic material present in the rocks and ruins.