A city is pretty by its people, abundant with its legends. When one sees legends dawn upon themselves, it’s also when one begins to compose history.
As legend goes, the Urbanus family floats across the universe; an encounter with any of them has been unlikely. Now, upon the 35th anniversary of Metaphysical Art Gallery, they finally arrive, all of them. And the most remarkable of them has to be the Varietal Urbanus Female, the one with flower-like beautiful body. The most special is that they no longer stay 200 meters above, mysterious and obscure, leaving us to only look up to as if to admire. This time, they unfold their wings, layer upon layer, face to face with you, speaking to your curiosity and your soul.
They breathe. They flicker. They flash. They hiss.
They are made of metal, yet they have such a soft body. They are machines, yet they have heartbeats. They have a complex bone structure, yet they look so light that they make dazzling gestures as they move. Their whispers sound so intimate yet ambiguous, as if they are puzzles from afar. And the blinking lights they glow release incessant energy like secret codes from the universe. The closer we look at them, the more obscure they seem. They are mysterious as they have always appeared.
Varietal Urbanus Female 216(h) x 216(w) x137(d)cm 2007 Etched stainless steel, LED, circuits, motors, CPU board, custom software, cable
And it’s no AI. United Research of Anima Machine/U.R.A.M. which Choe U-Ram has been leading, published a study of a new breed of mechanic creature as early as 2006. This mechanic being has a system to absorb sunlight and undergo photosynthesis like a plant. They are a future creature that have existed from the ancient time. URAM found their heartbeats and named this new species Urbanus, lover of the city. URAM also uncovers from the Latin scientific research and confirmation their identity. It’s being hailed as 'Anima Machine'. With this finding they also question the truth of biological memories as well as the cognition of time and space.
Urbanus originated in Choe’s imagination of Tokyo, which he came up with an urban monster hiding above the skyscrapers. Urbanus Female, with their beauty and energetic body, are like Nüwa the goddess in Chinese myth, highlighting their matrilineal qualities. They have a body in a floral shape that absorbs universal energies. When they emit energetic rays, they unwrap themselves like flower blossom and radiate enormous electronic particles. Urbanus Male wander around them, also unfolding their blades, awaiting the release of the energetic rays so they can absorb them. Feeding on universal energies, after a long evolution, those creatures emerge, incredible yet déjà vu. In summer, adult Urbanus Female would give birth to countless mini machines like dandelion seeds, which would float above the streets in the city. Urbanus Male would implant genetic messages in those larvae and continue the prosperity of the urban drifter family.
Urbanus Female Larva 50(h) x 60(w) x 60(d) cm 2006 Metallic material, machinery, electronic device (CPU board, motor)
Having witnessed human civilizations restarted over and over, Urbanus carry with them the secrets of universal energy and, through Choe U-Ram, attempt an enigmatic connection with the Earth. Choe believes that “the definition of life is ambiguous. I’ve always imagined the Deus Ex Machina to be real; as a machine moves, it’s the birth of a life. All their movement is of the metabolic cycle like the internal drive of life.” Thus, like an alchemist of the Middle Ages, simulating natural forms and motions of living creatures, and combining mythic fables and mechanic kinetics, Choe’s Anima Machine is born. “Anima Machine is a species unlike humankind, but they’ve been with us since the ancient times. They are mysterious rare beasts”, says Choe. Such ambiguous space unintelligible between the ancient and the future, and benevolence and menace, creates the imagination of mystery and multiple interpretations for the Anime Machine.
Urbanus male 25(h) x 25(w) x 287(d)cm 2006 Metallic material, machinery, acrylic, electronic device(CPU board, motor)
Just like “Cakra”. Those wings of golden and silver colors, turn and spin in and out of one another, making themselves look like the mandala, telling the harmonic order of all things. They are also fascinating lights and shadows, splendid like the eternal pulse of time.
And the shining magnificent Temple Lamp. With five pairs of thin wings like those of a cicada, reflecting the crystal ball, it slowly moves with delicacy. The crown on top of the chapel and the pearl in the shape of a seashell, they both radiate such warm lights and spin like the sun. In grace and purity they are, expressing elegance and mystery, communicating of memories, time and space with the audience.
Urbanus Male Larva 25(h) x 25(w) x 57(d)cm 2006 Metallic material, machinery, acrylic, electronic device (CPU board, motor)
Ala Aureus (single unit) 123.5 x 23 x 18cm 2017 Metallic material, 24k gold leaf on stainless steel, resin, machinery, electronic device (CPU board, motor, LED)
Ala Aureus, evolved out of Taiwan’s own Broad-tailed Swallowtails, would fly over people asleep on the island before dawn. In those moments when the stars still shine, they would collect dreams, hopes and imaginations from the people, night after night. And their wings would shine, making new golden wings.
Gold Cakra Lamp 40(w) x 57(d) x 22 (h)cm 2014 Metallic material, machinery, electronic device, LED
Choe believes in the ambiguity of life. Once the machine beings to move, it’s also the birth of a life. Their motions all belong to the metabolic cycle upon themselves like the internal drive to a life. The peculiar creatures that Choe makes are like an existence parallel to and symbiotic with human beings since the ancient days. After a long evolution, they emerge in their fantastic, incredible yet familiar look. They appear to represent a myth in search for the origin of human desires; in the meantime, they also seem to tell the prophesy of a newborn ecology.
No stories, no legends. With the arrival of Urbanus, the perplexity of the metaphysical are left to us. As for the distant past and the future times, leave them all for U.R.A.M. to accomplish yet another legend.
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