top of page
photo by LA PRAIRIE

by LA PRAIRIE

SU WENCHI

A dancer, choreographer, and new media artist, she founded YILAB in 2005 in Taiwan.

SU began her artistic career in 1998 as a dancer in Taipei Dance Circle and later in Kobalt Works (Belgium), enjoying performing and traveling around the world. In 2005, SU WENCHI founded YILAB, an experimental group of new media and performance artists working on integrating new technology with the performing arts, and seeking to present new performance formats. With the concept that in any given work, there is no single central medium but instead many seemingly similar yet contradictory ideas. Each of the artists participating in the creation is an independent individual with the freedom to put forward various perspectives to explore the core proposition of the work. Combining the concepts and forms of new media and performing arts, SU attempts to rethink the possibilities of performing arts from the perspective of new media, extending the discourse and reflection of contemporary art in the face of the impact of digital technology.

Over the years, SU and YILAB have presented LOOP ME (2009), ReMove Me (2010), W.A.V.E. (2011-2014), Off the Map (2012), Unconditional Love and Fact (2017), Infinity Minus One (2018), Anthropic Shadow (2019), and WAVE ∞ (2020). Their performances and exhibitions have been featured at festivals and theaters in new media arts and performing arts, such as Gu-Ling St. International Theatre Festival, TIFA (Taiwan International Festival of Arts), Taipei Digital Arts Festival, CLAB (Taiwan Sound Lab), Asian Arts Theatre (South Korea), Arcadi Hors Saison, Rencontres Chorégraphiques Internationales de Seine-Saint-Denis, IRCAM Forum, SCOPITONE, Chroniques: Biennale des Imaginaires Numériques, Festival International du Film d'Animation d'Annecy 2023 VR (France), Kunstenfestivaldesarts, STUK (Belgium), LEAP Gallery, Potsdamer Tanztage (Germany), InShadow (Portugal), Kalamata Dance Festival (Greece), Sparks CERN, Mapping Festival, La Bâtie (Switzerland), Performance Space (Australia), among others.

As an individual artist, SU collaborates actively with local and international arts communities. She participated in the research of Watch & Talk Belluard Bollwerk International Festival (Fribourg), GVA Sessions: Choreography in the Quantum Space (Geneva), and RAM Dance-Tech Workshops with YCAM (Bristol). She choreographed for Indonesian Opera Gandari (Closing of Frankfurt Book Fair, 2015) and L'Après-midi de la Gravité (Quanta Tech Art & Performance Festival, Taipei 2010). Recently, she gave lectures and workshops at the Indonesian Dance Festival - Dance Workshop (Bogor, 2016), New Works Forum: Multimedia & Dance Dialogue (West Kowloon Cultural District, HK, 2016), Body & Matter: Science/Performance (TNUA / Center of Art and Technology 2017), CLAB / Taipei Contemporary Culture Lab, and Science & Society Summit at National Taiwan University 2018. She was awarded the Jury's Special Award by Taishin Arts Award in 2009 and was the artist-in-research at EMPAC / Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY in 2020. In 2021, SU WENCHI's collaboration with Swiss skincare house LA PRAIRIE was exclusively presented during Art Basel Miami Beach. In 2024, she was invited to be one of the choreographers in Spring Riot 2024, hosted by Cloud Gate Dance Company.

Works:

2024 Fluid _ Hengshan Calligraphy Art Center (HCAC) X YILAB

2024 STILL LIFE _ Spring Riot 2024, Cloudgate Dance Company (Taiwan)

2022 Thank You Movie God

2021 Moving Towards the Horizon _ LA PRAIRIE X WENCHI SU

2021 Black Hole Museum + Body Browser

2020 WAVE ∞

2019 Anthropic Shadow

2018 Infinity Minus One

2017 Unconditional Love and Fact

2015 Gandari _ Tony Prabowo (Indonesia) 

2015 Reguiem _ Taipei Dance Circle (Taiwan)

2014 W.A.V.E.

2012 Off the Map

2011 W.A.V.E. Berlin

2011 W.A.V.E.

2010 ReMove Me

2009 LOOP ME

Award:

2024 "Fluid", MUSE Creative Awards, Gold Winner _ Experimental Immersive - Virtual Reality 

2024 "Fluid", MUSE Creative Awards, Silver Winner _ Experimental Immersive - Experimental Immersive

2023 "Black Hole Museum+Body Browser", Official Selection: Aesthetica Short Film Festival 2023 _ VR & Immersive

2023 "Black Hole Museum+Body Browser", Official Selection: 2023 Annecy International Animation Film Festival, VR Works

2019 "Infinity Minus One", Finalist of Taishin Art Award 2018

2017 "W.A.V.E."- World Stage Design, Alternative, Gold Award 

         Designer: SU WENCHI, CHANG Yung-Da

2017 "W.A.V.E."- World Stage Design, Sound Design, Bronze Award

         Designer: CHANG Yung-Da 

2015 Accelerate@CERN Taiwan / Swissland

2013 4th Digital Performance Art Award, Silver Award, Taiwan

2013 "Off the Map" - World Stage Design, Stage Design Final list,

         Designer: WU Chi-Tsung.  

2012 The scholarship for New Media Art/Performance, The Ministry of Education, Taiwan

2012 Outstanding New Media Award, Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts ,Taiwan

2011 PAR (Performing Arts review, Taiwan) People of the year 2010

2010 “ReMove Me” - Nomination for the 10th Taishin Performance Art Award Taiwan

2009 The Jury's Special Award, the 9th Taishin Art Award, Taiwan

2009 “LOOP ME” - Nomination for the 9th Taishin Performance Art Award Taiwan

Artistic Residence:

2024 Asia TOPA (Asia-Pacific Triennial of Performing Arts)+Science Gallery Melbourne, Stawell Underground Physics Laboratory (SUPL), ARC Centre of Excellence for Dark Matter Particle Physics, Melbourne, AUSTRALIA

2023 Asia TOPA (Asia-Pacific Triennial of Performing Arts) Artist Lab, Arts Centre Melbourne, AUSTRALIA

2020 EMPAC / The Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center, NY USA

2019 EMPAC / The Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center, NY USA

2018 Performance Space, Critical Path, Sydney, Australia

2018  Le Phénix, Valenciennes, FRANCE

2017 Artist-in-Residence of the National Performing Arts Center - National Theater & Concert Hall, Taiwan R.O.C.

2016 Accelerate@CERN, Geneva Switzerland

2012 Watch&Talk, Belluard Bollwerk International Festival in Fribourg, Swissland.

2012 National Council of Cultural Affaires of Taiwan: Residence Artist in Paris, France.

2009 Taipei International Artists’ Village: Artistic residence in CCD Beijing China.

2008 Paris City Hall and Cite Internationale des Arts: Residence Artist in Paris, France.

2007 National Council of Cultural Affaires of Taiwan: Residence Artist in Paris, France.  

Education:

Practice-led PhD (ongoing), Drama, Theatre and Performance, University of Roehampton, London UK

MA, New Media Art, Taipei National University of the Arts, TAIWAN

bottom of page