Shu Lea Cheang presents surveillance-themed installation 3x3x6 for Taiwan at 2019 Venice Biennale

Shu Lea Cheang represents Taiwan at the 2019 Venice Biennale with an installation titled 3x3x6 at Palazzo delle Prigioni. The work examines contemporary surveillance architecture through a trans-punk fiction lens, referencing standardized 3x3 meter prison cells monitored by six cameras. Cheang's project incorporates ten short films based on global incarceration cases involving sexual and gender identity crimes. As a Taiwan-born artist living abroad, she expressed honor at being selected by Taipei Fine Arts Museum and Taiwanese curators. The installation investigates technological evolution from panopticon designs to modern 3-D facial recognition, artificial intelligence, and internet monitoring systems. Cheang previously participated in the 2003 biennale as part of Taiwan's representation and Hou Han Ru's Zone of Urgency exhibition at the Arsenale. For the current presentation, she requested additional bandwidth from Venice Telecom to support data transmission requirements. The artist anticipates viewing digital works by Tamás Waliczky in the Hungarian pavilion and Marko Peljhan representing Slovenia. The Venice Biennale runs from May 11 through November 24, 2019.