This series by Ting-Ting Cheng illustrates the distances between different cultures and how national identity influences the way people judge others in our society. In the project, Ting-Ting Cheng literally judges books by their cover. For the series, the artist borrowed books of foreign languages from a library, and photographed the side of each language stack. Apart from the clue in the titles, the viewer cannot tell what language the books belong to. Language, in our society, works as a …

This series by Ting-Ting Cheng illustrates the distances between different cultures and how national identity influences the way people judge others in our society. In the project, Ting-Ting Cheng literally judges books by their cover. For the series, the artist borrowed books of foreign languages from a library, and photographed the side of each language stack. Apart from the clue in the titles, the viewer cannot tell what language the books belong to. Language, in our society, works as a selection mechanism. It selects audience, deciding who is able to read the books. By randomly choosing the books of language she cannot understand, Cheng positions herself as a ‘cultural outsider’, that 'judges a book by its cover’. By hiding the language and the content of the books, Cheng intends to distance viewers from what is underneath in different cultures, imitating the selection process language does in our everyday life, symbolizing the barriers among people from diverse backgrounds.

Ting-Ting Cheng’s exquisite photographs explore the relationship between objects and people’s emotions towards them. Ting has developed a very particular style of still life that mixes a delicate treatment of the image with an absurdist vision of capitalism and the every day life. The resulting…

Ting-Ting Cheng’s exquisite photographs explore the relationship between objects and people’s emotions towards them. Ting has developed a very particular style of still life that mixes a delicate treatment of the image with an absurdist vision of capitalism and the every day life. The resulting works are minimal and austere, but always poignant artistic plays with the conflicts between branding (the ultimate artificial tool) and nature. In 2011 Ting-Ting Cheng will have her first extensive solo show, opening next June at the Taipei Fine Art Museum.