There is increasing interest in producing and presenting artworks in diverse non-art venues that are outside of the conventional gallery space: for example, an exhibition might be held in an unfamiliar location such as a bunker or an abandoned prison, or it might offer a different experience in a familiar environment such as an ordinary house, a shopping district, or a railway station. These exhibitions, which take place temporarily in the everyday environment, provide an unanticipated experience and inspire a sense of wonder in viewers, giving them cultural as well as aesthetic value. But how should we describe these types of art practices? This question is the starting point for this special issue of Yishu: Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art—is there a term more appropriate than “public art”1 that can be used to name these art practices within the broader field of contemporary Chinese art?

The term “off-site art” as used in this issue of Yishu refers to the practices mentioned above. Unlike the terms “space” and “place” that have been much discussed by human geographers, sociologists, and architects, the word “site” seems to have been overlooked in these fields of research. However, within contemporary art discourse, the site plays a crucial role in inspiring artistic creations, providing content, and even sometimes becoming as important as the artwork itself, as is the case with land art, environmental art, site-specific art, and installation art. The notion of “site” in contemporary art practice can be taken to refer specifically to “a place of work” or “the place of an artwork.”2 Regarding the notion of “off,” in this context it is multifaceted concept; for example, it can mean “away from the place in question,” “to or at a distance,” “to be removed or separated,” “starting a journey,” or “leaving,”3 and its extended meaning, in my view, could be understood as alternative, experimental, temporal, self-reflective, and independent. The term “off-site,” being a combination of these two words, thus suggests a wide range of interesting connotations.

image (top): Chen Yan-Ming, Lin Meng-Ling, Chiang Ying-Ting, and Su Yu-Hua, Tide, 1994, site-specific installation. Photo: Hsu Po-Hsin. Courtesy of the artists and Taipei County Art Centre.

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