the wall outside Cheng-Hsing Auditorium, Cheng-Hsing Campus

Waiting for Venus is a photographic work shot by Si-Chi Ko on the coast of the Aegean sea in 1979. It is concise in composition and widely recognized as Ko’s chef d’oeuvre bearing his characteristic signature of minimalism. This work was named after “You are waiting for Venus,” a casual remark by the famous poet Chou-Yu Zheng. Waiting for Venus was seemingly shot from a large open window, creating a composition of blue, white and red blocks as concise as a minimalist painting. In other words, the photographer employed the abstract vocabulary of colors to evoke formal associations for the viewers. The milky white wall on the right side and the deep blue Aegean sea on the left provide a romantic atmosphere of Greece. The simple plot revolving around the composition, suggests that Venus is going to rise from the glassy surface of the sea. Symbolizing love and beauty, Venus is invoked as a metaphor to contrast with the photographer’s anxiety as to whether he is able to catch the very moment with perfect precision when he presses the shutter, otherwise the slightest inaccuracy may lead to a huge discrepancy. For those who are focusing on the scene, the arrival of Venus is their only expectation, as if they are yearning for a glaring sunrise. Text/ Hui-Ling Lee Translator/ Sheng-Chih Wang