24 Xiao / 二十四孝
What we believe to be our own choices may simply be answers we have long grown accustomed to.
2005-2006
Created between 2005 and 2006 in collaboration with WANG CHINGLISH, 24 Xiao draws upon the twenty-four traditional narratives of filial devotion in Chinese culture, reconstructing their figures, gestures, and situations through the visual language of fashion photography.
The work began as a reflection on the uncritical pursuit of trends, but it also asks a broader question: when values are repeatedly transmitted through culture, family, and collective recognition, can we still distinguish our own choices from answers we have simply learned to accept?
24 Xiao neither rejects filial devotion nor judges inherited values as right or wrong. Instead, it examines how individuals move between the desire to belong and the desire to be different, and how collective values gradually become personal beliefs.
Research Statement 2026
24 Xiao was created between 2005 and 2006 in collaboration with WANG CHINGLISH. Drawing upon the twenty-four traditional narratives of filial devotion in Chinese culture, the work reconstructs their figures, gestures, and situations through the visual language of fashion photography.
At the time, the project responded to the uncritical pursuit of trends. Looking back two decades later, however, I understand its deeper concern to be the ways in which values are shaped by culture and collective recognition, then internalised as beliefs that appear natural or self-evident.
Human beings seek belonging and fear being different, yet also attempt to affirm their individuality through appearance, taste, and consumption. We therefore pursue distinction through shared images and symbols, often mistaking collective approval for personal choice.
By placing an Eastern ethical narrative within the conventions of Western fashion imagery, 24 Xiao brings two systems of value into dialogue: one shapes behaviour through tradition and family, while the other shapes desire through media and popular culture.
The work neither rejects filial devotion nor judges whether inherited values are right or wrong. Instead, it asks:
When values have been repeatedly inherited and affirmed, can we still distinguish what we truly believe from what we have simply learned to accept?
Original Artist Statement | 2006
The following statement was written at the time of the work’s creation and is preserved as part of the development of the work and the artist’s thinking.
In 2006, Liang Su boldly reinterpreted fashion inspired by the Northern Song-style “gongbi” (fine brush) painting technique - melding classical Chinese aesthetics with contemporary photographic expression. This innovative fusion established a new visual language that has since become a landmark in modern fashion imagery.
The project draws upon the ancient Chinese moral tales of “The Twenty-Four Filial Piety,” applying their exaggerated devotion to the realm of fashion. It parallels the absurd acts of filial piety in traditional stories with the equally obsessive rituals of loyalty to fashion seen in modern culture. Both, Su suggests, reveal how devotion - whether to family or to image - can slip into blind worship.
At its core, fashion is a lifestyle shaped by consumerism. It extends beyond clothing into a symbolic system of identity, belonging, and self-worth. In today’s society, the meaning of life has become deeply entangled with what we own and what we buy. Consumption no longer fulfills need; it is now a representation of value, status, and desirability.
The Twenty-Four Filial Piety uses the language of consumption to satirize the emptiness and longing of modern life, inviting reflection on how post-millennial values have redefined the concept of devotion. As our sense of worth grows increasingly tied to possessions and public recognition, Su poses a quiet but urgent question:
“When we pursue brands and fame, how much of our true selves remains?”
Artwork Information
Archival inkjet print
39-56.5 × 54-82 cm
Exhibitions
2023 Impulse, ChaShaMa Foundation, New York, USA
2022 SupaVenezia, A Plus A Gallery, Venice, Italy
2013 Heineken Light - BOUNCE Art Exhibition, Taipei, Taiwan
2011 70/80 Taiwan New Designers Exhibit, Chengdu, China
2007 Very Fun Park, Fubon Art Foundation, Taipei, Taiwan
2007 Museum of Contemporary Art, MOCA, Taipei, Taiwan