Another holiday in Taiwan, another long weekend filled with rainy weather. So while my dreams of exploring the beautiful outdoors of the Taipei area have to be postponed, I still was able to see some interesting things. And of course, the best thing to do when it's raining outside is to appreciate some art inside!
Arriving at the Museum of Contemporary Art, visitors are greeted by cheerfully colored loops. This is the work of Ronald Ventura, an artist from the Philippines whose work is on exhibit at the museum now.
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| They look like remarkably cheerful tracks for Sonic the Hedgehog to run through |
Interestingly, the rest of Ventura's work wasn't nearly as happy. The name of the exhibit was called "Finding Home", and although the museum blurb spoke about themes of travel and what a home meant in a physical, mental and sociological sense... I didn't really get that.
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| Lots of neon-lit displays in darkened rooms. |
I found the exhibit to be macabre, dark, and slightly uncomfortable. I don't know if this was the artist's intention, but if there was any home to be found, I would definitely think it was haunted! A lot of the exhibit was in dark rooms, unfortunately, so many of my pictures didn't turn out. My favorite (not pictured) was a large, life-sized wooden carving of a man whose lower body was a boat. A projector above the room projected images and sounds of waves crashing onto the boat, and the effect was quite haunting.
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| Creepy little girl |
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| A mixed media work. The artist applies some graffiti-style techniques, adding details in layers |
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This surreal carousel featured two horses that slowly creaked
(audibly!) back and forth. It's hard to tell from this picture,
but one horse has two heads, and the other has two tails. |
After winding through the maze-like proportions of this exhibit, I was ready for a change. Luckily, the second featured artist had a very different style. Leigh Wen is a Taiwanese artist currently living in the United States. She uses the same technique in all her art, but features it on different mediums. The results were very interesting and beautiful.
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Here are a dozen ceramic bowls, decorated in her signature pattern
of wavy lines. A small hose above each bowl would slowly drip
water down. A light on the ceiling would then reflect the ripples,
causing an interesting visual effect. |
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| These small paintings are done on deconstructed wine crates |
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| I loved this collage piece; it was both beautiful and soothing |
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Stretched canvases in the shape of orchids. She also used the same technique to print on fabric, and then created
fancy ballgowns. I forgot to take a picture of those though. |
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| This piece was GIGANTIC, easily spanning the length of the room. My guess would be that this is 30 feet wide |
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| A closeup of her painting technique. The small spidery lines canvas all her artwork. In the paintings, this created a sense of movement that worked really well. |
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| I loved this one as well. It was also huge, maybe over 25 feet wide and 10 feet tall |
Maybe because my expectations for this museum was low, I was very pleasantly surprised. Modern art is sometimes difficult to grasp, but both these exhibits made me feel something (even if it maybe isn't the exact feeling the artist intended). And with the low admission price of 50 NT (less than $2 US), this was a fantastic break from the dreary weather outside!
