Taipei Fine Arts Museum

Another rainy afternoon has finally driven me to the Fine Arts Museum for the  Biennial Exhibition.   We were glad to finally be going and had heard good things about the exhibition.  The museum is less than a ten minute walk from the MRT stop and the building itself is so unique that it can't be missed.

We enjoyed the exhibits.  Some were deeply moving, others slightly historical and intriguing, other confusing.   Though there is no atmosphere with this blog I will try my best to pass on this afternoon's vibe.  

The second we entered the front door, we were directed up a black ramp that dead ended into a big white screen.  We had to choose to go either right or go left to get around the screen.  We laughed at our initial indecisiveness, bumping into each other and then deciding to go right! We soon realized, we ourselves were the first art exhibition!  The indecisive, prancing, playful silhouettes of strangers for a lobby of guests to watch.    People watching to the next level. 

"The Waiting Hall. Scenes of Modernity" Artist: Hannah Hurtzig

We exchanged $15 NTD each (about 50 cents) for a ticket and a bilingual booklet explaining the exhibitions.  At the top of the escalator, awaited the second surprise exhibition.  Soft, black pillows lay on the first three stairs going back down to the lobby inviting us to sit and watch.  A large screen hung above the stairs showing a short film about the first modernist house in Ultrecht.  In the film an abandoned house in covered in mirrors until it seems to disappear into the landscape while subtitles tell the story of the Ultrecht architect that refused to use mirrors in his designs because it, "created a space that was beyond the control of the architect."  We stood up with a renewed, twisted respect for architecture and living spaces.  The idea of using the staircase as stadium seating was neat.  

Two Suns, Artist: Anton Vidokle, Hu Fang

The next space was a hallway that was lined with old "photographs of daughters", aka every type of women imaginable.  Gotta love long hallways full of old photographs. 

 The Museum of Stone featured unique and every day rocks with clever descriptions. Such as the "petrified bacon" below.

Jimmie Durham, the artist, then used the idea of stone in the blown up sketch from Adolf Hitler.  (So thankful that Arch De Triump was never built!)  

"One Man's Trash another Man's Antiquity-like Rubbish"  Is the modern fascination with collecting antiquity-like rubbish a pinnacle for art?  

Here are some recycled scarps of wood and nails given new function.  The whole room was filled with "antiquity-like rubbish" displayed in glass, museum like cases.  

Here is a doll case of traitors world wide.  It beings with Judas Iscariot (front, right) and ends with Ted Kackynski.   Both educational and bizarre this exhibit stuck with me and has made its way onto the blog.  Some others were:

-Benedict Arnold, the general in American Revolutionary army who defected to the British side. (front, left) 

-Ezra Pound-American poet that support Italian fascists and Nazis but was released due to mental illness.

-Jane Fonda- U.S. actress that help create North Vietnamese propaganda against US Vietnam War.   

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The traitor dolls set the scene for the next room which captivated my attention and made me lose sense of both time and place.  

  It was a room for martyrs with quotes on the wall and floating from the ceiling.  Inside each case were different personal objects with a story written beside them about the person that owned that watch, sock, jacket, etc. and how they became a martyr.  At the entrance hung a large white screen with recorded clips of different presidents, military heads making formal apologies for accidental or deliberate deaths committed by its armies against another nation.  It left you with a weird feeling and a charge to terminate hate of others who are different.

Three large screens at the front of the large, empty and very dark room told a story of a colonial Jamaican family living in a nice house, an illusional life until Jamaica received independence and that illusion faded.  The man turned to jazz music as an outlet and then we felt like our bodies were on emotional overload and decided to leave that exhibit early. 

A finger tree..life of pi, anyone? 

On our way home after an afternoon at the art museum.  Then went to process and talk about all the exhibits over a snack at 7-11, seaweed chips and an egg boiled in tea.  mmm.