[I give warning now for the length of writing to follow]
I
want to start with a choppy video I took the second half of the ride
from the college to the Night Market. While on the trip, there was
nothing more...wonderful...than riding on the back of a scooter to the
night market. I think, although difficult to watch without feeling sick,
it shows the rural change to the city quite well. If you don't make it
through, don't feel bad. (If there is difficulty viewing the video,
please comment and let me know.)
Next, I will explain where my title came from:
 |
| This is the cover of the book, and an image of Chuck. |
I
am an artist who works with the iconic imagery of obsolete pop-culture
materials (VHS tapes, old text books, typewriters, beer bottles, et
cetera), so for me to read a book referred to as a "low culture
manifesto" was amazing. Although I have never seen an episode of The Real World or played a full game of The Sims, I can assure you that his points couldn't have been clearer: we are hella post-modern.
(I say that somewhat sarcastically, but to the same extent, not at
all.) Not many people realize how post-modern our daily lives are. To
delve into a greater explanation of such {western} culture ideals, while
in an eastern culture, was changing the way I thought about the world
by the second.
 |
| When in doubt, I made dinosaurs |
I
won't be talking about the actual art I made while in Taiwan, as it
wasn't all that important to good. {Above, you can see 2 of my felted
dinosaurs. They were cute, but they weren't spectacular. My art is not
about dinosaurs, I can tell you that much.} Rather than talking about
the specific and physical work I made, I want to discuss the ethereal
and intangible thoughts that floated around my head all day, because
that was far more of the art I did than anything physical.
I
could lucid dream every night if I wanted to. But in that state, I
don't have the energy or motivation to do it. I think, I could change
what's going on, but why would I? It takes effort and I want to see what
my bran does without me thinking about it consciously (in
my unconscious). I mention this, because I let a lot of my thoughts
while in Taiwan feel, act, behave {what have you} to that of a lucid
dream. I was there directing it, but I was letting it do what it must
and just experiencing it. I saw, I absorbed, I pondered, and I let go.
It was absolutely beautiful.
 |
| The "pond/river" with lotus on campus |
 |
| The most beautiful tree in the entire world. |
 |
| Looked like a midwestern sky after a storm... |
Below is an image of one of our artist lectures. He was a Japanese artist that was the 13th generation from the family that made pottery for the Emperor of Japan. He lectured in Japanese, it was translated in Mandarin, which was then translated to English. It was somewhat involved, but exciting to have it be so thoroughly available to all of us. [I cannot stress enough my thanks to all of the people that translated for us, and put up with out lack of Chinese!]
 |
| Artist Lecture: 13th Gen. Japanese Emperial-Ware Artist |
I
know I can't cover everything that happened to me over the course of a
month is a tiny blog post, but I want to (I'm sure you've noticed) and I
know I've written too much already.
However,
below are a few of my favorite cultural symbols. The rock statue is a
lion (if I remember correctly). They are placed outside of homes,
temples, buildings, et cetera. There at least two: a male and female.
The male is pictured below, his mouth is open and he scares the bad
spirits away. The female has her mouth closed and keeps the bad spirits
in. I find this so beautiful. (I also just enjoy the lion on a bicycle
beyond reason as an image.)
I
spent a lot of time thinking about cultural differences and icons. A
very interesting thing about Taiwan is since the country has been ruled
by so many other people and countries over its history, they have tried
to break away from many previous traditions, now they are finally their
own country. This is fascinating, but leaves them somewhat history-less
and culture-less. There are still traditions, history and culture, but
not in the same way someplace like China, the United States, or France
has history.
 |
| Tainan City "Tree House" |
The "Misty Place" (pictured below) was also thought inducing, as it was a semi-abandoned gold community with fog so thick you couldn't see 20 feet in front of you. It was eerie, calming, and full of an energy I couldn't get enough of. There was something so powerful and great in that area. It was as if Jurassic Park met some mythical misty mountains. I thought about the differences in feelings of places in Taiwan to the States. Yes, the Lake [Tahoe] illicit a deep seated spiritual energy to emerge within me, but it is so different than the places we went to Taiwan. There was an ancient and respected energy, that can't be found in the States, in plethora in Taiwan. Even in parts of Taipei you could feel it.
I
can honestly say that I started feeling somewhat comfortable in Taipei
during our 5 days there, which I didn't expect. After walking around a
bit and taking the metro, I didn't feel scared and anxious every time we
left the hotel. I think a lot of that comfort came from the kind nature
of the people of Taiwan.
 |
| The Metro. |
{Below
are two images, taken less than 24 hours apart, from the same
intersection in the middle of Taipei. I was amazed to 1. find the same
intersection two days in a row without knowing where I was going (thus
adding to my mental map and feeling comfortable in my ability to
navigate "home") and 2. that in less than 24 hours, the giant sign had
changed (and I had proof).}
I
got into a discussion one day with another American traveler that we
met, and we talked about how non-judging the Taiwanese people were. It
was true. I never felt judged based on what I was wearing, or how my
hair looked. Would they look at me? Yes: I'm a tall white female that
spoke no Chinese, of course they looked. Were they judging me? No. Were
they helping me in any way they could? Yes. They were kind and
compassionate people, that made me sad to leave to come home to our
distant and bitchy Western World.
However, I did come home. If I had it my way, I would have just understood the
Chinese language (spoken and written) and stayed forever. Since that
was not the case, I made my trek back to the states to come back to what
I can only refer to as "the real world" (as Taiwan was a surreal dream,
and to reference back once again to Sex, Drugs, and Coco Puffs).
 |
| The beautiful twilight on our way to the airport to come home. |
To my dearest Taiwan-
I
barely understand you, and I can't imagine you understand me. However, I
think we're meant to be. Later in life, we'll meet again, I
can guarantee it.
{I'll work on my Chinese between now and then.}
With much love and sincerity,
xoxo
anza
If you want to read another blog I wrote about my trip, check out my personal website at:
I also want to do a quick Thank You and Xie Xie to Rick,
Sheri, Po Ching, Shin Yu, Chen Yuan, SNC and TNNUA for one of the most
amazing opportunities I've had to this point in my life.
No comments:
Post a Comment