Today we visited the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts where I saw so many different types of art, ranging from realism to sculptures to abstract art. The most prominent exhibit was the “Walker” exhibit by Tsai Ming-Liang. The video installations featured a monk dressed in red, slowly walking through noisy, fast-moving city environments—places like subway stations, busy intersections, and crowded sidewalks. He moved with such intention that it felt almost unreal compared to the speed of everyone else around him. The movements almost made me uncomfortable with how painfully slow each step was, but it also made me think about how rarely we slow down or pay attention to our surroundings. I bet the artist got to truly see and feel what was going on around him—not just the cars, the people, or the animals passing by, but the cracks of the sidewalks, the sound of the wind, and the scent of the air.
The museum itself was peaceful and beautifully designed, with lots of natural light and quiet corners to sit and reflect. It felt like the perfect place to experience an exhibit focused on slowness and stillness. After walking through so many busy cities in Taiwan, it was refreshing to take a moment to pause. I left feeling a little more aware of how fast I usually move through the world—and how calming it can be to do the opposite.
Another exhibit that caught my attention was a handcrafted stop-motion animation video called “The Adventures in Mount Yu (I)” by Tu Peih-Shih. It addresses the socio-political issues of Taiwan in an abstract way. I watched the full 7 minute video three times and had it recorded as well to look back on it because of how many small details there were in every scene. The very first scene started cheerfully, with the sound of children’s laughter in the background. It quickly, yet subtly turned dark, as naked figures entered the scene and several characters undressed and had sex. There was one couple that was particularly jarring. In the first few seconds, they looked to be father and daughter. Once the scene turned explicit, the little girl turned to perform oral sex on the adult man… You can imagine the shock on my face as my jaw dropped to the floor. Following scenes seemed to call out issues of environmental pollution, with scenes of smoke and trash in the air, and the rise of 1-percenters, with the image of a businessman literally “shitting money”. After hearing about how great Taiwan is since we’ve been here, it was a sobering moment of realization for me. Most, if not all, of what we’ve been learning about Taiwan is coming from our tour guide and people who have businesses in Taiwan and of course they are going to market the country in a positive light. I will definitely be watching the video again and doing further research in my own time for a better understanding of this side of Taiwan.