100 Years Before the Birth of Doraemon

100 Years before Doraemon’s Birth Exhibition!

For those of you that are scratching their heads in confusion, let me back up a few. Doraemon is a Japanese comic series about an extremely intelligent robotic cat (Doraemon) from the future, that travels back into time to help a rather miserable, often bullied young boy named Nobi.  Doraemon owns a magical pocket, which allows him to conjure up thousands of different gadgets, tools and potions. Most of these special tools are used to help get Nobi out of his sticky situations that arise in his daily life.

This year, 2013, marks Doraemon’s 100th pre-birth year.

What Doraemon originally looked like fresh out of the press

Pre-rat Doraemon

Broken-hearted

Though Doraemon originated as a Japanese Manga, he’s been a staple part of many Taiwanese childhoods. It wasn’t uncommon to find the neighborhood kids swapping the comic books, watching the tv show before dinner, and eagerly saving up our allowances to watch the latest Doraemon movie.

One of my favorite gadgets was the Dokodemo door, which allowed you to travel ANYWHERE by simply passing through the entrance. The door had a mind of itself, figuring out where the user wants to go without so much of a hint. It’s perfect for any quick escapes.

The other equally badass gadget is the Time Machine, which is located in Nobi’s desk drawer. You use the knobs to pick a time and travel through a time vortex. In the comics, Doraemon, Nobi and the rest of the crew would go on epic journeys into space or back into prehistoric times when dinosaurs still roamed earth.

Doraemon and his time machine

Besides time travel, the capabilities of the gadgets and tools available would boggle your mind ! There was all sorts of things such as creating a clone so you don’t have to go to class, magical pens that can automatically writes down the correct answer on tests, a cloth that can reverse or fast forward time, gravitational paint that allows you to walk upside down, a phone where you can call and order anything…the list goes on and on. Anything your mind can think of, Doraemon will most likely have it in his pocket.

The Power of Color: Da-an 56

The Power of Color is this awesome annual festival that promotes the creative art scene in Taipei. Works from both Taiwanese and international artists are showcased in different venues around the city, and also includes a variety of events and activities over a 2 month period.

I accidentally stumbled upon the Da-an 56 exhibit this past Saturday. Da-an 56 is an old red brick house with a large courtyard, nestled  in the bustling shopping district of Taipei’s East area. I’ve passed it several times in the past, but this is the first time it’s been opened to the public. It’s very rare to see a standalone western styled house in Taipei. Except for the super-rich, most of us live in apartment buildings in Taiwan.

Da-an 56

 

Though the date of when the last owners moved out is unknown, the house looks as if it has been frozen in time, about 40 years ago. The wallpaper peeling, the floor boards creaking and the unmistakable musty odor of old houses. From the living room to the bathroom, each room and area of the property has been transformed into individual exhibit rooms for the artists.

“Thank You” by Heidi Volt

The first exhibit you see when you step foot into the house is the eye catching piece “Thank You” by Heidi Volt.

3000 digital watches were used to form a large carpet

At the start of the exhibit, all the watches are set to the same time and beeps at each hour. As time goes by, the cheap digital watches start walking to their own pace of time. If you take a close glimpse, the time on each watch is off by a few seconds or some by a minute or 2 (or more). The beeping at each hour slowly loses its synchronization and creates a cacophony of digital noises. Time really is relative isn’t it?

“Their sight/your sight in Taipei” by Akiko Ikeda
Pop up Daruma doll

I loved the 3D world created by Akika Ikeda’s pop-up cut outs of books, magazines and other media. The scenes seem to come to life when popping out of their paper home.

An Artic expedition

“Similing Face as a Flower” by Hsu Wei-Hui

Finding a gigantic pink flower in the bathroom caught me off guard completely. Upon closer inspection, you can see that the piece is created by facial masks, which is very popular among Asian women. I interpreted it as sacredness of the bathroom for women and their quest for beauty.

“3:15” Hua-Chen Huang

“3:15” Hua-Chen Huang
Glowing bathtub!

“The Rotators” by Ujino

The Rotators was a sound sculpture assembled by various different objects, mostly motor-driven appliances. Besides creating a rhythmic sound, the lights also go on and off! Also, were you creeped out by this picture? My friend was taking a closer look at the exhibit just while I took the picture. So no, that isn’t Ringu (ahhh, I’m getting the creeps already) but in all honesty, Da-an 56 can definitely be considered for a haunted house venue. It has that old, eerie feel to it that comes with the aging house. *goosebumps*

The Rotators by Ujino

“Bring the colorful telescope” by Yen-Chiao Huang

“Bring the colorful telescope” by Yen-Chiao Huang

This is what I would imagine would happen if a graffiti artist gets locked into a white room for a week.

“Erebus” by Chia-Yu Lee

“Erebus” by Chia-Yu Lee

“Erebus” didn’t seem that interesting at the first glance. However, if you look at the frames closely enough, you’ll see dim outlines of the artist’s family. It was kind of like a magic eye, where you have to stare at it long and hard, and even at different angles. The first image I saw was an elderly grandma and I freaked out completely. It’s interesting how the artist manipulated the photos and her statement about the piece is worth a read.

“Passing in between” by Han-Hong Tai

“Passing in Between”

Passing in Between was by far the memorable, as you had to personally enter the exhibit. As you can see from the picture, it’s an enclosed wooden staircase with a normal human sized door but then decreases until only a mouse can make it to the end. As a human, you get stuck half-way into the staircase as you try to make it to the light at the end of the tunnel.

The tiny alice-in-wonderland door at the end

The garage door

“Doughnut in Alice’s Wonderland” by Wen-Fu Yu

“Doughnut in Alice’s Wonderland” was by far the most popular piece. It’s a beautiful piece that is created completely out of bamboo. I love the reference to Alice in Wonderland as the whole Da-an 56 was by far a mind-bending, stimulating trip out of reality. But in a good way.

“Dispatchwork” by Jan Vormann

I almost missed the “Dispatchwork” by Jan Vormann but luckily for me, I caught it on the way out. I think this is my favorite piece because it reminds me that if you look hard enough, there are bits of creative sparks all around this city, fueled by color. Those sparks are subtle but they are there. They act as reminders that even in our mundane daily lives, you can always find something little that can bring a small on your face.

Sounds of Daydreams and Fairies

Watching movies is one of my favorite things to do (second only to sleeping and eating). I love just sitting down and immersing myself into a completely new and foreign world, watching stories and events that belong to other people. It takes my mind off everything going on in my life and instead, dive into the lives of others. It’s my form of meditation and means for escape, my go-to topic of conversation and my top favorite form of entertainment.

I finally got the chance to watch Finding Neverland today, a movie I’ve been meaning to watch since it came out back in 2004. Finding Neverland is a semi-biographical film of J.M. Barrie, author of Peter Pan played by Johnny Depp. The film explores his relationship and experiences with Sylvia Llewelyn Davies (played by Kate Winslet) and her boys, who inspired the timeless classic. Classic children’s literature such as Alice and Wonderland and The Little Prince have always been my all-time favorite books. The creativity and imagination the writers used to create these mystical and fascinating worlds, combined with a touch of childish innocence and whimsical nature appeals to the kid in everyone.

It’s refreshing to Johnny Depp play a normal looking person, as oppose to a pirate, an artificial scissors man, or a crazy barber butcher/killer. The acting from both Depp and Winslet were steady, nothing too exciting. Freddie Highmore’s performance as Peter blew my mind; the range of emotions he was able to depict was so natural. I think what makes this movie such a treat was watching the relationship between Barrie and the boys develop and the inspirations he drew from their role-play and pretending. The scenes from the actual Peter Pan play in the movie were magical and captivating. If you haven’t had a chance to see this movie, I highly recommend it.

The title of this post refers to the absolutely stunning soundtrack by Jan A. P. Kaczmarek, which won an Academy Award for Musical Score. I mentioned before that music adds soul and amplifies emotion in movies; this movie especially so. The music just sounds exactly what daydreams and fairies sound like. Below is my favorite song from the movie called Piano Variation in Blue: