2. La Nozze di Figaro
3. Xu Bing (徐冰)
4. R U There?
4. R U There?
1. OK, Jeremy Lin isn't really "Taipei Arts Scene" but he's seen everywhere all the time, so thought I should join the crowd and include him in every post. On one of the main TV stations, tonight's news dedicated about 20 minutes out of 30 to Linploits. The coolest thing was not the endless video clips from his Harvard days, or the countless photos of him at 3 visiting his grandma in 彰化 (one gets the feeling it might have been his only visit to Taiwan, but the "authentic Taiwan" connection is very important in the heated cross-straits battle for ownership) - no, the coolest thing was the 12 frame cartoon of him with another player doing the pre-game jive dance thing, so that we can learn how to do it too! Already all the kids want a "Jeremy Lin haircut," so pretty soon we'll see Jeremy Lin greetings!
2. Saw a wonderful performance by local talent of the Marriage of Figaro at the 國家音樂停. The count, played by 李增銘, knocked my socks off, and it turns out that he was a student of my Trinity colleague and friend (himself an accomplished opera singer and professor of voice), Li Chia-wei. The young woman playing Susanna, 游玉婷, not only had a great voice but was also attractive. Here she is in a photo taken surreptitiously (the offender was given a stern warning by the usher):
But I must say all the performers were strong, and the production - with an improvised set and accompanied only by piano - was energetic and delightful to watch. This is their first show as a new opera company, and I hope I will be able to see more productions.
3. The large and well-financed bookstore, 成品書局, is featuring an exhibit of the "Books from the Sky" (天書) as well as more recent work by Xu Bing (徐冰), one of my favorite contemporary artists with his amazing creations of whole books composed of invented Chinese characters. His new venture is a novel written with emoticons and other symbols, a provocative tale of suburban angst and infidelity (without words!). Sadly, the photographer was caught by the authorities before he could take any pictures of that, but he did get a couple in of the main exhibit. Here's a look:
Oh, he has added some work in "English" as well. Here's a sample:
4. Finally, I stopped by the Museum of Contemporary Art (台北當代藝術博物館) and enjoyed seeing the Cannes Film Festival award nominated short by the Dutch director David Verbeek called "R U There," a moody film about disaffected youth set in Taiwan.
So, the arts scene is alive and well in Taipei!
But I must say all the performers were strong, and the production - with an improvised set and accompanied only by piano - was energetic and delightful to watch. This is their first show as a new opera company, and I hope I will be able to see more productions.
3. The large and well-financed bookstore, 成品書局, is featuring an exhibit of the "Books from the Sky" (天書) as well as more recent work by Xu Bing (徐冰), one of my favorite contemporary artists with his amazing creations of whole books composed of invented Chinese characters. His new venture is a novel written with emoticons and other symbols, a provocative tale of suburban angst and infidelity (without words!). Sadly, the photographer was caught by the authorities before he could take any pictures of that, but he did get a couple in of the main exhibit. Here's a look:
Oh, he has added some work in "English" as well. Here's a sample:
4. Finally, I stopped by the Museum of Contemporary Art (台北當代藝術博物館) and enjoyed seeing the Cannes Film Festival award nominated short by the Dutch director David Verbeek called "R U There," a moody film about disaffected youth set in Taiwan.
So, the arts scene is alive and well in Taipei!
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