Our entry video

OK - here's our video. I've uploaded it on YouTube and the official website. The soundtrack is Rilo Kiley (I should probably change it to something that's not copyrighted.) I wanted to put in a lot more but screw it. It gives you a sense of who we are.

It's 5:31am - I can't sleep because the heavy Taiwan rains and thunderstorms have made my pillows musty... and because I went out dancing in Kaohsiung last night and didn't get home till 6am. So! Here are some photos of me and Funky, to keep visitors occupied. Tomorrow we'll make and upload a video. Funky and I are both 'struggling' artists, so the chance to get out there, interact with the real world (of fine art and fashion design, respectively) and make some connections would be great for us. By experiencing our trip "Contemporary Art and Fashion in Taiwan" with us, you'll get an insider's view to Taiwanese culture: from the traditional arts of historic cultural centers like Tainan and Meinung (paper umbrella and lantern painting, early Taiwanese architecture, temples, antiques, wood carvings, jade statues, brush paintings) to the modern contemporary art movements of Taichung and Taipei, (fashion design, design styles and organizations, and Taiwanese painters), you get to experience Taiwanese culture through its forms of artistic expression.

Check back for updates, and go vote for our tour of Taiwan's traditional and modern art.

Contemporary Art, Traditional Art, Taiwan

I'm entering Taiwan's Best Trip competition. The Taiwan government is trying to increase tourism by letting teams plan a 4 day trip - the best trip gets to actually do their itinerary, and have it paid for! Moreover, the winning team could get 1,000,000nt ($30,000 USD) to use for a 1 month long tour of Taiwan. I really wanted to go to Penghu island this summer, and my first thought was of course to go there. Penghu is so relaxing and beautiful.

But - we need to have a strong 'theme'. I don't think "I want to go to _______ and hang out and have a good time and relax" would be a winning plan, so instead I'm focusing on traditional art and contemporary art. We'll start in Meinung for paper lantern and umbrella painting. Then Tainan for woodcarving, temple decorations, antiques and puppets. Finally up to Taipei to explore the real contemporary art scene. We'll hit all the big galleries, and even make it to the ART TAIPEI 2009 fair, a huge 3-day event featuring the best galleries and artists in Asia. Of course I'm going to be promoting my own paintings as well.

Funky will come with me, as a fashion designer, so she can also do some research on shopping and style trends in Taiwan. We need your vote:

CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR US!

Literature Conference Taiwan

I just came back from a literature conference and have some thoughts. First of all - conferences are stupid. They are a platform for academics to promote themselves and their papers, which were written only for conferences and have very little implication for anything or anybody else. Papers are delivered to a small crowd of students, who are most likely required to be there, and organizers. (At least - literature conferences in Taiwan although I suspect many conferences are like this in any field). The conference was about English teaching, globalization, and seeking out an authentic Asian Identity.

Globalization was used in the sense of 'East and West Dialogue and interaction' or 'cross fertilization of cultural identities.' This vision is a myth, a farce, a comforting lie.

The truth is that globalization is a one way phenomenon. In predominately white societies which are infiltrated by large immigrant communities, the particular customs and languages of the marginalized - even when they become the dominant group - do not often spread universally. Instead there are ghettos and neighborhoods where the imported foods, languages and customs are used. The white, middle-class, suburbs remainly thoroughly untouched.

Although western movies are interested in Asian things, (Asian cities, Asian culture, and Kungfu certainly) the cinematic production (and often cheap knock-off or Americanized stereotype) of 'Asian-ness' really more of a sell-out than a symptom of a deep respect for Asian way of living. Americans daily lives have not become more Asian; they are not offering three sticks of incense or burning ghost money. In other words they are not adopting any asian beliefs or values, just the external representations or visuals - the 'eye candy': Decoration to add an exotic flair, the hint of spice and mysticism and faraway places.

The same is not true in countries such as Taiwan, which is seeing a remarkable and sudden shift in values. "Globalization" has meant the proliferation of consumer mega-stores like Costco and Carrefour and ToysRUs, where Taiwanese can purchase the lifestyles they admire from TV, movies and magazines, and restaurants like Friday's and Burger King and Pizza Hut where they can ruin their health in the good ol' American way. The last few years have also seen an army of coffee shops which serve cake and sandwiches slowly replacing the ubiquitious tea stands. Huskies and golden retrievers, not native to the tropical island, are sold at high prices and bring with them a lift in social status, as do SUV's.

National identy for the Taiwanese is, historically, a complicated subject. There were some Chinese immigrants. Then there were the Dutch, then the Spanish and Portuguese, then the Chinese pirates, the Japanese, and finally Chiang Kai-Shek and his band of runaways from China's cultural revolution. When the Japanese were here, Taiwanese were taught Japanese language, customs and values. Cities were organized via a Japanese design. Buildings were built Japanese style. With Chiang Kai-Shek they become Chinese again, sort-of. Actually each generation is most likely a mix of various foreign influences - including to an extreme degree the modern youth, which is heavily influenced by Korean, Japanese and American cultures.

Nowhere is this modern confusion with authentic identity and values formation so prosaically (?) apparent than in the field of foreign language studies. Taiwanese study English literature or Asian American novels and at the same time ask themselves how they can strengthen their 'Asian Identity'. This aim is noble and well-noted: Asians need to study English to interact globally, but in doing so they risk losing their own Asian way of looking at the world. However - the lack of relevant English materials for contemporary Asian scholars (Asian as in living and working in ASIA. Not immigrants to the west, or 2nd or 3rd generation American Asians) has lead to the careful study and reproduction of critical ideas concerning topics that have little to do with modern issues actually confronting contemporary Asians. At the same time, 'Asian Identity' is being openly discarded by the majority of Asians, even those who can't speak Chinese. Traditional customs, ceremonies, styles of dress are all simply dying off. Perhaps, in cases where they were overly restrictive or sexist, for the better.

Adding a strange and bizzare twist to the conference - which while pretending to be about Asian Identity and globalization actually focused exclusively on Gish's the Love Wife, a story of Americans with Chinese blood but no Chinese heritage and adopted children from China - was the religious element.

One paper actually suggested using THE BIBLE for values formation in Asian countries!! This is, in my view, like kicking them while they're down. The Bible is absolutely a product of Western culture. Helping Asians 'find themselves' and their values using the Bible... well, it may not be as stupid as I think it is. But the idea that Asians can find their own culture or cultural values through the Bible is definitely ridiculous. Even more strange, was a paper on how Asians wanting to learn English could read Buddhist texts that had been translated into English. My brain hurts.

Life Changes

Oops. I had 'finished' my MA in FLL at NCKU, practically, and already been accepted to the PHD program, when they told me I was ONE CREDIT SHORT! So I need an extra semester... however in order to get the Taiwan Scholarship like I want I actually have to wait until Fall 2010 to start my PHD. OMG! Basically, I have to wait a whole year just for one tiny freaking credit. That's stupid, and it sucks. On the other hand: I wasn't feeling happy about doing the same old thing anyway, I've been dreaming about travels and adventures and now that I have an extra year, I can work on some goals that aren't school related. And that's GREAT. 1) I'm getting healthy. Today I'm cooking a healthy chicken soup. I'm not eating sugar, bread, processed foods and lots of other bad things. 2) I'm determined to learn Chinese, at least more, so I don't feel like an idiot. 3) Now that I can't depend on the scholarship, I'll actually get a job and save some money 4) I want to go to Japan for a few months (probably teaching English), I also want to spend a month in India, and travel to China and Vietnam. These are all things I can do in this 'extra time'. If I have leftover time, I can improve my thesis, try to publish a book, have some exhibitions and.... rule the world? Who knows. But probably I need a bread from the paths and goals I've been relentlessly pursuing, to do some things just out of interest or fun.

Meanwhile, I've been reading Ayn Rand's "Virtue of Selfishness", which is concretely identifying some of the problems in my psychology and thinking, and urging me to chose a wiser, more intelligent lifestyle based on reason, not emotion. :)