Department of Cultural Affairs

By Psyche Cho
Staff Reporter

22 selected animation works created by the Royal College of Arts spanning 27 years are now on view at the Digital Art Center (DAC) in Taipei through June 10, 2012.

"RCA Animation 27 Years" will examine the use of this dynamic form of visual communication, placing a specific emphasis on the evolution of the art, which is an artistic genre that wields a tremendous impact on entertainment today.

This special exhibition will feature 17 classical and 5 of the RCA’s latest hand-painted original productions, offering insights into vivid individual colors used by each artist as well as novel visual enjoyment. The evolution of art discourse from 1987 to 2011 demonstrates changes in hand-painting skills and morphs gradually into the digital era, without scarifying personal features.

Focused on subjects as diverse as the clubbing night life, human depravity, insomnia, the end of the world and others by creators from the UK, Europe, the US, Japan, and Hong Kong, the exhibition highlights accomplishments in design education in the UK which can serve as a role model for Taiwan, according to the DAC.

Another eye-catcher at the DAC is the just-opened café “Noise Kitchen,” designed by local artist Wang Chung-kun, who is talented in pouring warmth, fun and uniqueness into machinery installations. 

Like any café, “Noise Kitchen” offers simple meals and drinks, except that nearly every utensil in the space can be used as a sound maker or musical instrument. Beehive-shaped cabinets can generate a musical scale by pulling the drawers; a wheeling install on the wall allows people to compose their own songs; and an experimental fish tank uses a sensor to detect fish movement and therefore transfer sounds to the KeyNote Table in the dining area.

Driven by the impetus to infuse art into life, this time Wang has created an acoustic-related experience for visitors in a daily life venue. “I have bold plans to engage the public through personal operation and interaction,” says Wang, in the hope of making people realize that avant-garde art is actually close to their lives. 

For more information on the exhibition please visit DAC’s website at www. dac.tw