Department of Cultural Affairs

By Eva Tang
Staff Reporter
 
Waving your hands in front of “In Van Gogh’s Eyes” and the technology behind it will let you paint like Van Gogh himself. This is one of Liao Kehnan’s works on display at the Digital Art Center in Taipei.

Liao is fascinated by this Dutch post-Impressionist painting style when he took oil painting lessons. Later he utilized what he knows the best, information technology, to create “In Van Gogh’s Eyes” with delicate computing.

The backdrop is a photo he took of the Taipei 101 building from a mountain nearby. The scene reminded him much of the famous painting “Starry Night”, and this formed the basis of his creation.

Liao’s other work on display is titled “Lo-Fi”, a matrix made of 138 aluminum foil pieces, bringing the audience back to a less digitalized era. Some visitors were filled with a sense of nostalgia as they looked at the piece.

Next to Liao’s solo exhibition is the “Sound Forest under the Cloud”, sound installations by Wang Fu-jui. It consists of two works that wield the strength of sound in different channels.
 
Petite speakers and microphones are inside bulbs hanging from the ceiling. Together they make sounds similar to cicadas singing during the summer, especially when you stand at the center of the work. Close your eyes, and appreciate it with your ears. Creator Wang Fu-jui calls it Sound Bulb.

Most people who work with sound make use of the pitch of sound on their works, but in Sound Bulb all the sounds produced are of the same frequency. The simplicity of the sound transports the audience from the digital environment to nature.

Further in, “Sound Dots” represents a sound forest constructed with 300 small speakers also suspended from the ceiling. Each speaker is controlled by a circuit that creates sound at different frequencies. Try to walk fast in the “sound forest” and enter the stream of consciousness built by the creator.

Wang and Liao’s exhibitions run through September 12. Entrance is free.