Press and Review

ARTIST STATEMENT

Why at scooter shops? This is a question that everyone asked after hearing about the project.

Because scooter shops are really interesting! They are a familiar part of the everyday Taiwanese life. No matter what age or sex, everyone’s been to one. Yet unlike the chain convenience stores 7-11, if you look closely at every scooter repair shop, they are different. The way everything is organized and presented conveys the personality of the owner.

Scooter shops appear in every corner and alley of Taiwan; some people despise being their neighbors, and some don’t mind. Nonetheless scooters are part of many people’s daily lives, from going to school or work, to delivering products, to being someone’s coming-to-age gift, or to going on dates. These scooter repair shops support countless of people’s daily lives.    

From early importers avoiding regulations assembling and putting together the scooters themselves, to the national policy encouraging locally made scooters, the local scooter industry gradually uprised. After the quick rise of the small scooter brands in the 70s, soon came the financial downfall of those brands. In the 80s, the scooter industry faced new challenges such as marketing strategies for export, innovation for niche markets, and the awareness of eco-friendly green electric scooter. The development of the scooter industry is an embodiment of Taiwan’s industrial development that is closely related to people’s daily lives.

To us, this is something that really conveys the Taiwanese character; that is to say, when the government doesn’t have a complete plan and precautions, people still find a way for themselves. This character is also reflected in the process of the fall of the traditional scooter industry and the rise of the electric scooters. Through this project, we came in contact with many different shop owners; some are really excited for what’s to come while others don’t seem to be so optimistic. Yet all of them seem to have found their way, just like the everyday life experts who share bits of their life and their wisdoms with us in this project’s Talent Show series. The scooter shop owners whom we collaborated with asked, “what kind of talents are you looking for?” We responded, “an ordinary person who has a close relation and special interactions with scooters.”

The coming and going nature of the scooter repair shops is like a Big Band in an open stage. The sound of scooter particles rubbing against each other, engine roaring, TV channels chattering and owner and customers negotiating….these sounds often allow those who aren’t in a rush to just space out while waiting for the scooters to be fixed. Is there a chance that we can make such mundane moments abstract away from its reality and into another space? We like this kind of “living”, organic and hard-to-anticipate space. Yet it is also a challenge for sound artist to control the sound quality and for performing artists to step away from their habit of “showing off excellent skills”.

We learned a lot from this project. We are grateful for the opportunity for our team to see break from stereotypical standards and to understand beyond the surface. For example, a scooter rider who participated in street racing told us, they went racing not because they wanted to win but actually they went because they wanted to understand why other people’s scooters can run faster; otherwise they simply lived in their own worlds. Another example is when we met two female blacksmiths whose profession is scooter repairing. Although because of different reasons, they were not willing to participate in this project, through meeting them we were able to see the other type of scooter shop owners and how they are cultivated. We also met many scooter shops that seem to have characteristics of a community center or a shelter; people go just to play online games together, to chat a bit after work, or to use the free lockers. People go not only to fix or to change something on their scooters.

We thank the Taipei Fine Arts Museum for supporting this creative project that has never been done before. We are grateful for all our collaborators including the scooter shops and the everyday life experts in Talent Show who are willing to share with us their lives. We thank them for willing to trust us in a project that is hard to put into words and beyond their daily life experience. Towards the topic of “art into the community,” we think it is not just to bring art performances into the community. To us, recreating everyday experiences for people to make new connections and to perceive things differently is essence of art. We hope to come to contact with those who don’t usually walk into a museum or a theater. Through Scooter Wonderland we hope to provide an opportunity for people to feel the vibration and movement of Taipei city with new perspectives.