‘AMPM Studio’ invites well-known Oakland and San Francisco based graffiti artists Optimist and Stuey to collaborate on an art installation, which exposes a glimpse of the artists’ lives in Taipei. Together they have created an informal montage of mixed media pieces, which document the unique cultural experiences they encountered during their adventures in Taipei. Their work is a representation of their collective experiences living and working in Taipei for the past six years, laced with comedic overtones.
Since moving to Taiwan, both artists experienced the highs and lows of living in a foreign country as they adapted to a new culture. This has profoundly influenced their impressions of Taipei. These impressions have not only shaped the way the two artists express themselves artistically, but the visual landscape of the city itself has also changed as Optimist and Stuey express themselves through highly visible graffiti.
This body of work features iconic images of Taipei, and focuses on how the city is changing both physically and culturally. Many of the concepts and materials collected in their artistic creations were discovered by the artists while foraging in abandoned houses, building and construction sites. The artists view many of the found objects, such as old documents letters and photographs, as relics from the past and incorporate these objects into their art to show a dichotomy between the Taipei of the present, and the Taipei of the past.
In addition to the found objects, and the creation of iconic images of Taipei, “Time Flies in Taipei” includes a typographical element as well. Optimist and Stuey were inspired to create much of their typographical art based on a unique blend of Mandarin and English constructed by the two artists, whose creation was fashioned out of a need to communicate with the native Chinese speakers of Taipei. With little formal Chinese language training, Optimist and Stuey have avoided the formal romanizations of Chinese, and often express themselves in what they describe as a “Chinese-English Mashup”, an idiosyncratic romanization based on their own interpretations of the sounds of Mandarin words. The incorporation of this informal, haphazard romanization of Mandarin lends a certain esoteric hilarity to their work.
To show their support for the local people and communities of Taipei City, the ‘Time Flies In Taipei’ exhibit will donate all proceeds generated by the show to The Foundation for Battered Women and Children, a non-profit organization that helps women and children exposed to domestic violence and abuse.
Please come by and show some support!
