Category: Reflections - Page 13

Stagetime & Juice: November 2015

December 15, 2015/0 Comments/in Reflections /by Roma Mehta

Stagetime & Juice:

Stage Time and Juice is held only once every two months. In the past 4 months (3 Juices) we’ve been in the rather amusing position of seeing our performance area double in size, moving from the drapery enclosed confines of our Da An Road Aveda Learning Kitchen location to the high-ceilinged, brightly lit space of The Library at the Taipei Air Force Innovation Base. I still remember last year when the kids were momentarily transplanted from The Learning Kitchen to HuaShan Cultural Park for the 5th anniversary. Things didn’t go smoothly and I was worried about how the kids would react to the larger space. Oddly enough, this year I took our continual spatial expansion in a stride.

Part of the reason may be due to the fact that our little performers are expanding spatially too. Not only are the ones who got on the stage at the very inception of Juice experiencing physical growth spurts, but they are also accumulating life experience, some of it on the stage of the Red Room. When we started three years ago, we didn’t expect much and were happy to see that kids were just willing to get on the stage. At this moment I can feel that we have finally reached an important turning point: the young veteran performers are at a point of awareness where they can start to ask the question, “Now that I have this platform, where can I take it?”

One high school student invited members of his school choir to perform. Another did a duet with her tiny sibling, both of them wearing matching outfits. One boy attempted his first vocal solo (and ended up finishing without background music due to a technical failure, but the audience immediately cheered and clapped him along!) Those who usually sang, presented a skit. A little girl read poems, and her brother performed a couple of magic tricks. A puppeteer tried out a new and larger puppet that she had never performed with before.

One mom approached me after her kids’ performances and mentioned that the whole family felt a little frustrated that things had not gone the way they planned. I told her that I hoped her kids would hang in there and keep coming back and trying to experiment with their performance. Juice is not about product, but rather about process. The show grows, the kids grow, even the grownups that come and help run an activity or perform are part of the effort to achieve something that they hadn’t done before. Jet Wu, who led the animation activity, had to push himself and his staff to produce something that could engage a live audience. It required a lot of rethinking about how he usually did animation workshops. Arsene the Magician has evolved over the years from routines prepared to upbeat music, to actually calling up volunteers on the stage and interacting with them. For the first time at our anniversary show, The Awesome Playgroup News left the printed format, and turned its contents into an engaging game.

The theme of our anniversary show was “Illusions and Obfuscations” but what we saw unfolding before us was no mirage. We saw a whole spectrum of performers, from struggling beginners to seasoned professionals, all working together on the same stage to achieve the same goal: positivity, generosity, and happiness.

I would like to remind everyone that Stage Time and Juice is a gift that has been given to us by The Red Room. We bring ourselves, we bring juice and snacks (if we remember), we bring our listening ears and our hearts. We bring our personal aspirations and ambitions, or something that we want to share. Don’t come here expecting to be entertained. Come here because you want to be an active part of our international village that creates good and positive things in the world!

Red Room Renaissance Festival: November 2015

December 15, 2015/0 Comments/in Reflections /by Roma Mehta

Renaissance Festival

View slide show

In the early hours of the twenty-first, we stood across the street mumbling drowsy greetings and admiring the banner adorning the entrance of the TAF compound. Even from a distance its vibrant colors and characters captured our attention. Ten minutes later we gathered under the festival tents, decidedly more lively after consuming coffee and dan bing, and watched the sky drop its first tentative drops of the day. “Oh dear,” one dismayed volunteer murmured. Another volunteer quickly replied that “[it’d] be good luck.”. “Don’t you know rain on a festival day is good luck?” she asked us with a grin.Rain has become something of a traditional part of Red Room’s anniversaries; in fact, not a single Red Room anniversary has been without it. Though rain can be a nuisance, it is perhaps a fitting symbol of Red Room’s rebirth.

Red Roomers watch an outside performance under umbrellas.

In a traditional sense, rain has always symbolized revival; rain transforms the land through nourishing the soil. Similarly, Red Room has transformed through finding new soil. Since moving to the TAF, Red Room has introduced a myriad of events and activities for the community. In short, Red Room’s rebirth has ushered a new era, enabling Red Roomers to attain new heights in expressing creativity. This idea of rebirth was well captured during Red Room’s anniversary, which proudly presented some of the community’s new initiatives including a first glimpse at plays written and performed by members of the Red Room community. When Red Roomers weren’t enjoying performances, they were able to peruse the walls which were adorned with featured art by J.J. Chen and Ted Pigott from Red Room’s second Visual Dialogues.

Yet, Red Room’s expansion and rebirth has not drastically eroded the traditions Red Roomers value most. The return of rain on November 21st also reminded many Red Roomers of the aspects they love most about the community. For as the sky drizzled, community members gathered, laughed and shared. During Stage Time & Juice, the rain did not hinder the imaginations of Juicers as they fought agents of destruction, or dazzled audiences with magic. Indeed, it did not prevent them from embarking on great adventures on the grounds, imaginary sword and cape in hand. As the day cooled, Red Roomers could again gather inside to listen to rich stories by performers from Red Room Radio Redux’s Read Aloud.

Juicers unleash their imagination during Stage Time & Juice

Outside, Red Roomers were treated to a mix of sounds from musicians whose sound ranged from classic rock, to blues, to traditional aboriginal. Crowds gathered in front of the colorful stage, hands cupping a warm cup of 臺Walla, Red Room Chai from R & D Lab, or a beer from Bloch Brewing Company. They browsed artisan booths holding a sandwich from Sprout or Belgian fries from Belga, and watched new and old Red Room musicians perform.

Red Roomers collect in front of the stage for a late night performance

To memorialize the day, artists sketched Red Roomers, photographers snapped candids and, for the braver Red Roomers, artists offered free slow poke tattoos. Red Roomers could also transform themselves with anything from haircuts and metallic body art to the opportunity to learn about and dedicate themselves to important social issues. Of course there were plenty of opportunities to make less tangible memories. Red Room offered countless opportunities to get involved. Upstairs and downstairs, Red Roomers could participate in art whether through painting on a scroll, leaving their handprint on a canvas or speaking on community and compassion.

A Red Roomer prepares to add his hand print to the canvas.

As the day drew to an end, and the sky exchanged the sun for the stars, performers exchanged the stage for the Red Roomfloor. The members of Mafana and Faloco gathered beneath the stairs to continue celebrating. Sitting in a circle, they sang with ebullient enthusiasm, swaying and grinning; strumming and beating. Their joy was so irresistible that other Red Roomers soon joined in. Meanwhile, other performers moved inside to avoid the rain, exchanging a public performance for a more intimate one. Lights reflected warmly off the gathered crowd who watched transfixed as Valentin Le Chat and La Gitanita seamlessly merged different styles of physical art.

La Gitanita balances two of Valentin Le Chat’s juggling balls

The crowds did not dissipate, even as the night cooled. Instead, Red Roomers did what they do best. They provided a platform for artists and community members to express themselves creatively. They reveled in each other’s triumphs and talents and embraced each other’s goals and initiatives. The Renaissance Festival offered Red Roomers the opportunity to connect with six years of memories and renew their keenness to contribute to communities through art and volunteerism. Red Room is sustained by its community members’ passion and compassion and the anniversary was a wonderful continuation and expansion of those virtues.

Red Room volunteers gather at the end of a fulfilling day

Leah List
Editor, Red Room News

Reflections on Aside 11, 31 October 2015

December 15, 2015/in Reflections /by Roma Mehta

Reflections on Aside 11 @ the Red Room

I remember watching my dad meditate when I was young. I tried to imitate him, but I just couldn’t keep myself from fidgeting, my mind from racing. As I grew older, meditation, as well as the spiritual benefits it offers remained beyond my reach. I struggled to understand spirituality. What does connecting with the world on a “spiritual level” entail? How can anyone know if they are on “their spiritual path”? I couldn’t tell. Attending the eleventh Aside @ the Red Room, allowed me to explore those questions and provided possible answers to the questions I’d wrestled with.

Tina Ma opened the night by welcoming Red Roomers and newcomers to the space with sage and blessing words. As sage smoke drifted through the air, Ma posed a question to us “What is our purpose?” she asked. This question has caused many people some stress and uncertainty, but Tina Ma uttered her answer with serenity. “Find your power and share your story…so we can learn, laugh and love together.” Finding a purpose doesn’t have to be a large or complicated endeavor, just as sharing your story doesn’t require a large audience or polished compositions. Tina Ma found purpose in many things from spending time with her elders, to learning about new cultures, to collecting feathers for a headpiece she wore that night. Pulling each feather from the hat, she told the story of how she found them. As she pulled the last feather from her headpiece, she told us that though it was dilapidated and lacked aesthetic beauty, it still had a purpose. It had a story to tell, and so do all of us. Our purpose is as simple as telling our own stories and being respectful of others’, whether they are human, animal, or plant, stories. We don’t need to do anything greater than that.

Neo Young expanded on Tina Ma’s question and assured listeners that finding their spiritual path doesn’t require ceremony or pomp. In fact, assessing whether we are on ‘our spiritual path’ can be accomplished by asking four basic questions when encountering problems or opportunities. The first question seeks to aid us in self-growth. “Are you expanding or being limited?” Neo asked the audience before urging them to “get rid of self-limitations” and pursuing our dreams. Second, we should reflect on our choices to learn if addressing all possible opportunities and solutions by asking if our choices are “inclusive” or “exclusive.” Next, we should ensure our actions are ethical by asking if we are “choosing our highest choice.” Finally, he instructed listeners to apply their knowledge and their own unique experiences to whatever they face.

When an audience member asked him how they might move beyond their fears of failure he advised them to forgive themselves for past failures then to “fully choose and let go [of doubt]”, telling them that [they are] stronger than whatever [they] think is hard.” Growth or success need not be immediately apparent or tremendous. If you are expanding, including all opportunities, following your “light” and applying what you know then you can “master your own consciousness” and move forward with your goals.

Stefano Lodola provided evidence of the joy one can find when following their spiritual path through sharing his own story. He confessed he “was never meant” to find his path, but managed to stumble onto it while working as an engineer in Japan. After years of dedicating himself to the pursuits society encouraged him to follow, he abruptly ended his career in engineering and began following his own path. He studied music, opera specifically. The stories and richness in opera engendered in him both passion and contentment. He felt liberated and empowered to explore that which had been denied to him by societal norms. He cast off much of his material possessions and began traveling, sharing his story and his music wherever he went.

Charles Haines and Thomas Bellmore revealed the value in sharing another’s story during their live performance of Edgar Allen Poe’s ‘The Raven’. While Thomas provided a stirring reading, skillfully balancing anger and despair, Charles’s skilled brush revealed the objects of Poe’s longing and his torment, his lost love Lenore. Both performers accentuated the story through their interpretation and revealed how a story can be shared through different mediums and still be impactful.

At the end of the night An-ny Lee masterfully wove both stories and listeners together through dance and meditation. All of us, through participating in the experience, learned to embrace all aspects of ourselves. It is through embracing ourselves and loving ourselves that we feel full enough to love others, to share that love. We can find joy through a connection to ourselves in meditation and through sharing that connection and wisdom with others through dance. Listeners spent the end of the night leaping around the room, hooting and laughing. They pulled faces at one another, grinned, and reeled all under An-ny’s guidance. After a short, but delightful, time blessing one another, An-ny called us back to re-center and look inwards. While we all breathed and chanted together she guided us to find our own wisdom, and to observe and sustain self-love.

I left that night feeling refreshed and less uncertain about my purpose or my ‘path’. Sometimes spirituality means pursuing what you love, in spite of what society might tell you. Other times it means re-centering through meditation or reflection. Still other times it means sharing joy and knowledge with others. Our spiritual path is never set, or certain. We forge our own path through the choices we make every day and through the stories we choose to tell.

By Leah List
Editor for the Red Room News

Leah List is a recent graduate of the University of Michigan’s Political Science and International Studies program. She is an aspiring writer, researcher, human rights advocate and a believer in the importance of storytelling. She currently resides in Zhongli, where she teaches English. In her free time, she can be found at the Red Room where she volunteers.

21 November 2015, Stage Time and Juice @ the Red Room XIV

November 7, 2015/in Reflections, Upcoming Events /by Roma Mehta

We’re kicking off the Red Room’s 6th anniversary celebration with a theme of Illusions and other Obfuscations!
慶祝紅坊成立六周年而舉辦以幻想主題的活動! 邀請 Stage Time（成人的活動）及 Juicers （家庭親子活動）的夥伴參加舞台分享。

As always we welcome Juicers to sign up for Stage Time! Children or parents may share a song, a joke, a story with the audience. Performances can be inspired by, but not limited to the theme. We suggest you sign up in advance by commenting in the event on facebook. (performances should be around 5 mins max)
請小朋友或父母親在舞台上表演與大家分享， (約5 分鐘)
表演主題可以參考本次活動主題「幻想」
此活動採預約報名，如要報名請在下面留言告知

Other Highlights:其他活動項目
Taipei Cityplaygroup dad, Yen-Chieh Wu, owner of the WeTogether stop motion animation studio, will turn a few lucky vounteers into superheroes!
動畫活動

Juice favorite, Arsene the Magician, aka Erh-Cheng Hsaio, will surprise us!
精彩魔術

The Awesome Playgroup News will lead us in a guessing game of Believe It Or Not!
真假猜謎

Because we will be running into lunchtime, please bring some juice or a snack to share. Let’s make a party of it!
記得：請帶一些果汁或點心來和我們分享。

Your Patronage $100 for adults, NT 50 per child (ages 5-16)
活動時間 Date and Time ：11月 21 日星期六 11:00am – 2:00pm
開支攤提費 : 大人NT100 小孩 (5-16歲 ) NT50

Recommended Age: 5 and Above
年齡：五歲以上至青少年都歡迎參加

More on the full day event can be found here.

活動地點：國防部空軍司令部舊址圖書館 2 樓
台北市大安區建國南路一段177號（濟南路與建國南路交叉口）No. 177, Sec. 1, Jianguo S. Rd (Intersection of Jianguo S. Rd. and Jinan Rd.
===================================
Hosts: RED ROOM and The Taipei City Playgroup
肯夢 AVEDA I Non Zero I Ripplemaker Foundation

Red Room Radio Redux — October Update

November 6, 2015/0 Comments/in Reflections /by Roma Mehta

To celebrate Halloween, Red Room Radio Redux put DRACULA on stage again. While this classic has been performed by Red Room before, we chose to ressurect for Red Roomers who missed the show two years ago. Thomas Bellmore, Rick Brundage and Sarah Brooks all reprised their roles. They were joined by Sue DeSimone Addison Eng, Tobie Openshaw and Paul Batt at the foley table (that’s movie talk for sound effects). Having enjoyed working in the TAF space with Short Stories ReadAloud earlier this month, the cast was excited to hear how they’d sound!
If it’s Halloween, Christmas can’t be far away! We’re making this our fourth annual presentation of our adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A CHRISTMAS CAROL.
At the time of writing this, we are still open to new voices for our show to be staged at the Red Room International Village on Friday, December 11th. If you are interested in auditioning, please contact Radio Redux at r4.radioredux@gmail.com
We are working with the Lower School at Taipei American School to schedule another show there.
For all you Christmas lovers who wish Christmas would come earlier, ICRT-FM100 will be broadcasting our pre-recorded, and professionally mastered, CHRISTMAS CAROL adaptation on Halloween night (Saturday, 10/31). Please tune in to hear this wonderful tale!
Sad you missed a performance? Wish you could relive the night? Red Room Radio Redux is available ON DEMAND on the ICRT website and on their new app! Click here to visit their site!

Do you have a Taipei European School connection? Can you help us make contact there to inquire about radio dramatic performances in English?
Email us r4.radioredux@gmail.com

The Juicers : October 2015

November 6, 2015/0 Comments/in Reflections /by Roma Mehta

Red Room will be rolling into its sixth year this coming November. Stage Time and Juice is only two years young, but we have been invited to head off the day-long festivities by holding our Stage Time and Juice anniversary event at 11am. As always, Juicers will be invited to stay past their bedtime and enjoy the other events throughout the day!

Stage Time and Juice is a partnership of The Red Room and the Taipei City Playgroup, a loosely-knit community of English-speaking families in the Taipei City area. Although the playgroup centers on parenting issues, we also encourage the parents to come out and share their gifts and interests with the community. Often it takes a little bit of prying to find out what interesting former lives the parents had before diaper bags and plastic objects in primary colors took over their existence. Some parents actually find that the birth of a child takes their career paths on an interesting and new trajectory. Take the case of Kenn Loewen (aka Dr. Sparks) who often finds people on the MRT are staring at him because he forgot that he has frizzed up his hair on the way to a science club gig. Ken did a thrilling demo of his hair-raising tactics in our May Stage Time & Juice which we themed “Up!” and built around him. During the upcoming anniversary celebration, we’ll be bringing another dad to you, Yen-Chieh Wu (aka Jet Wu), who will be teaching us how we can all become superheroes with the help of some skillful stop-motion techniques!

We will also have a few more tricks up our sleeves during the celebration. And as usual, we will feature our open-mike show where the kids get to express whatever their hearts desire. So be there or be…sorry that you missed the fun!

朱平 Ping Chu, November 2015

November 6, 2015/0 Comments/in Reflections /by Roma Mehta

親愛的台灣年輕朋友們：
最近我開始邀請許多大學生來參與紅房成為紅房人(Red Roomer)。
紅房已是我生活的一部份。在台灣目前紛紛擾擾的時刻，來到紅房，讓我們知道簡單的快樂是從無私的參與中獲得。如果您喜歡表演藝術、音樂及文學創作，紅房是一個有無限可能的分享平台。
台灣的未來在於跟世界連結，而英文是跟世界連結的必需工具。因此，我一直鼓勵年輕人要把英文學好。來到紅房國際村會讓您在一個英文友善的環境中重新接觸英文，及跟來自世界各地的外國人做朋友。更重要的是您會發覺藝術、文學、音樂、創作跟多元的生活是分不開的。
我相信只要您選擇踏出自己的舒適圈，來到紅房國際村，您會跟我一樣拒絕讓自己的生命日復一日的在熟悉的固定生活作息中流失。如果您不怕英文或想學好英文，紅房國際村就是您與世界連結的起點。

朱平
紅房共同創辦人
生意人、漣漪人、悅日人

PS 希望能在11/21紅房6歲生日的那天看到您們。

Dear young friends in Taiwan,

Recently, I started inviting college students to attend Red Room events. In doing so, I hope to welcome them to our community of Red Roomers.

Red Room is part of my life. When you step into Red Room from the hustle and bustle of daily life, you learn that happiness is easy and simple. In Red Room, people share their passion selflessly in art, performance, music, and through other forms of creativity to make Red Room a sharing platform without limitation.

The future of Taiwan is connected to the world, and knowledge of English is a crucial tool which aids in making that connection. Therefore, I always encourage younger generations to study English and practice it frequently. When you come to Red Room International Village(RRIV), you will immerse yourself in an English friendly environment and make friends from people around the world. Most importantly, you will find out that life cannot be separate from art, performance, music and creativity.
I believe if you choose to step out of your comfort zone and come to RRIV, you will learn to relish the challenge of learning English and savor the life which pours from your own happiness and the happiness of others. If you are not afraid of an English speaking environment or want to improve your English, RRIV is a starting point to help you connect with the world.

Ping Chu
Co-Founder of Red Room
Businessman, Ripplemaker, Daymaker

PS, Hope to see you all at Red Room’s 6th anniversary on November 21st, 2015.

Reflections STW 72, October 2015

November 6, 2015/0 Comments/in Reflections /by Roma Mehta

Entering the building, you’re greeted by a familiar outfit of friendly volunteers and friends. You pay for your ticket and, stopping by, the food table, you make your way to the welcoming red carpets at the front of the room. Over the past several months, you’ve become accustomed to this routine. You welcome it. For a moment, in that comfort, you forget what the Red Room is: an experiment. So, when Ping stands up to make his usual announcements, you don’t suspect he might have something else to announce. “I met a new friend today,” he tells us with a glint in his eyes that suggests he is party to an exciting secret. “I saw Billy Chang ( 張逸軍) and asked him to come perform for us. Here he is!”

He gestures to the back of the room. You, and a hundred other Red Roomers, follow his hand curiously. A man emerges from the divider, fluidly weaving between tables and bystanders. Suddenly, he nimbly jumps on a table; everyone gasps. He begins moving around us, creating long lines, wrapping himself around lanterns like they were beloved moons, jumping, flipping, and spinning so quickly that his outfit whirls around him. You’re enthralled. In that moment, you’re reminded that Stage Time & Wine is not meant to be routine and, in the moments when you least expect it, something you never could have predicted happens. How fitting that Ping would bring a little magic to us during the month of Halloween.

During October’s Stage Time & Wine, audience members listened to an elf play the piano and a devil strum a song. In the back, one listener sat with sketchbook out, recording the life of the room, another sat with a notebook, scribbling quotes, and notes, and questions. Later in the evening, Trevor Tortomasi took the stage to share a coming of age story about a surprising relationship between unicycles and freedom. To the left a group of friends laughed at the unexpected ending to his tale as they continued to pass a communal bottle of wine between them.

What the array of performances, words and exchanges emblematizes is the diversity of the Red Room community. At the end of the night, Red Roomers shared notes from the well of words. True to the rest of the night, a variety of notes were shared with the performers and listeners of Red Room ranging from intimate notes, to encouragement to silly phrases. Most memorably, one listener wrote a simple, encouraging statement: “Performing takes a heart of courage”. Each performer and each listener chose to give freely and speak openly about their opinions, abilities and lives. After attending several months a pattern may appear to emerge from these gatherings; yet, tonight was reminder for all of us that with openness, acceptance, and a little magic, so many more things are possible than you could ever realize.

Leah List
Editor for the Red Room E-news

How can I write for the Red Room?

October 20, 2015/in Reflections /by Roma Mehta

The Red Room accepts writing from community members who wish to share their thoughts in our By the Red Room, For the Red Room newsletter.

By the Red Room for the Red Room is intended to act as a sounding board, a place to share advice, struggles and triumphs, and a place to become better acquainted with other Red Roomers.

Please download the pdf for RR Submissions Guidelines to learn more about how to submit your work! We look forward to learning from you.

editor.redroom@gmail.com

Visual Dialogues 房耀忠 and Haines, Oct. 4 2015

October 18, 2015/0 Comments/in Reflections /by Roma Mehta

This last Sunday I had a short but sweet run in with a delightful young vampire in an art gallery. It turns out, her fangs were actually carrot sticks, and they didn’t last for very long before she gobbled them up. As I laughed with her, the sound of a massive drum rumbled off the walls and over the soft background jazz and chattery din of all the other people present. They, like us, had come to support and admire local artists on a Sunday afternoon, and we found ourselves in good company. Fragments of English and Mandarin conversations fluttered throughout the gallery. Everybody seemed to think that a little extra drums action from the corner was a positive thing. Beside the two of us was a small trio of 50-somethings, laughing lightheartedly with a wise kindness in their eyes. In front of us more people, some food, more people, a beautiful hand-crafted bar with beer on tap, and finally, walls full of vibrant, living art.

The paintings were the main event and the space gave priority to their needs, to be sure. Nevertheless, as if to remind everyone that art happens in more ways than one, the bass and piano amp were pushed aside, not packed away. Microphones on stands stood at the ready, and I trust that if anybody had wanted to step up and slam some poetry or belt a solo, it would have been received warmly. The drums got louder and I made a face at Dracula’s daughter and we both giggled, the orange chunks in her mouth threatening to come launching out in full force.

Glancing around the room, I noticed it wasn’t just us; smiles, laughter, and a relaxed openness characterized the exchanges happening all over the gallery. It felt like you would always comfortable to do what you want to do in this space, be it dancing with carrot sticks poking out of your mouth, lounging on the ornate framed bed with your iPad, or simply discussing the particular use of colors on a canvas with a friend you haven’t met yet.

Dope paintings, positive vibes, smooth lighting, endearing people who want to hear your stories as much as they want to tell theirs. As I kicked back and paused to soak it all in, it was just so obvious, so clear to me: this is the kind of thing I want in my life. I want more of this.

And who wouldn’t, I mean really?

It was on the 4th of this month that the Red Room held its first of a series of monthly Visual Dialogues, wherein the work from two artists from different cultures is displayed in a shared space. Kicking off the series were the works of 房耀忠 and Charles Haines, the vast majority of which were paintings on flat canvas. The new space at TAF, which has been filling up with new amenities and practical touches almost daily over the last month since Red Room moved in, felt wonderfully warm with its walls covered in the glowing colors of 房 and Haines. If you’ve been coming to events here recently, you’ll know what I mean when I say the place is different every time you walk in. Today a new fridge, tomorrow a couple dozen new paintings.

The pieces themselves were an absolute delight; both of the artists coupled a brilliantly bold palette of color with dancing, jesting, scowling, and screeching figures, animal and human all at once. Bold lines and clearly-defined shapes.

Charles Haines’s pieces ran a gamut from crowlike harpies moaning against dark skies to skeletal tribal creatures caught mid-scream. All of them juxtaposed definite forms with ambiguous meanings and narratives. Within all his works there lurked a rich darkness that lent the Red Room an atmosphere of dense, bleeding life. Just the perfect scene for our little bouncing vampire.

房耀忠’s bright, popping works provided a perfect foil to the eerie mystery of Haines’s. No less bold with his colors and lines, 房 had all manner of wonky creatures twirling and twisting through his pieces. Cackling horses, guitar kitties, cubist owls, and toothy demons were everywhere you looked, each one a little goofy somehow but no less captivating for it. A penchant for a lighter palette with vivid rainbow colors describes 房’s general aesthetic. Almost cartoonish at times and always playful, his paintings made me fantasize about the bizarre misadventures his characters must have in their bizarre worlds. I felt refreshed.

But of course the best part wasn’t just seeing each artist’s work on a wall. The best part was that the pieces were all mixed together, complimenting each other, breathing life into the space, having, dare I say it, a dialogue. And when you go to the Red Room, you can rest assured that there’s room in that dialogue for you. Room for both music and paintings, for both laughter and blood, for old and new alike.

The Red Room is a space for art in Taipei, which is cool. Like, really cool. But what’s really cool is that it’s also the kind of place where a massive cake accompanied by joyous singing suddenly zooms out of the corner and everyone puts down their (delicious) sangrias to join in a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday. It’s the kind of place where you say to somebody, “Wow, that’s a gorgeous shelving unit,” and they respond with “Yeah, you wanna meet the guy who built it? He’s right over there.” Young and old, native and foreign alike all come together, building an intimate environment in which to share their art. People congregate at this kind of place to hear the voices of others, they come here for community.

Last Sunday I saw some beautiful paintings in a gallery. But what made it so special and so memorable was that I also got to meet a cool photographer, jump across cultural and language barriers with local Taiwanese, sip a cold beer, jam to some beats, and laugh with a vampire.

We love to pour over a detailed painting. We love to sit on the edge of our seats in a theater. We love to get shivers from listening to music. But what’s all that art for with no one to share it with? The Red Room is the kind of place where you’ll come for the art and stay for the people. It’s not about them and their art that you came to see. It’s about the us we can build if we take care to make thoughtful exchange happen.

Word on the street is that these paintings are going to be up for the next month-ish, so if you missed the formal showing, you still got time. The Red Room is nothing if not dynamic, and their new space at TAF is perfectly conducive to a whole host of different events and performances. So come on over! Be yourself, have a drink, participate in art, and meet some new friends. It’s always a chill time and their doors are always open. Huge props to all the labors of love that so many have put into it.
I’m not sure what they have coming up next, but I know that whatever it is, I want it in my life. See you there.

Photos from Visual Dialogues can be viewed here

Addison Eng is new to Taipei but no stranger to having a great time with good people doing cool things. Drawn to Taiwan from the U.S. because of his passion for learning Mandarin, he’s currently teaching English and attending as much theater, art, and music stuff as he can. He loves cutting loose on stage and is just thrilled to have the chance to join the Red Room community.