It was a Sunday, slightly rainy and drizzly but nothing too out of character for Taipei. Walking through the Taiwan Air Force base to the Red Room always filled me with a sense of electricity. I hope I’m not late and I can’t wait to get there.

Making my way up the stone stairs surrounded by the white walls, I see photos. I would stop and admire them but I’m being dragged inside by my need to see the space and what’s been done to it this month.

I open the door and am met with an energy that is new. There are photos that capture times that I have not yet experienced and places foreign to me. Arranged in a manner that are at once calculated yet relaxed. Marveling at the subject matter and some of the artistic style of the photographer I wander into the main part of the room when I see them.

The umbrellas, not strewn across the floor or laid in a nice pile by the entrance, but hung as if though they were red lanterns at a night market in Taipei. All with different designs and markings. They were the production of another artist. Both artists had come together to use the space to present their creativity and I was brought to smiles when I saw what they had done.

The space had an energy that was interjected by the art chosen by these two creative beings. A beautiful photo of the Taipei cityscape hung in the corner surrounded by photos just as entrancing. Renderings of the artist perspective of Taipei turned into quirky comic books sat as a welcome to guests of this event.

Voices hummed and people were nibbling on some food provided by Sababa. But everything quieted down as the artist took their place in the front of the room to talk about their process. Both Alex and Bara had complimentary vibrations. They smiled and joked about their process but you could see that they took their craft seriously. Yet in the space you could see that the ego was not such a big part of the process.

Sharing and letting the world experience what you have seen or your perspective seemed to be the ultimate goal for this visual dialogue. Two artists, one that realized the beauty in the world with his camera and the other that created her own with a paints, pens and tools… Couldn’t think of a better way to spend a Sunday.

Daniel Black