3D PAINTINGS
Taitung Art Museum
Kaohsiung MRT Formosa Boulevard Station
Tu Long
Tu Long's 3D paintings are experienced with tactile en joyment, and marveled at in disbelie f
On
Photos/ Peter's Arts Co., Ltd
a warm September night, a crowd has gathered alongside a red carpet outside a theater complex in Taipei's glitzy Xinyi District. In the shadow of the landmark Taipei 101 skyscraper, they await the stars of a new movie, Tai Chi 0, a martial-arts action f ilm directed by Stephen Fung. With cameras at the ready, fans hold up placards greeting the movie's actors and actresses, among them Tony Leung, Eddie Peng, and Shu Qi, but one man stands off to the side. Dressed in a thin turtleneck sweater, fashionable scarf wrapped loosely about his neck, and dark sunglasses, his arms are folded neatly in f ront of him, and he has a sly and somewhat shy smile on his face. With his hair tucked neatly behind his ears, he looks every bit the artist. His eyes rarely stray f rom the 3D, L-shaped work of art at the head of the red carpet that leads to a stage where the director and celebrities in attendance will later address the crowd. His name is Tu Long, he is Taiwan's f irst 3D painter, and this is his moment – the moment he gets to watch with unfettered pleasure as complete strangers become a joyf ul part of his creative process as they interact and have their picture taken with one of his eye-popping works of art. One of Tu Long's 3D paintings isn't to be taken in passively, as one would with a regular work of art in a gallery or a museum. It is to be experienced with tactile enjoyment, and marveled at in disbelief, as you walk to its center and then have your picture taken in its midst, striking a playf ul pose. Such is Tu Long's skill that his paintings, though of ten fantastical in theme, blend right into the surrounding cityscape, taking the participants along with them. At times, it's diff icult to tell what is real and what Tu Long has created. His spray-paint and brushwork masterpieces swallow up the people who venture into them, transporting them into worlds of the artist's own imagination.
He showed a keen interest in art at a young age, and his passion was nurtured by his parents, who enrolled him in a private painting school in his hometown, the southern port city of Kaohsiung. Upon his graduation f rom college 25 years ago, he began painting f ull-time, though for a time he had to take on other work to support his artistic ambitions. His f irst move towards 3D painting began roughly f ive years af ter his postsecondary education came to a close. He was commissioned by a government organization to create a giant statue of the god Guangong for the Tainan Yanshui Beehive Rockets Festival, a riotous annual event in which revelers in protective gear brave roaring blasts of rocket f ireworks in a practice dating back to the late 19th century, when local citizens believed doing so would help the god in his efforts to drive away the evil otherworldly types that had caused an epidemic. It took Tu Long three months to complete the massive f iberglass work, and he worried privately that it might burn during the festivities. Luckily his concern was, for the most part, the consternation of a young artist hoping to impress, which he did in spades. The skills he picked up in this huge undertaking would later be transferred to the 3D paintings that have gained him fame around Taiwan. Tu Long's career as a 3D painter began in earnest at Kaohsiung's Fengshan Junior High School, which in 2009 asked him to come up with a piece for its art classroom that ref lected the theme of caring for Mother Nature. Outside the classroom he created a work in which it looks as though the f loor has given way to reveal a crystal-blue pond beneath, its sides walled by pristine white-andcobalt glaciers. A few of the f loor tiles have been incorporated into the piece as pillars that extend downward into the pool, allowing viewers to stand upon them and reach down to favor penguins, a bear, and an orca whale breaking the water's surface with a playf ul pat. The painting was such a hit with the students and faculty that he was asked back to teach a series of classes at the school. His schedule has since become so f ull that he no longer has time for teaching.
29
Travel in Taiwan