Gashapon

Imagine the government as a Gashapon machine: Who knows what people will get in exchange of their expectations that were fed into the machine before they know it from the newspaper?

Commissioned by the 2011 IDA Congress Taipei and the organizer of the 2011 Taipei World Design Expo, I led the team of Trip View Bowl to create an exclusive commemorative bowl named “Design at the Edges.” Taking the historical Songshan Tobacco Factory as the center, we completed the “Songshan Creative & Cultural Park Fish-Eye Aerial View” from a designer's perspective. Nevertheless, it only depicts what will happen on half of the event location during the Expo within a month; for the other half, we should trace back to 20 years ago.

In 1991, the fans of Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) shouted agitatedly “we want an arena (giant egg in Chinese)!” because the series had been delayed by rain. As a result, the historical Songshan Tobacco Factory was designated as the proposed site for arena. Two full decades have passed and the surroundings of the site have for long become a dense business district. This golden future arena site, however, has become the only “urban eco-hopping island” in the eastern district of Taipei due to its long dormant years with native plants and creatures living on its land.

Over the years, the green dream of the local residents has sprouted with the vitality of this land. The demands for a “forest park instead of a commercial arena” and “a sports park instead of a commercial district” thrived. The local neighborhood magistrates, the City Council, the environmental groups and academics have also petitioned for retaining Songshan Tobacco Forest Park. With the battle between commercial interests and environmental consciousness pending, however, trees have been disappearing, one after another.

In October 2011, the long-disputed arena construction has begun, with the historical site of Songshan Tobacco Factory divided into two pieces with a fence. Outside the fence, elite designers confront with each other for the first time in history; Inside the fence, local residents are not yet able to see their dreams come true. This makes “I as a resident” ask “I as a designer” publish this work, named “Gashapon”.

I have to ask, “We have over and over again paid taxes and voted, in the hope to get happiness out of this decision-making Gashapon machine. How do we know, however, whether the happiness we desire has indeed been factored into the machine? Will the giant egg we have waited for 20 years to hatch meet our expectations?”

Director of Trip View Bowl Autumn 2011