Street artists bring a touch of color to Taichung
Words by John Evans
Translated by Angel Pu
It's tough making a living on the streets as an artist. Just ask Vincent Chen, who at times needs to keep one eye on the encroaching dark storm clouds and the other on his keyboard. When the strong winds come, he stops playing his traditional Chinese love songs and dashes for cover with his keyboard and speakers.
When the rain stops, the music continues. However, even as a one-man band, he can't play too loudly or else the police come. And then there's the money. On a good day it's a few thousand NT dollars, but on poor days his hours of effort will only bring in a mere couple hundred NT. Nonetheless, Chen is an artist whose studio happens to be on the street corner.
"I like to sing to everybody," said the 29-year-old musician, taking a break playing on Wuquan West 4th Street, along the Art Museum Parkway a block or two south of the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts.
On a recent evening most people walked by Chen without dropping money into his collection jar. Occasionally, though, the clink of a coin from a passerby would bring a smile to his face and a nod of thanks.
"People want to relax. They want to come here and hear some good songs," he said.
Making a living as a street artist is all about talent and location, Chen said. You can't set up too close to another artist and you need to find a spot where there are lots of people who will stop and listen. Places such as the Taichung train station, while crowded, are not very good for business because people are too busy to stop, he said. For two years now, Chen has been trying to find the best locations to set up his keyboard and microphone.
"I want to play. I want to sing, but Taichung doesn't have many places to play," said Chen, who also makes a living entertaining at weddings.
However, Herbert Su and his jazz club have found the perfect place. Outside the Taichung City Culture Center on YingCai Road you will find Su blowing his tenor sax with dozens of others every Monday night. Su and his jazz club play for the love of music--and the practice. A chief accountant by trade, he only picked up the saxophone a few months ago, and yet the 58-year-old has a gig every Monday night.
"Work can be crazy so this helps me relax," he said. "It helps me slow, slow down.”
The 50-member jazz club does not ask for money from those who stop to listen to its traditional Taiwanese music, recounting stories of love gained and lost. While some of Taichung's artists make their living on the streets and others play for pure enjoyment, for Lin Yi-Tung, 51, it's a unique story. His street artwork gave him a second chance at life. Having lost both arms in an electrical accident 25 years ago, Lin paints with his mouth. With just a few brushstrokes, vivid scenes of fish and flowers come alive on paper fans. He can be found painting watercolors by holding a long, soft calligraphy brush in his teeth every weekend on the pedestrian-only JingMing 1st Street, commonly nicknamed "Tea Street" by some foreigners, in the Little Europe district.
"I like it a lot," said Lin. "It makes me feel good about myself."
His fans, adorned with orange koi fish and red blossoms, sell between NT$150 and NT$300 and appear to be quite popular. On a good day, Lin said he will make up to NT$3,000. While indeed his artwork helps him pay the bills, it has also created friendships and made his life happier. Chatting with passersby--whether they want to buy a fan or not--is one of his joys. However, Lin didn't always feel so positive about life. After his accident he spent years at home doing very little except thinking about what had happened. It took a friend's encouragement to shake him out of his sorrow.
"You have to overcome," he said on a recent sunny afternoon. "You have to pull yourself up."
He admits that at times he still feels uncomfortable when someone may stare, but he is determined not to be bound by society telling him what he can and cannot do.
"I've cast aside my limitations," Lin noted. A former janitor with little formal art training, he continues to push himself personally and as an artist through his oil on canvas, which he paints at home. Taking a break between his deft dabs of olive-green paint, Lin said that he felt fortunate to be where he is today and part of Taichung's diverse street-artist scene.
"No matter where you are in life you should never stop learning," he remarks. |
July 2011
