Budaixi Reimagined
ROLE
Illustrator / Animator / Researcher
DESCRIPTION
Expanding Budaixi as a concept, a medium of ideas, and documentation of heritage. This project examines the surface-level understanding of our current cultural preservation methods.
YEAR
2023
SOFTWARE
Blender / After Effects / Illustrator / Research
About the Project
Local art forms are universes that are self-referential. Though not by purpose, each iteration creates and reinforces the cultural norm they were produced in. However, the description of these cultural artifacts online reduces their context to their formal elements.
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One of the features that characterize us from each other is the extent to which we interact with our surroundings. Does the simple description of material traits sufficiently define cultural groups, or should we leverage what we know and understand about the social relationships of artifacts to get a better understanding of the cultures?
Explore Beyond the Archive
Aiming to bridge the gap between the essence of the artifact and the oversimplified explanations, this immersive experiment serves as both a record of my conversations with the guard regarding the implication of formal elements of the Xitan Shechai Traditional Budaixi Stage, and a new way to document cultural artifacts along with
their intangible narratives.
Context Matters
While audio and video recordings seemingly preserve almost everything occurring within an interaction, what is recorded is limited mechanically. The content exists around a strict division of access and custodianship of images, emphasized by technology's capacity for mess disseminating indexical images while emphasizing and recontextualizing other capacities.​
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This video delves into the transformative journey of Budaixi, Taiwan's traditional puppetry, during its peak in the 1980s. From being a primary source of entertainment to facing a diminished status as an art form, Budaixi eventually played a crucial role in shaping the nation's cultural identity. The narrative explores this evolution in the context of Taiwan's international standing and its relationship with the West, unveiling the intricate dynamics between tradition, artistic perception, and cultural identity.