Boundless Sensory Experience, A Journey to a Different Spacetime
As technology advances, the “impossible” is continually happening. This phenomenon is seen at many different levels – politics, society, culture and the arts. The rapid transmission of information compresses time and shortens the distances between the cultures of the world, blurring artistic boundaries and making interdisciplinary collaboration the creative model for our times.
The cultural capitals of many nations attract numerous tourists from all over the world each year and bring unlimited economic benefits, as well as international status. This has become the driving force behind the Taipei City Department of Cultural Affairs’ ongoing promotion of art festivals and cultural celebrations – to produce not only positive economic returns but also a dynamic city image for Taipei. In 2009, the Department of Cultural Affairs commissioned the Digital Art Foundation to manage and operate the Digital Art Center, Taipei (DAC Taipei), which this year is hosting the Taipei Digital Art Festival for the first time. Through this superlative organizational structure, we hope to dedicate greater resources to this year’s Digital Art Festival and make it a world-class event. It is our vision to build Taipei City into one of Asia’s great cultural capitals.
The theme of the Fourth Taipei Digital Art Festival in 2009 is “Funky Light.” This year’s theme explores the artists’ close attention to the advancement of technology, how it affects the way people think and live, and its continuous impact on our world in ways we have yet to understand. The festival resonates with our common experiences and allows us to reflect on our lives. Based on the events in our own surroundings, we can determine for ourselves what “Funky Light” means, and then proceed to interpret the digital artworks created by Taiwanese and international artists alike. This collision of technologies and ideas is sure to stir up a host of surprising new thoughts, and achieve the goal of artistic exchange among disparate cultures.
In 2006, the Taipei Digital Art Festival started with only two exhibition facilities. This year the Festival has expanded to five exhibition venues. The Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei and the Digital Art Center, Taipei will be the main exhibition sites for this event. The opening show will be launched at the Red House Theater in Ximen, and the closing show will be held at Huashan Arts District. The Goethe Institute Taipei (German Cultural Center) will also host a special exhibition of German art. Each of the different events occurring on each of these “digital art platforms” promises to give audiences an unforgettable experience. With the expanded participation of the National Science Council (NSC), the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), the French Institute in Taipei and the German Cultural Center, the Fourth Taipei Digital Art Festival is an attempt to develop a new vision of art and create a new mode of expression, by integrating Taiwanese culture, local industries and the digital arts.
The people of Taipei no longer consider works combining art, technology and collective participation to be strange. Leading the public through the formative steps of acceptance, recognition, understanding and contemplation is one of the main reasons we organize such events. The exhibitions, performances and interactive events of the Taipei Digital Art Festival are meant to make participants feel just how much the environment in which they live brims with energy and cultural possibilities. We sincerely invite you to share the sensory experience, and journey to a different spacetime with us, in the festivities of Funky Light. 
