artsthaddeus
Thaddeus Jurczynski Joined: September 21st 2006
Logged in: March 15th 2011
Logged in: March 15th 2011
Travel Blog Posts
Workshop Space
I've been up all night with my students, helping to finish the tree demon lantern puppets. As dawn breaks, the last bit of paint detailing is completed so that they are ready to be loaded onto the trucks going to Neihu. The puppets seem very fragile, and we worry as they are loaded onto the trucks, but they all make it through the trip unscathed. We take a chartered bus to Neihu Community College, the parade site and other workshop area. We get lunch and Jennie and I give each other knee massages. It's very hot and humid. The teacher and students who will carry the Taipei 101 dragon show up and I meet with them to help assemble it. I connect each of the panels and wings with rubber ties, stapled into the cardboard. We ... read more
Tomas with Owl
Tis the night before the parade / Moon Show and all the creatures are stirring! Only several hours to go and so much has to happen. My students have only been able to get in a few days worth of work here and there and we will be up all night. And of course, we've had to make time for Moon Show rehearsals which cut dearly into building time. There's a lot of confusion about staging, and we're all kind of making it up as we go along. The students are really excited about being a part of the show and we manage to work them all in. Each tree has it's own group of acolytes. Although we've been working hard, the largest, most complicated tree puppet still has areas left to papier mache. All of ... read more
Chef Puppet
It's only a few days before the parade and everyone is working at a frenzied pace! The architecture students I'm working with are only here for a few days out of the week and have classes during the day, so the only time we can work together is at night, resulting in some very late hours. ... read more
Seashell Temple
After Yehlui, we drove to another beach, sandier and less rocky. Then we drove to this seashell temple. The outside was very unimpressive, it looked like a large ramshackle warehouse covered with corrugated metal. But inside was a temple, with sculptures, bas-reliefs, and mosaics constructed almost entirely of seashells. There were a couple of small shops. I bought candy and ginseng liquour, and they served soup and a delightful ginger tea. Afterwards, we drove to a port area where we took a speedboat to a touristy place with lots of shops and restaurants.... read more
Restaurant
When we drove to the coast last time, we passed beaches with amazing looking sandstone and limestone formations. So I was really happy to visit Yehliu. I took lots of pictures, here are the best, and here's some more info: "Yehliu is a cape of about 1,700 meters long formed by Datun Mountain reaching into the sea. When overlooked from above, the place is like a giant turtle submerging into the sea. Thus, it is also called "Yehliu Turtle". Because the rock layer of seashore contains sandstone of limestone texture and it is subject to sea erosion, weathering and earth movements, there is particular scenery consisting of sea trenches/holes, candle shaped rocks, and pot shaped rocks. The place is divided into three sections. The first section has rocks like Queen's Head, Fairy's Shoe and Candle. The ... read more
Chao in Demon Mask
On Wednesday, we go to a parade rally in downtown Taipei. Several groups that will be in the parade also participate. On Sunday, we have another cabaret, and things get pretty wild! (I've also added a few pics to the two previous blogs!)... read more
Octopus
The large floats and puppets are being constructed in another space. Here are some pictures from the activity that has gone on there this week.... read more
Dragon Head
It's been a busy week for me at the Dream Community. I've been working mostly with three different groups. There's a dragon puppet for an elementary school. The teacher wants the body to resemble the Taipei 101 building. I've also been working with a couple of preschool teachers who have meen making insect masks and costumes for kids. Next they want me to help them make a hollow tree carried on bamboo poles that the kids can run in and out of. About midweek my knees are really hurting. I've not quite recovered from the Tsao Ling Trail hike. I seek out care at a clinic around the corner. I hobble in at about 9:30 pm and receive pulse diagnosis, acupuncture, cupping, massage, adjustment, and traditional Chinese medicine. I come back the next day for electrostim ... read more
Carmen
Today we drove to the Northeast coast of Taiwan to walk the Tsaoling Historic Trail. We catch a bust to one part of the trail, that begins near a park, then hike up, up, up, into the mountains. We descend, eventually, and come to a temple, then have a great dinner!... read more
Jellyfish
(So I'm back in Port Townsend, and probably have enough material to blog from here for the next few weeks! I had to take a break when crunch time hit, but hope to get everything caught up!) When we arrive back at the Dream Community, it has been turned into a surreal landscape. The architecture students are hard at work, and the place is littered by the remains of giant sea creature skeletons. The sodium lamps cast an eerie yellow light, and we feel like we are walking through an undersea graveyard. The jellyfish, manta ray, shark, squid, seahorse, lobster, and hermit crab continued to develop over the next several days. The deer lantern puppets continue to grow, despite us running critically short of reed, and many other pieces pass through various stages of development.... read more
