Danhai Light Rail Green Mountain Line - Jimmy Public Art
When Jimmy Liao personally took the Green Mountain Line and saw the setting sun, Mount Guanyin, the glass prints, and the cast copper cat statue-cum-platform bench, he couldn't help but say that he was really happy with the results.
- 2018
- Tamsui District, New Taipei City
Introduction
Jimmy's Gift to Danhai New Town
Since being invited by the Department of Rapid Transit Systems of New Taipei City in 2015, Jimmy spent the next four years designing the brand-new Sometimes Sometimes public art project for the Danhai Light Rail. The project features a little girl with a top hat, a blue skirt, two pigtails, and an adorable round face making the rounds between stations along with her animal buddies. Visitors are welcome to meet her in Tamsui and follow in her footsteps to explore the historic town.
Jimmy started designing the project when construction for the Green Mountain Line was first announced. He conducted field studies along the projected route and decided to create a new picture book, Sometimes Sometimes, as the theme for the project. He decided to use cast copper to create large statues. Some of the statues even incorporate the design of platform benches to make the art more open and approachable. All 11 stations feature either statues or colorful and heartwarming illustrations from Jimmy. Kanding station in particular featured a giant 518 x 200 cm glass print of the little girl being surrounded by flowers to let passengers end their commute with wonder in their hearts.
An Open Station with Art at Every Corner
While most public art installations in MRT stations are designed around being placed in one station and lack thematic coherence across stops, Jimmy's art for the Green Mountain Line of the Danhai Light Rail was planned to be displayed across 11 stations, with each stop getting its own display featuring the little girl protagonist, allowing passengers to interact with the art up close.
Visitors can take the Taipei Metro Tamsui Line (Red Line) to Hongshulin Station then transfer to the first station in the Danhai Light Rail. The stations with public artworks are as follow:
There are also artworks at the transfer bus stations: Zhongshan & Binhai Intersection and Binhai Yishan Station.
The little girl and her dear friend will accompany passengers as they wait for the bus to arrive. Both sculptures are exquisitely colored and set atop bronze bricks which are imprinted with the image of a cast copper hat. The sunshade atop the bus stop is made in the shape of a leaf and patterned in such a way as to produce different refractions of light and shadow under natural light during the day or illuminated by lights at night.
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Title:
Sometimes Sometimes
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Year:
2018
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Artist:
Jimmy Liao
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Material:
Brass, aluminum alloy metal casting, and digital printing on tempered glass.