The leaning mailbox removed from its creative space—has the artwork turned into two damaged mailboxes?

▲The leaning mailbox. (Photo / Reporter You [symbol], same below)

By Jiǔwǔ Èqī (Nine-Five Evil Wife)

In Taiwan these days, the hottest mailboxes are undoubtedly the “leaning mailboxes” indirectly caused by Typhoon Soudelor.

Setting aside comments like “If you have time to queue up, why not help with disaster relief?” or “Taiwanese people are really bored,” I personally think it’s a good thing that the leaning mailboxes have been ordered to be preserved.

After all, the leaning mailboxes highlight the Taiwanese trait of finding joy in adversity and chasing fleeting trends; they also show the impact of natural phenomena like typhoons on Taiwan. (Typhoons aren’t just destructive—they’re often an important source of water. The real cause of environmental damage during typhoons may ultimately be improper human development, overexploitation, and other issues.)

But this morning, I saw that the leaning mailboxes were to be relocated to the Beimen Post Office due to causing major traffic disruptions, in order to let the public take photos to their heart’s content. Seeing this decision, my first thought was “utterly stupid.” It also highlights how far Taiwan still has to go in developing tourism and art.

I’m not from the art field and haven’t studied art classifications in depth. But viewing these two unintentionally iconic mailboxes as a form of “urban installation art” or “site-specific art” might be feasible?

However, Wikipedia mentions one point: “Some installation art is site-specific art, meaning it can only exist in the space where it was created.”

Once the leaning mailboxes leave the space and timeline where they were created, they become just two damaged mailboxes, no longer possessing their appealing power. After all, creating a leaning mailbox only requires a sledgehammer and a strong hit—but having natural forces blow down signs that then crush the mailboxes into a lean is a different kind of meaning.

▲The crowd taking photos with the leaning mailboxes.

If the post office wants to profit from the leaning mailboxes and create tourism benefits, it shouldn’t relocate them to a place tourists won’t visit on their own, abandoning the Zhongshan District, which is a stronghold for Japanese travelers. Instead, it should know how to package and market them.

Just how long can the tourist photo craze last?

Given the nature of Taiwanese people, it’s estimated the excitement will fade in just three days. (People will still take photos, just without queuing.) Will it still affect traffic? I think if there is an impact during the hype, the solution should be to assign personnel to manage traffic control and queuing routes, rather than moving the mailboxes.

Next, it’s important to know how to market and tell a story.

Put up a signboard, clearly explain the origin of the mailboxes, and let more people learn this story. Then, issue special postmarks and postcards to make tourists feel “it’s fun to send a postcard from here” or “they say love letters sent from here can withstand more trials”—stories like that can attract people to send mail, take photos, or even get married here. The authorities should create “culture and atmosphere,” not hastily launched, ugly merchandise.

Any plastic factory in Southeast Asia or mainland China could produce tens of thousands of leaning mailbox toys in minutes, but only at this exact alleyway can one truly experience the meaning of the leaning mailboxes, as well as their harmony and contrast with the street scene—the great postal officials ruined all of that themselves...

Also, “never give the mailboxes names,” because those officials will only come up with old-fashioned names: Red + Green, Qingqing + Honghong, and so on. The mascots will definitely be hideous, lacking in line appeal, with unappealing eyes and too many unnecessary elements... it’s just a tragedy. It’s better to let the leaning mailboxes remain simple mailboxes, cleverly blending into the urban scenery.

Let the public give them their own nicknames they like—everyone will feel more affectionate and comfortable that way. Over time, a most fitting name will naturally emerge. Only names given by the public themselves will have that kind of affinity.

But all of this is just my personal opinion. Once the mailboxes are moved, we’ll soon see the process of how a coincidentally created surprise fades away in the city.

●About the authorJiǔwǔ Èqī (Nine-Five Evil Wife), a reporter for ETtoday EBC News Cloud. The above opinions are the author’s personal views and are not related to the company. 88 Forum welcomes more participation from Cloud Friends, and netizens are welcome to share their insights. Submissions can be sent to editor88@ettoday.net