Must-See: Capturing the Loneliness of the Yellow Duck – Three Classic Time-Lapse Artworks

Reported by You Tzu-ju / Taipei

The Yellow Duck craze has swept across Northern Taiwan. The “Polder Art Festival” in Xinzhuang, Taoyuan, is now on display until November 10. In addition to the Yellow Duck, the three major highlights of this art festival include Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama’s dotted artwork “The Footsteps of Life” and South Korean artist Choi Jeong Hwa’s “Lotus,” both of which have drawn large crowds. Some visitors used time-lapse photography to capture the three artworks swaying in the wind on the polder ponds, presenting a uniquely desolate beauty against the open land, as well as offering a new interpretation of the artworks.

  
▲ The three main artworks at the Taoyuan Polder Art Festival, from left to right: the Yellow Duck, the Breathing Lotus, and The Footsteps of Life. (Photo / by reporter You Tzu-ju)

To showcase the unique features of Taoyuan’s polder ponds, the three artworks—the Yellow Duck, The Footsteps of Life, and the Lotus—are all displayed on the water. Although the bases of the Yellow Duck and the “Lotus” are fixed, when the wind blows, the body of the duck gently rocks, and the petals of the “Breathing Lotus” sway on the water’s surface with the ripples, creating a sensation as if breathing together with the earth. Meanwhile, Yayoi Kusama’s “The Footsteps of Life” is not fully anchored, so the artwork continuously shifts positions and postures on the water. The contrast between the vast waters and the artworks, as interpreted through time-lapse photography, seems to freeze the gestures of the artworks, giving the impression that the world of art has its time and space displaced—evoking an exceptional sense of loneliness.


▲ Time-lapse photography of the three main artworks at the Taoyuan Polder Art Festival. (Video / from YouTube; photo by Chen Chao-wen)