Hop on the time machine of memories! Kaohsiung’s dreamy attraction “Chair Score”

▲ The popular Instagram spot “Chair Score” at Kaohsiung’s Pier-2 Art Center. (Photo provided by netizen Lailei, no unauthorized reproduction, same applies below)

Reporter Li Ziyi / Comprehensive report

If you could choose one object to stack your memories into a fortress, what would it be? Last year, the Pier-2 Art Center in Kaohsiung created a new installation art piece called “Chair Score,” stacking 1,137 wooden school desks and chairs into a circular fortress. Each chair is engraved with the name of an elementary school, layer upon layer, as if composing a musical score filled with childhood memories, taking you back to your elementary school days in an instant.

▲ Chair Score represents past memories, while the large tree beside it symbolizes natural life—the two converse and resonate with each other.

Located within Dayi Park in Kaohsiung’s Pier-2 Art Center, Chair Score is surrounded by large trees and lush greenery. Looking around, dark brown, brown, white, and green elementary school desks and chairs are stacked layer by layer, neatly arranged into a circular fortress—1,137 chairs in total—creating a unique landscape with a strong nostalgic vibe.

▲ Step into Chair Score and sit on a white chair, as if boarding the time machine of memories.

Walking into Chair Score, you’ll find a white chair right in the center, surrounded by walls of chairs, making you feel as if you’ve stepped into a time machine and entered a space full of memories. Sitting on the white chair, with sunlight spilling across the floor, creates a particularly evocative atmosphere.

▲ Layer upon layer of elementary school desks and chairs form the structure of Chair Score, with its beautiful curves offering a unique aesthetic.

Chair Score makes you feel as though you’ve entered a maze-like score made up of the school seating from your own past. By exploring the space, the gaps between the chair walls create a kind of spatial score, which transforms into beautiful plays of light and shadow as they shift, weaving through the installation. The blue sky, white clouds, green trees, and your childhood memories transcend time and connect as one.

▲ The scenery looks great from every angle.

The creator of “Chair Score” is Yan Minghong, who built it using metal and old wooden chairs. It is a “site-specific art” work that emphasizes being rooted on the earth and connecting all forms of life through communication. The artwork itself symbolizes the “memory of the past,” while the old tree beside it represents “the existence of nature.” The two semi-circles engage in a dialogue of life, merging into a complete sphere in the heart.

▲ Chair Score engages in a dialogue of memory and life with the blue sky and large trees, occasionally joined by travelers.

Address: No. 1 Dayong Road, Yancheng District, Kaohsiung City (within Dayi Park)