David on Formosa

Second Skin is the current exhibition at Taipei MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art; 台北當代藝術館). It opened on Saturday and runs until 6 May.

The exhibition explores the idea of skin as an interface between objects, humans and the world. The exhibition includes examples from architecture, furniture, clothing, human skin and biotechnology. 

I have always liked Taipei MOCA because it fully embraces the use of new technology in art and many of the exhibits are interactive or engage directly with the visitor in some way. One of the first exhibits I saw was a PVC chair and my instinctive reaction was to touch it. I thought this would be perfectly acceptable given the theme of the exhibition. I was promptly told by an attendant that I was not allowed to touch. I think the curator of the exhibition could have given more thought to this. Skin is something that demands to be touched, yet there were no exhibits that actively invited the visitor to touch them. 

One of the most interesting exhibits was of various types of protective and hi-tech clothing starting with a biochemical hazard protective suit and ending with a suit for protecting divers from sharks. But again I wasn't sure if I was allowed to touch; it would have been a whole lot more interesting if I could have. 

I do recommend a visit to Taipei MOCA, but I hope one day they will put up some signs that say "DO touch".