As you may have heard, the bird-brain mayor of Taichung, Jason Hu, has about fifteen super-mega projects up his sleeve… Now get this, he is trying to open a “branch” of the renowned NYC Guggenheim museum in Taichung… God knows why… But apparently you will discover that there are other Guggenheim museums in various incarnations around Europe, in France for example, and Spain. Now, before the project can even get negotiated, the mayor and tax-payers are obliged to cough-up 2 million U.S. dollars to employ some fussy little consultants to come into town, look around, eat at a few restaurants, and then pronounce judgement upon how and where to build the museum.
There will never be a Guggenheim museum built in Taichung. No way. It’s not even close, never, impossible. But it is a good pipe dream, and makes a nice campaign promise and guarantees great newspaper headlines, but come on, reality check time – no way a G museo is coming to Taichung, not in 500 years anyway.
This is all smoke and mirrors and political PR. Just who does Jason Hu think he is?
Who’s on first? Well, Tokyo or Shanghai will get a G first for Asia, not puny out of the way Taichung, cool as it is as a with-it city. Jason Who is a PR operative from way back and he knows what he’s doing. As for the 2 million greenbacks, who’s going to fork it over?
First, they gotta build an international airport in Taichung to attract intl visitors. A G museum without an intl airport nearby – you call CKS nearby – is never gonna get approval from Gertrude Guggenheim in New York.
A wish list is just that – a wish list.
The money is to come from the tax-payers… This guy has about fifteen other projects in mind too, like a huge stadium, other big museums, you name it…
As for getting approval, well, you never know – if those consultants are nephews of Gertrude’s, and so, helping to pay her rent – well, why shouldn’t they win approval? Money talks, right? Nowadays all art world stuff is mass-prod commercial art anyway. So getting the Gugenheim sounds like setting up a restaurant franchise: if you have the basic dough to begin with, you can build a Burger King damn near anywhere now… There’s a Gugenheim in Alsace and one in Bilbao… How did those ones get there?
This case shows how important NYC is to the Taiwanese! It is like there’s no other place on earth to turn to for your dose of almost high-culture…
I doubt this project will get off the ground. They built a Hard Rock there and it lasted for a week, as did Hooters. It seems the Guinness museum isn’t there, either. Maybe they should open a porn museum, since Taichung is Taiwan’s porn capital.
Flicka: "Maybe they should open a porn museum, since Taichung is Taiwan’s porn capital. "
I keep hearing about this, that Taichung is the porn capital of Taiwan. In what way? Where?
You mean number of KTV’s offering nude girls? Number of cowboy pubs offering nude men? Number of porn magazine shops and dildo shops? number of Porn movie theaters? What exactly, and why so different from Taoyuan or Taibei?
near my home in Taoyuan, there is a series of brothels for NT$800 a pop, many Indonesians and Filipino men go there on weekends to pop their lids. WOmen are Aborigines and mainlanders, butt ugly, look drugged, 30s, most of them are mothers, really they are sex slaves here. Bought and sold. Once in a while I see young women from taipei come thru here too, hotties in their 20s. They looked drugged too. Is this ever on Tv?
But tell me about Taichung? or this a joke F3?
As for the G Museum in Alsace and Spain, both those places are major tourist destination players in the world travel plan. Taichung? Do you think jetsetters are gonna come to Taichuing via CKS just to see a silly Picasso? No way on Earth.
But got to hand to jason, he knows his PR. He will be pres someday, watch!
Jason better know his PR, because Taichung is a bloody mess of a town… My gf’s sister used to live there, and once, we were visiting her. We had to go for a stroll down from that small hill upon which they have built several very tall highrises… Well, the space between the high rises and the commercial area at the bottom of the hill is full of streets passing through those ugly green metal fences with weedy empty fields on the other side of them, and all the sidewalks are messy and broken up… I think that Jason Hu would be much wiser to rebuild the streets of his town and plant some trees and make it look pretty instead of like a garbage dump… Seriously, in many places, Taichung is really a messy town and could use a lot of rebuilding and clean up… At least the mayor could try to open his eyes and do something right and practical… But these pompous little politicos get their friggin’ nose stuck up somewhere in the air, looking at all those coffee table books. Betcha Jason Hu won’t ever go for a walk down that hill to look at the messy streets…
What actually does the G-Muse do? I watched a docu on Frank LLoyd-Wright and his design for the G-Muse in NYC was fantastic whereas the art inside wasn’t that impressive (but i’ve no taste anyway). Would it really be such an international attraction even if they got it?
quote:
Originally posted by Mark0938: What actually does the G-Muse do? Would it really be such an international attraction even if they got it?
Brand-name. And you know what the Taiwanese are like for brand-names.
Actually, I wonder why they don’t just save themselves the cash and open a “Gurgleheim Museum (for your happy fortunate pleasuring since 2001).”
There’s an interesting article on the Guggenheim in today’s NYT Magazine.
www.nytimes.com/2002/06/30/magazine/30KRENS.html
I’ve been to the Guggenheim NYC, and the exhibits were pretty disappointing. Very amateurish. When most of the paintings you see there causes you to conjure up the thought, “Gaaawwd, what the hell is that supposed to be?? My 4-year old nephew can paint better than that!!!”, you know it ain’t that good!! But that’s just my subjective artistic opinion.
The Guggenheims in NYC and Bilbao seem to be recognized more for the architecture of the museum buildings themselves. I think it would be kewl if Taichung had a Guggenheim despite the low probability. Bilbao isn’t a big city itself and they got one, and I read that Tokyo and Shanghai weren’t that interested. So who knows.
Let’s say that Taizhong gets its branch museum. Does the art come from the Guggenheim’s collection, or would Taizhong be expected to fill the building itself? What would it use? Hello Kitty accessories?
There’s no way the National Palace Museum, which has – and for once this hackneyed phrase is correct – a world-class collection, would loan out its art on a permanent basis to a museum unrelated to it.
I wonder how much money the taxpayers had to shell out to send Hu and his delegation of 19(?!) city councilors to Spain. (I think that’s the correct figure. I can’t find the source now.)
An article from last month about this:
www.taipeitimes.com/news/2002/06/06/story/0000139235
I’m assuming the Guggenheim, if built, would only showcase contemporary art like in NY. So artwork from the Nat’l Palace wouldn’t make sense.
If the branch opened, the Gugenheim, would of course, be obliged to help stock the gallery with the latest gems of contemporary commercial art… But this is something that the dreamers in Taichung may not have taken into their estimation… Personally, I think that the Gugenheim is taking advantage of these yokels, simply to get 2 million dollars out of them! Like, make us a big donation, brother! Gugenheim’s nephews have to pay for their lazy socialite wives, you know!
Taichung’s mayor should figure out how to clean up the streets and beautify his ugly city BEFORE he tries for these grotesque mega-projects: it is a fact, mega-projects are almost always money-losers… The city of Montreal is still paying off its debts for the Olympic stadium fiasco… I think Utah actually did make money off the last Olympic games, but that’s a fluke…
Actually, I think that the whole thing about the Taichung Gugenheim deal reveals just how easily this world lets the money-f—k–g rich do exactly as they please – at the expense of the average man, who can’t get any free love at all…
ppopppoo
I totally agree with you, Popo. And when I become rich one of these days, I aim to do exactly as I please at the expense of the average man too. Nothing’s ever free in this world, buddy!! 
I luv that Olympic stadium in Montreal. It’s too bad that they haven’t been maintaining it. I like the concept of those elevators going up the tower overlooking the stadium. When I was there I heard that they were planning to build a new stadium for the Expos in downtown. I hope they don’t raze the old one.
Think again:
[quote=“Lawrence Pollard”]
Guggenheim may open in Taiwan
The Guggenheim Foundation, one of the world’s biggest cultural brands, is proposing a possible gallery complex for Taiwan to join its string of international sites.
It’ll be a hit with all the foreign tourists, when they start coming to Taiwan, that is…
Taiwan seems to have a habit of overpaying for everything. Whether it is performances, art, specialists, or diplomatic recognition =). I guess this is what happens when you live in the shadow of a much bigger tree.
Think again:
[quote=“Lawrence Pollard”]
Guggenheim may open in Taiwan
The Guggenheim Foundation, one of the world’s biggest cultural brands, is proposing a possible gallery complex for Taiwan to join its string of international sites.
news.BBC.co.UK/2/hi/entertainment/3072383.stm[/quote][/quote]
It is still a proposal. It doesn’t say it will really get off the ground. Even if it does open, well, Hooters was open for a week. The Guinness Museum didn’t last–half of the reason is I am sure their cruel displays of the (living, breathing) “Wolfman” and other unendorsed silly freak shows embarrassed Guinness. Hard Rock was built and never opened. If world tourist mecca Las Vegas can’t keep a Guggenheim museum, why on earth would Taichung be able to?
(I find it interesting the press reports seem to fail to mention that there was a Guggenheim in Vegas that opened and went under at the Venetian. Don’t be fooled by the Guggenheim site–there were two museums at the Venetian. The big one closed and the tiny one, the size of an average Taiwan apartment, remains open.)
And what happened to Hotel Nikko, the Regent, and the big Intercontinental they were building? That city can’t even keep a Western titty joint open and now they are going to run a Guggenheim?
Here are some renderings of the proposed Taichung Guggenheim. :shock: 
http://www.forgemind.net/epaper/epaper-volume-0005/images/epaper0048-image01.JPG
http://www.forgemind.net/epaper/epaper-volume-0005/images/epaper0048-image02.JPG
http://www.forgemind.net/epaper/epaper-volume-0005/images/epaper0048-image03.JPG
http://www.forgemind.net/epaper/epaper-volume-0005/images/epaper0048-image04.JPG
Guggenheim project welcomed by locals, alliance official says
etaiwannews.com/Taiwan/2003/ … 342686.htm
They never asked me!