Thomas L.

TRANSCRIPTS

What do you remember about the place you grew up?

我是在台北市萬華區龍山寺附近出生的，
所以小時候的記憶都是在那個地方，
因為那附近宮廟很多、
神明遶境活動很多，
有很多賣神桌、神像、
木頭窗櫺等木頭加工的工廠，
甚至還有專做燒給死人的東西的工廠，
如紙房子，
這些都是我小時候最愛看的，
我常常去看這些工廠的師傅如何雕刻神像、
加工木頭窗櫺、
如何用木條做紙房子的骨架並糊上紙，
這些都是我小時候的記憶。

What is an important lesson you learned when you were little?

然後這個第二個問題
我小時候我是住在我外婆家，
我的阿姨和舅舅很多，
而且家中一樓就是針織工廠，
我爸爸就是老闆，
他很忙，
工廠機器除了故障之外，
都是24小時不停機的，
而且工人很多，
家裡只有我一個小孩，
我還會幫忙我爸爸顧機器，
機器停了就趕緊叫我爸爸來處理。
可能就是因為這樣的家庭環境，
家裡面都是我的長輩
我喜歡觀察別人在做什麼，
應該就是從那時候開始的。

所以我小時候學到一門課就是要先觀察別人，以便於以後用來給自己參考。

What do you remember about the place you grew up?

I was born near Longshan Temple, Wanhua District, Taipei City
so my childhood memories are all from that place.
Because of all the palaces and temples nearby
and the many activities dedicated to the gods,
there were many statuettes, altar tables,
wooden window lattices and such
available for purchase.
There were even factories that specialize in burning things for the dead,
such as paper houses.
These were my favorites to look at when I was a child.
I often saw how the masters of these factories carved statues,
processed wooden window lattices, and made wooden strips,
the skeleton of paper houses then pasted with paper,
these are my childhood memories.

What is an important lesson you learned when you were little?

The second question,
when I was young, I lived at my grandmother's house.
I had many aunts and uncles
and there was a knitting factory on the first floor of the house.
My father was the boss, he was really busy.
Machines in the factory, except when they were broken down,
ran all 24 hours of the day.
Now, there were many workers around
and I was the only child in the family.
I would help my father watch over these machines,
see if they ever stopped.
When they did, I would quickly call out to my father to deal with it.
Maybe because of this family environment
and everyone around was elders,
I like to observe what other people are doing.
It might have started then.
So during this time, I picked up this important lesson;
pay attention to what others are doing
and you can learn important things from them this way.

ARTIST STATEMENT

What is the artwork about?
這是關於我爸爸的故事，他從小就是與朋友在廟裡面遊玩，所以同時也對廟會產生濃厚的興趣。我的話
This is a story about my father. He has been playing in temples with friends since he was a child, so he also has a strong interest in temple fairs.

What can you see in the picture?
一座寺廟和我爸爸
a temple and my dad

What was your goal when making this artwork?
讓大家知道當時的情景
Let everyone know the situation

How do you want the viewer to feel when they look at your interview, transcript, and artwork?
透過我爸爸的故事讓他們能夠了解台灣的文化
Let them understand Taiwanese culture through my dad's story.