Bamboo is a common material in Taiwan, used for everything from construction scaffolding and billboard supports to baskets. Bamboo is one of the most abundant plants growing in the central mountain ranges of Taiwan, and it is a sustainable and renewable resource: sprouts grow into tall poles in two years. One of Taiwan’s most prominent contemporary sculptors, Wen-fu Yu, recently purchased a plot of land in the mountains of Nantou County near the Xi-Tou Forest Recreation Area, which is known for its bamboo forests. He bought the land so that he could live in his own bamboo forest, create his works there from his own materials, and build an enduring environment for his sculptures. Yu usually makes his works as site-specific, temporary installations during artist residencies or in conjunction with exhibitions. He now feels that he wants those works to last longer…see the entire article in the print version of April’s Sculpture magazine.
