In early May of 2026, a speed bump sign was put up outside of Lightbox Library, on a weekday that the library itself was closed. The sign was put up without any notice or prior communication, erected right outside of the library’s window. For weeks, my supervisor and the founder of Lightbox, Liang-Pin, fought the Taipei City Traffic Engineering Office, urging them to move the sign. The space that Lightbox currently inhabits used to be a parking garage. Now, it is a wonderful library with high vaulted ceilings and never-ending shelves and shelves of books. To have this sign, a brutal mark of silver and traffic-sign red, standing outside of the library holds more meaning than just some city administrative nonsense. It actively cut into the visual facade of Lightbox, in such a way that demanded retaliation.
While the conversation with the TCTEO is still ongoing, my supervisors at Lightbox decided to take matters into their own hands. Táuh-táuh-á Lâi: A Sign for Cultural Labor is the new name of the speed bump warning sign. The public artwork, as a collaboration between the Taipei City Traffic Engineering Office and Lightbox Photo Library, invites passersby to think about the act of slowing down: “What must be done quickly? What should not be rushed?” Slowing down, as a practice, is a “public ethic,” one that can be nurtured through a universal respect for the practice.
I am forever grateful that I was at Lightbox as this exhibition came to fruition. The thoughtfulness and passion of my supervisors at Lightbox is beyond inspirational. They turned nuisance into meaningful art, in a way that lacked vindication or spite. They have shown me a new model of collective leadership, a model where we are all unified by our shared love for the space of Lightbox and motivated by our passion to protect and grow it.
I’ve thought a lot about the person that I was when I arrived in Taipei in the middle of May and the person I am leaving Taipei as. Having spoken pretty broken Mandarin my entire life, living alone and having to speak Mandarin solely has been a challenge, but one that has had undoubtedly gratifying ends. To have lessons from my textbook at Columbia figuratively jump out and be embodied in an actual conversation has been so exciting. I am thinking of taking further lessons in Chinese to keep up with the experiential learning I've done this summer, something that I know I would not have considered without my LiA summer.
Highlight Reel: Went to the Botanical Gardens with everyone, walked an average of 22,000 steps (don’t know what happened this week…), saved a giant snail with a stranger in Riverside Park (Taipei version) at 11 PM, celebrated the Dragon Boat Festival (in Asia for the first time!), and pressure washed the outside of Lightbox.