Taipei City is home to many buses, but there is one that goes nowhere at all, yet still transports visitors to another realm. The whimsical installation is based on a popular storybook, illustrator Jimmy Liao’s When the Moon Forgot.
The book tells the story of a boy named Jimmy who befriends the Moon after it falls out of the sky. When the world starts to struggle without its rocky satellite, the boy helps the Moon to find its way back to the sky.
Placed on a pedestal, with raised spheres of reflective metal at its front, the bus has a statue of a boy in a cat costume on its roof. The boy is holding a smiling cartoon moon just over his head. Step inside and you’ll find a friendly bear in the driver’s seat. Softly melancholic music plays. On the passenger bench, a statue of a boy cradles a moon in his arms. In the back hides an octagonal room with walls of surreal storybook art and mirrors on the floor and ceiling, creating a strange visual tunneling effect.
