VOP Issue 34：光學玩具 Optical Toys

From cranks, picture discs and peepholes, to lenses, film, and light bulbs… Images appear through various materials, the hands and body, the retina and consciousness. Before photography and films became prevalent, visual devices had already taken the lead in creating new perceptual experiences and pleasures that combined different technical media and audio-visual cultures since the 17th century. This issue opens with a variety of optical toys and visual devices ─ thaumatrope, zoetrope, phenakistiscope, praxinoscope, mutoscope ─ that will bring you through the operation, production, and perception of image association since the beginning of the sudden emergence of technology of vision in motion.

This issue of Voices of Photography resembles a writing device that connects the dots, projecting different historical aspects of the image machine. Hsu Chun-Yi explores the connection between early optical toys and philosophical concepts and sheds light on the thoughts triggered by visual stimuli. Lin Chiao-Fang dissects the state of perception affected by the illusion of continuous movement in the intervals between animated frames. Tang Hong-Feng uncovers how the “panorama” imported from the West during the late Qing Dynasty had potentially influenced the modernization of Chinese visual culture and the enlightenment of thinking. Arakaki Yumeno looks at how “Kamishibai” or paper play, which originated from Japan in the 1930s as a medium for storytelling with a series of pictures, found its way into the imperial audiovisual theater. Chen Han-Yu highlights the historical development of the politics of perception by showcasing the National Policy Kamishibai, published in colonial Taiwan by the Kominhokokai (Public Service Association of Imperial Subjects) in 1941. In addition, this issue also features an interview with Hsu Tsen-Chu, an experimental filmmaker, whose visual devices try to create a local imagery experience through assembling a variety of daily household items. We also interviewed Yoneo Ota, director of the Omochaeiga Museum (Toy Film Museum) in Kyoto, who shared with us his experience establishing a museum and his prized collection.