In the blink of an eye, two and a half months of my internship have already passed. I remember busily moving to a new home before leaving for Venice, so after hastily arranging everything, I was just looking forward to getting on the plane with what I needed in my luggage. Flight delays and waiting to board the boat to Venice meant that I arrived at my lodgings close to midnight. I was feeling a little uneasy that night and when I got to the exhibition venue the next morning. I reviewed some information on the Internet and the notes I had taken at a TFAM workshop in March, but that seemed forever ago because my life over the previous four months had been so busy. I felt completely unprepared and unqualified facing this situation.

The curator (Adrian) came to Venice for a few days to smooth the transition from the previous docents, Yu-mei and Hsiao-chu, to Wan-yi and me. He asked them to share their experiences so we would know what questions visitors most often ask. He also offered an onsite analysis of every artwork in the exhibition, which renewed my familiarity with the details and content of each while setting an example for how I might lead my own tours. We only talked for one short day, which seemed insufficient to give me confidence as a docent, but I still had to start work and fumble through the tours on my own.

My docent duties started in mid July, just as the height of summer was getting underway. Nonetheless, the venue, Palazzo delle Prigioni, was cool and dark due to the air conditioning and the installation blocking the windows. A bridge connects Palazzo delle Prigioni to nearby Piazza San Marco, and during the July and August tourist season, we witnessed visitors letting out long sighs as they stepped into the venue. Some caught their breath while fanning themselves and studying the artwork. Others stepped in and looked around for a bit before leaving. At first, I had wanted to talk with the visitors as much as possible, but each visitor was different and had his or her own needs. Gradually, I devised my own system of sizing up the visitors, quickly observing to find opportune moments for offering guidance. After making my assessment, I would provide them with what I thought was appropriate information.

In the summer, all of Venice is resplendent with water and sunlight, and crowds of tourists arrive by sea instead of spices or foreign merchandise. The relative warmth of the tourists is telling; those who are perspiring from being in the sun and have come in to cool off usually decline conversation because they are overheated and have difficulty concentrating on the artworks. Those who are adjusted to the temperature in the venue have spent time understanding the work, and therefore are naturally open to conversations that tend to be more interesting.

Tehching Hsieh made a special trip to Venice in mid-August to be interviewed by Taiwan Public Television. In his free time, he not only answered our many questions but also chatted with us about our internships. After hearing that so many tourists thought they were entering the prisons at the Doge's Palace, Mr. Hsieh scratched his head in that way that he usually does and joked that the tally of visitors couldn't be correct, or that those visitors didn't count. Actually, I cannot understand why he said they didn’t count, but still after two months, I haven't had the time to share my opinion with him. Interacting with so many visitors, I have heard some express their pleasure at mistakenly entering the exhibition, which they thought was the palace prison, or say that they hadn't known about the Taiwan Pavilion or Mr. Hsieh, and then thank me for telling them about the artwork. I can appreciate the rigor and seriousness with which Mr. Hsieh explores his “lifeworks,” but in many cases, people encounter art in accidental ways. Furthermore, thanks to the Taipei Fine Arts Museum's internship program, I have had many fortuitous meetings that inspired discussions and thoughts about art and life.

I still find it difficult to answer when visitors ask why Mr. Hsieh would want to suffer so much, or jump like he did, or punch a time clock. They ask these questions with expectant expressions because people always wonder about motivations. Usually, if the motivation behind an action or behavior can be understood, then everything becomes clear: we know what is wanted, what is being conveyed, or what is being critiqued. Purer concepts such as life values, time, or the essence of existence are difficult to grasp for many people and even for me. In the exhibition, the documentation of Mr. Hsieh's actions are silent except for the clicking rhythm of the projector, and the feelings of astonishment, confusion, or other deep emotions and thoughts produced by the exhibition are all answers to our questions. A lazier way to explain is to borrow something I overheard a mother tell her 4 or 5 year old child, “Because it's art, sweetheart.”

In the final few weeks of my internship, the season changed and the number of visitors in Venice dropped along with the temperature. Wan-yi and I felt these changes really made clear the theme in the exhibition Doing Time. We spent most of our time in the venue waiting to tell stories about this work created in the past, and then after work, squinting when being assaulted by the sun as we left the dark Palazzo delle Prigioni. Every time, we felt transported back to Venice from New York and Taipei during the 1980s. Our internships also seemed to echo Outside Again, the documentary film being screened in the exhibition that transports us back to the sites of Mr. Hsieh's performances. My internship offered visitors the opportunity to discuss the work and get some information, and also offered me a ten-week opportunity to get closer to Tehching Hsieh's artwork. I feel participating in this first round of the docent program was a hard to come by and valuable experience that was enriching for the opportunities I was offered both in the exhibition venue and out in Venice. I feel very honored and grateful to the Museum and the Museum Friends Association. I expect that the program will continue at the next Venice Biennale, and will make the exhibition at the Taiwan Pavilion that much richer for everyone.