CONTAINER 21ST.C.
40 foot container, 2 pumps, pvc pipes, water, light, silver paint.
Post-Civilisation, Curated by Lee Jiun-shyan, Huang Hai-ming and Chang Hsin-pi. Kaohsiung International Container Arts Festival, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Ocean Terminal, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, 2003.
The global village is no longer a metaphorical contention but is in effect a verifiable, concrete truth and the long-distance voyage of the container eliminates all doubts regarding the bridging of the gap between cultural differences. Having been born on an island historically known for its port-culture, it is not hard to understand the human significance implied by the transportation of the humble container of goods. The container becomes an extended poem, open-ended, celebrating land, water and the communication of cultures. The unexpected cantilevered effect, projecting the silvered (idealizes) container outward beyond the base connects land and water in a literal sense. The installed visible pumps (a direct homage to technology) circulates sea-water ‘‘through’’ the container. Water becomes a vital ingredient, an elemental force that is also the source of all potential existence and mutation. Hence its perpetual motion and its essentiality, container-doors are flung open to sea and sky, water and land are in transfusion and an artist attempts to bridge the human gap.