Crown of the Sea General Installazione di arte pubblica

Press Kit

Unique Properties

Located in Kouhu Township, Yunlin County, it not only takes on the elements from patterns of various ethnic groups, but is also equipped with practical functions, including benches for resting in the interior of the installation which provide sun-ray-shielding function, and white gravels paved around for children to play with which enhances the chances to interact with people and then to pay attention to issues of environmental protection and the ocean.

Dimensions & Packaging

The installation measures 10 meters long, 3 meters wide, and 4 meters tall. We apply the common construction method of Taiwanese modern temple roof, which comes in dragons and phoenixes, and also take the features of materials into consideration. Besides, artisans who are expert on making the exterior of temples such as legendary figures, statue of deities, auspicious animals are invited to work together.

Tags

Installation art, Gazebo, Multi-cultural groups, Marine Resources, Environmental protection issue

Production Technology

We took stainless steel bar and net as the frame, cement mortar as the molding material. The surfaces were applied with glossy glaze tiles, fragmented ceramics and close-lightly pebbles, and pottery plates as well as pot lids were embedded in as design to increase fun. Then mirror-pane glass formed the exterior, strengthening the perception toward the combination of tradition and modern.

Design Challenge

Trying to combine modern art design and traditional craft, the design team especially invited molding masters and fragmented ceramic artisans constructing temples in southern Taiwan. Because of that, the design team spent a great amount of time communicating construction methods and related details, including design proportion, fragmented ceramic coloring, format, construction procedures, etc., which challenged the past designing and constructing experience of the designers and artisans.

Research

The figure was set in the elements from mythologies. The crown came from Giant Groupers, which is a part of Taiwanese aquaculture. Indigenous, Han, and Japanese signs are introduced. The theme color is shades of red, which is a symbol of luck and happiness in Taiwan; black, white, and golden frame reveals a sense of exquisiteness from Japanese culture; the Mountain Patterns, which belongs to indigenous tribes in Taiwan, taking blue, green, and orange to represent atmosphere, sea, and land.

Inspiration

In order to remind people of the importance of respect while using marine resources, the idea of the Sea General came from the traditional folk religion, the Sea Goddess, Mazu. It symbolizes that to save the environment damaged by human beings, the Sea General sacrifice its own life and leave behind the crown to remind people of the meaning of cherishing the planet, correlating with the issue of marine resources preservation and climate change.

Project Duration

The project finished in November, 2019 in Yunlin County, Taiwan.

Operation Flow

Crown of the Sea General looks like a character coming out from fantasy novels, deepens the visual perception to reach the goal of warning people that our future environment might face the fightback of nature. As for the colors, the design team chose to use prevailing decoration elements from traditional Taiwanese temples and deity statues and particularly commissioned professional Koji Pottery workmen to produce low temperature glaze kilning fragmented ceramic and tiles.

Image Credits

Cheng-Mao Liu