The Alps
2023 - 2025
Ready-made from Yingge / 12 x 6.5 x 23 cm
Ceramic installation / 47 x 45 x 75 cm
Wooden pallet / 80 x 80 x 75 cm
Video / 1’ loop, no sound
Interlocking floor mat / 250 x 360 x 8 cm
I take Taiwan-exported decorative ceramics titled Napoleon Crossing the Alps as the starting point for this work. The Alps refer to the undefined form of the support structure beneath the horse’s hooves. This ceramic piece was designed by a modeler in Taiwan’s ceramic industry in the late 20th century. It depicts Napoleon on horseback, but due to the horse's front legs being lifted mid-air and the overall imbalance of the sculpture, the designer faced the challenge of overcoming the fragility of ceramics during the molding process. As a solution, they created a functional yet awkwardly shaped support structure to stabilize the ceramic piece. When the ceramic horse cannot perfectly capture the heroic leap as portrayed in the painting, there is an unavoidable sense of humor and awkwardness stemming from material limitations, technology of the time, labor, and the goal of mass production. The support structure, almost resembling "a shape of nothingness," is unrecognizable by itself. We can only borrow the name of the "Alps" from the original 1801 oil painting Napoleon Crossing the Alps to conceptually validate it, much like sticking a label on it. Thus, I repeatedly present this prototype throughout the work.