h.-1 萬唐人物 Ten Thousand Chinese Things

萬唐人物
Ten Thousand Chinese Things

2015,單頻錄像,7分48秒
Single-channel video, 7'48"
鄭亭亭
CHENG Ting-Ting

台灣 1985年生於台灣台北,現於倫敦與台北生活及工作
Taiwan 1985 born in Taipei, Taiwan, now living and working in London and Taipei

《萬唐人物》作品名稱來自於1842年於倫敦海德公園所舉辦的同名展覽,該展覽在Chinoiserie(歐洲史觀所建構出來的東方形象及刻板印象)的歷史上佔有一席之地。此件作品專注於Chinoiserie,其中具有代表性的瓷器圖案為Blue Willow (藍色柳樹)。該圖案為18世紀英國開始自行生產瓷器後,所自行想像的圖樣。為了讓該圖樣更有東方風味,一個因瓷器而生的傳說故事亦相應而生。作品開展藉由網際網路的摸索與串連,建構出這個虛構圖樣的生平及其所牽動的千絲萬縷。

藍色柳樹在出廠後開始了全球的收藏風潮,藏家們感動於圖案所描繪浪漫淒美的愛情故事,後期甚至連中國或是日本的瓷器品牌都有輸出該圖案的瓷器。直至今日,尚有許多人誤會藍色柳樹的故事以及圖案是源於中國。這個虛構帶有東方氣味的圖案,完美地呈現Chinoiserie裡歐洲西方觀點對於東方的想像。後來中國的工廠也開始生產藍色柳樹的瓷器,更凸顯出話語權在身份認同以及歷史建構中的重要性。

The name of the artwork, Ten Thousand Chinese Things, comes from the exhibition with the same title organized at Hyde Park, London in 1842. The exhibition holds a place in the history of Chinoiserie (the impressions and stereotypes about the East by the European interpretation). This artwork focuses on Chinoiserie, in which the iconic ceramic pattern is Blue Willow. The pattern is a British invention when the U.K. started to produce china on their own in 18th century. To add more oriental fragrance to this pattern, a story was born for the china. The artwork unfolds via the exploration and connections online, so as to layout the biography of this fictitious pattern and the threads it connects with.

Blue Willow sparked the collection fever around the world when it came out of factory. The collectors were moved by the beautiful, sad, romantic story portrayed by the pattern. Later, there were ceramic brands in China or Japan that manufactured china with this pattern. To date, there are still many that have the misconception that the story of Blue Willow and the pattern came from China. This fictional and somewhat oriental pattern manifests perfectly the imagination toward the East from the European viewpoint of the West in Chinoiserie. The fact that Chinese factories also started to produce Blue Willow china sheds light on the importance of discourse power in identity and history construction.