As Much As You Like_韧用

Installation includes two parts: one is a paper ‘lantern’  made of many chopstick’s paper envelopes; another is a Deng Xiaoping image made of withdrew chopsticks from the ‘lantern’ , laminated cardboard and a 1.5m diameter dinning table.  现场装置包括两部分: 一个是由筷子的纸套组成的‘灯笼’；一个是由抽出的筷子，纸板和1.5米直径的餐桌组成的邓小平人像；

Below is the final version of artists’ statement for the exhibition  

As Much As You Like_韧用  

by William Hailiang Chen & Chong Boon Pok
Materials: cardboard, dinning table-top, Perspex, disposable chopsticks and it’s paper pocket

This is a collaborative project between William Hailiang Chen and Chong Boon Pok. Chen is from China and is a graduate from the Architectural Association School practicing in London; Pok is from Malaysia and is currently a fine art, practice-based research student at the London Metropolitan University. Chen is interested on the environmental sustainability issue in relation to the transformation of objects and materiality. Pok is interested in the idea of attentiveness to the everyday; his work as a whole explores the as-it-is-ness of things, as well as the interconnectedness between objects and people.

As Much As You Like developed from Pok’s Assemblage of Used Disposable Chopsticks, 2000. The title translated into Chinese as ‘韧用‘, the word ’韧’ has two meanings: Firstly, it’s pronunciation is the same as ‘任‘ which has the meaning of no tie. Secondly,’ 韧’ also means durable or long lasting. While in English, ‘As Much As You Like’ has connotations of the buffet style served in some UK restaurants, where diners pay a fixed price to “eat as much as you like”.

The initial proposal of this installation involved public participation in which, the artists would invite the public to withdraw the chopsticks from a pre-made, lantern shaped sculpture to use for their meals in the food court next to the exhibition space. The public then made use of the used-chopsticks to form a pie-shaped piece of furniture. Due to the limited time and lack of sponsors, the artists decided to abandon this process.

This experimental sculpture symbolically portrays China today after chairman Deng’s ‘reform and open to the world’ policy. His policies have brought China into a new era of world influence. Disposable chopsticks have a very short life span; we throw them away immediately after finishing our meal. This project combines both Chen and Pok’s interests, where they observe the relationship of this object with us within this temporal environment and time frame, searching for ways to make a connection and expand the life span of the chopstick and its accompanying paper pocket. Trapped between controllable and uncontrollable, applicable and non-applicable, they are trying to allow dialogs to expand among the chosen materials and its consumers. Arguably, the work may be seen as a cross between architectural form and sculptural form.

For more information about the project, please visit project’s blog: http://www.asmuchasyoulike.org/

韧用  

陈海亮 & 傅宗文  

材料: 纸板，乳胶，钢丝绳，鱼绳，绵线，木制餐桌，有机玻璃，一次性筷子及其包装纸套   

 ‘韧用‘是建筑师陈海亮和艺术家傅宗文一起合作为07大声展特制的现场装置作品。陈海亮，来自中国大陆，毕业于英国伦敦建筑联盟学校，现在伦敦工作；傅宗文，来自马来西亚，目前正在伦敦城市攻读艺术博士学位。陈海亮对物质材料在可持续发展及使用中所带来文化形式上的转变感兴趣。傅宗文的作品主题则专注于日常生活，其作品贯用日常的物与事探索物体本身持有的原本性以及物与人之间的相关联性；促使理解物与物，人与物之间共享的天地。

本装置的概念源发于傅宗文2000年的一件雕塑作品“弃用的一次性筷子”。“韧”在本作品的中文标题“‘韧用”中具有双重寓意: 1. 取同音字“任”，有任意、随意使用之意；2. 取其本义中的耐用、反复多次的使用。二者合一，是为“韧用”。其英文标题“As Much As You Like”取自英国中餐馆的一种餐饮方式―自助餐―固定的价格“随您任意吃”。 

本作品的最初提案是一个观众参与的互动项目：将预先由一次性筷子粘制好的灯笼型雕塑放置于展场旁的餐饮店；观众从中抽取筷子用餐；然后将使用过的筷子插入多层叠加的“园饼”型卡纸板；逐渐形成一件家具。由于时间及赞助所限，本提案最后被搁置。

这件实验性的雕塑作品浓缩地影映了邓小平主席“改革开放” 后的中国，其政策方针使中国步入一个新的纪元，并对全球带来了巨大的影响。 “一次性筷子”拥有非常短的寿命，我们用餐过后便会立即将它丢弃。本作品融合了两位艺术家的兴趣，试图检验在如此短暂的时空环境中物体与我们生活之间的关系，并寻找延长筷子与纸套的使用寿命的可能。在可控制与不可控制、可适用与不可适用之间，我们试图扩展使用者与被使用物体之间的对话关系。也许颇有争议地是：本作品的最终形式会被视于介于建筑和雕塑两者之间。

更多信息，请访问作品网站 www.asmuchasyoulike.org 在此特别鸣谢大声展的工作人员及志愿人员对本展品的协助制作。

Special thanks to Get It Louder production team and volunteers’ assistance.