Ship

作品賞析

Ship is part of a two-year art project by Chang Chih-Chung. He thought about a model boat once made by his father. Then, combining field research, documentary research, and weaving together the memories of family members, he began focusing on historical events, such as Typhoon Thelma, which caused severe damage in southern Taiwan in 1977, and the 2002 protests over proposed development around Hongmao Port in Kaohsiung, in which protesters threatened to bomb a ship to block the harbor entrance. From this, he developed a series of narrative-style artworks. Chang Chih-Chung here uses acrylic panel, antifouling paint, graphite, and other media to carve out the image of a large sinking ship, its stern low in the water, against a dark black background. The sea in the foreground is calm, but the ship is surrounded by darkness. The sinking ship is a metaphor for the people who faced the dilemma of forced relocation due to industrial development: it was always hard for their prospects, like dreams, to find a mooring and be achieved.