The Black Furniture 34- the Peace and the Auspicious

作品賞析

Do you believe in parallel universes? Artist Tsai Ming-Tsan describes his own view of the universe through this mysterious work. He believes that “the world is made of vibrations, and different times and spaces are juxtaposed within the same environment.” In this picture, we see the faint outlines of a taishi or “grand master” chair, and on its seat a vivid, somewhat stylized elephant is carrying a vase on its back. Three halberds are inserted in the vase, as well as a stone chime. This combination of images forms a punning, visual rebus in Chinese on the words tai (grand), ping (“vase” and “peace”), xiang (“elephant,” “image,” and “portent”), ji (“halberd” and “auspicious”), and qing (“stone chime” and “auspicious”); in other words, we can say that it reads, “For the Grand Peace, there are portents, and auspicious blessings to spare.” Tsai Ming-Tsan used layers of ink, with an aureole of bleed, to depict the elephant, and the white smoke floating from the elephant’s trunk creates a “flowing and vibrating feeling” and sets off the shape of the furniture in the background. From a bystander’s perspective, he depicts the encounter and appearance of two parallel universes of superficial images and meaning.