November
Open to Find True Happiness
This month, the “Chair of Biology” got exhibited once more, as part of an installation called “Open to Find True Happiness”.
The venue was a private function, and the exhibition counted other visual artists (acrylic painting by Anthony Tan , photography by Ulla Graton, ink painting on rice paper by Sandrine Tusin), and a beautiful voice performance of various songs by Guylene Harris.
The picture above is of the installation earlier, in my garden. Here is the full description of the installation and it’s meaning:
As one looks on, one sees only a living room. But beware, all is not what it seems. The paper chair is a “Chair of Biology”, made using the artist’s recycled biology thesis. The lamp is a paper “Lamp of Enlightenment” produced using one year’s schoolwork (the artist’s daughter’s). The footstool has designs inspired by plant embryos painted on it (and is just there to help create the impression of a cosy room), and the book is nothing more that its cover (despite or because of the promises of the title).
By using meaningful paper as building material, I want to change the perception we have of the chair, the lamp. These objects are functional, but their importance as “chair” or “lamp” becomes challenged once we know they are made from “important” paper – they become the thesis or the schoolwork, at least in the mind of the “paper donors”, and hopefully in the mind of the viewer. Can memory be transmitted from one person to the other?
As the viewer ponders about the implications of opening the book or not, it is hoped he will realise that he is also part of the cycle of life and will be recycled into something he doesn’t choose.
Isabelle Desjeux 