Crown of the Sea General 海將軍之冠 by Yu Liang Chen

Crown of the Sea General 海將軍之冠 by Yu Liang Chen is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2020 A' Design Award 銅獎 in 美術設計 Competition Category.

銅美術· 2020

Crown of the Sea General 海將軍之冠

by Yu Liang Chen

Client: NewLocal Art Studio

A' Design Award 銅獎 Winner in 美術 Category

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Verified Award Winner

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View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

Colors

The Design

About Crown of the Sea General 海將軍之冠

《海將軍之冠》係一件公共藝術裝置作品，坐落於台灣雲林縣口湖鄉。呢件裝置長10米、闊3米、高4米，以不鏽鋼骨架同水泥砂漿塑形，表面則鋪上光澤琉璃瓦、碎瓷片、鵺石同鏡面玻璃，營造出豐富嘅視覺層次。結構內部設有座椅，提供遮蔭同休憩空間，基座周圍鋪滿白色碎石，吸引小朋友喺此玩耍。作品融合原住民、漢族同日本文化嘅圖騰紋樣，藉此喚起大眾對海洋資源嘅尊重同珍視。

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award 銅獎

Crown of the Sea General 海將軍之冠是 A' Design Award 銅獎得主，這是授予以創造力、獨創性和敏銳見長的傑出設計的極具聲望的認可。銅獎得主是技藝嫻熟、創意驚人的作品，印證了其設計師豐富的經驗、想像力與機智。預計Crown of the Sea General 海將軍之冠將成為一件備受推崇、令人欽佩且被珍愛的物品，兼具顯著的專業性與創新性。這件贏得 A' Design Award 銅獎的設計融入藝術、科學、設計和技術領域的最佳實踐，並因注重細節而出類拔萃。Crown of the Sea General 海將軍之冠出色地滿足需求，觸動渴望，迷住情感，並吸引好奇心。

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: Located in Kouhu Township, Yunlin County, it not only takes on the elements from patterns of various ethnic groups, but is also equipped with practical functions, including benches for resting in the interior of the installation which provide sun-ray-shielding function, and white gravels paved around for children to play with which enhances the chances to interact with people and then to pay attention to issues of environmental protection and the ocean.
Dimensions & Packaging: The installation measures 10 meters long, 3 meters wide, and 4 meters tall. We apply the common construction method of Taiwanese modern temple roof, which comes in dragons and phoenixes, and also take the features of materials into consideration. Besides, artisans who are expert on making the exterior of temples such as legendary figures, statue of deities, auspicious animals are invited to work together.
Tags: Installation art, Gazebo, Multi-cultural groups, Marine Resources, Environmental protection issue
Production Technology: We took stainless steel bar and net as the frame, cement mortar as the molding material. The surfaces were applied with glossy glaze tiles, fragmented ceramics and close-lightly pebbles, and pottery plates as well as pot lids were embedded in as design to increase fun. Then mirror-pane glass formed the exterior, strengthening the perception toward the combination of tradition and modern.
Design Challenge: Trying to combine modern art design and traditional craft, the design team especially invited molding masters and fragmented ceramic artisans constructing temples in southern Taiwan. Because of that, the design team spent a great amount of time communicating construction methods and related details, including design proportion, fragmented ceramic coloring, format, construction procedures, etc., which challenged the past designing and constructing experience of the designers and artisans.
Research: The figure was set in the elements from mythologies. The crown came from Giant Groupers, which is a part of Taiwanese aquaculture. Indigenous, Han, and Japanese signs are introduced. The theme color is shades of red, which is a symbol of luck and happiness in Taiwan; black, white, and golden frame reveals a sense of exquisiteness from Japanese culture; the Mountain Patterns, which belongs to indigenous tribes in Taiwan, taking blue, green, and orange to represent atmosphere, sea, and land.
Inspiration: In order to remind people of the importance of respect while using marine resources, the idea of the Sea General came from the traditional folk religion, the Sea Goddess, Mazu. It symbolizes that to save the environment damaged by human beings, the Sea General sacrifice its own life and leave behind the crown to remind people of the meaning of cherishing the planet, correlating with the issue of marine resources preservation and climate change.
Project Duration: The project finished in November, 2019 in Yunlin County, Taiwan.
Operation Flow: Crown of the Sea General looks like a character coming out from fantasy novels, deepens the visual perception to reach the goal of warning people that our future environment might face the fightback of nature. As for the colors, the design team chose to use prevailing decoration elements from traditional Taiwanese temples and deity statues and particularly commissioned professional Koji Pottery workmen to produce low temperature glaze kilning fragmented ceramic and tiles.
Team Members: Yu-Liang Chen
Image Credits: Cheng-Mao Liu