航海罗盘箱
Artistic statement
This artwork is a replication of the brass sestrel binnacle ‘helmet’ compass that pays respect to Eastern maritime travels and technology.
I believe that materials carry distinct histories which gives them soul. Wood conveys life and civilization, brass exudes a history of industrial manufacture while glass helped us see things in a different way. Thus we chose plywood, brass-coloured stickers and transparent acrylic as a homage to the original.
The outer casing material of our work is 5mm plywood converted to interlocked slices, attached by hand after laser cutting the slices. Engraved on the surface of each piece of plywood is a timeline from an ancient stele “天妃靈應之記” of historical Chinese explorer Zheng He’s (1371 – 1433/1435) travels, as well as a map of his voyages. Where the original compass inside the structure is a Western one, our replica contains a Chinese compass from “海道針經”that is laser cut and engraved on acrylic, which when illuminated casts a shadow of the Chinese characters. We also preserve the brass as an essential part of the compass.
By using modern 3D modeling software such as Rhino and manufacturing tools such as laser cutting, we take an object that is from the past and create the connection between East and West, past and present.
Through this artwork, we hope to recall the cross-cultural history of world navigation for viewers from different backgrounds, pay homage to great navigators and show esteem to those dreamers.
It was exhibited in the LHRC2021 in HongKong Maritime Museum.
Joyce's Gallery 