Moon thumbnail 1
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
China, Room 44, The T.T. Tsui Gallery

Moon

Chair
1995 (designed), 2004 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Shao Fan is a sculptor and painter who freely experiments with various media. His name is often immediately associated with his reconstructed, or rather, deconstructed Chairs (?) series of 1996 of which this a part. In the series, Shao Fan plays with modern man's fascination with the Chinese language and Chinese ideograms (written characters).

The parts that are used to make Moon come from a variety of the 'guan mao' (official's hat) style chair, so called because of its resemblance to the shape of a scholars' headgear. The design is based on the Chinese ideogram and the frontal view of the chair evokes the image of the crescent moon. However, the seat breaks away from the continuity of the upright back and comes forward towards the viewer.

By adding a third dimension to the structure, Shao Fan has made the imagery into a physical concrete object, giving full proportion to a two-dimensional imagery.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleMoon (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
MDF with catalpa and Chinese elm wood
Brief description
'Moon' chair, MDF with catalpa and Chinese elm wood, designed in 1995 and made in 2004 by Shao Fan, Beijing.
Physical description
Chair made of joined MDF and wooden parts.
Dimensions
  • Height: 142cm
  • Width: 49cm
  • Length: 60cm
  • Weight: 55kg
Style
Copy number
1/30
Marks and inscriptions
Artist's mark and edition number (Carved at top of back of chair)
Credit line
Given by Pearl Lam
Summary
Shao Fan is a sculptor and painter who freely experiments with various media. His name is often immediately associated with his reconstructed, or rather, deconstructed Chairs (?) series of 1996 of which this a part. In the series, Shao Fan plays with modern man's fascination with the Chinese language and Chinese ideograms (written characters).

The parts that are used to make Moon come from a variety of the 'guan mao' (official's hat) style chair, so called because of its resemblance to the shape of a scholars' headgear. The design is based on the Chinese ideogram and the frontal view of the chair evokes the image of the crescent moon. However, the seat breaks away from the continuity of the upright back and comes forward towards the viewer.

By adding a third dimension to the structure, Shao Fan has made the imagery into a physical concrete object, giving full proportion to a two-dimensional imagery.
Other number
S9624 - serial number
Collection
Accession number
FE.329-2005

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Record createdDecember 23, 2005
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