帶著漂亮的餐具野餐，陽光和煦的午後，用過餐點，吃過甜點，微風吹，草地上，丟下狼藉杯盤，就這樣睡著了。醒來揉揉眼，回過神來，竟發現螞蟻追著你餘下的溫飽甜美而來，爬滿了餐具。美好的回憶裡混雜著大堆小昆蟲突襲的恐懼，這就是Evelyn Bracklow的瓷器作品予人的印象。
名為「Chitins Glanz」的系列是Bracklow以La Philie的名義發表的餐具。鑲著金邊的白瓷看來華貴優美，它們並非出自Bracklow之手，而是她至四處搜來的舊物。 她再在它們之上以筆繪上與實物同等大小的螞蟻，再以160度高溫燒成，讓生動的螞蟻與餐具至此不離不棄。
「恐懼、噁心、夢幻、讚頌」，是Bracklow希望Chitins Glanz能夠表現出來的情緒。不過比起這些，她更希望這些餐具能勾起使用者的聯想——是誰將餐具隨手亂放，是誰任它們引來一堆小昆蟲，為甚麼那人如此草率？Chitins Glanz讓我聯想到法國導演Louis Bunuel的名作Un Chien Andalou中，螞蟻以手心中爬出來的場境。你又聯想到莖麼？
Chitins Glanz現時於Esty中發售。
Picture yourself having a picnic on the lawn in a warm afternoon sun, after dessert, the breeze quickly prompts you to lie down and take a nap. All of a sudden, you wake up and come to find out the remains of your picnic – the porcelain plates, teapots, and cups – are now all crawling with ants. This is exactly the sensation that you get from the artist Evelyn Bracklow’s china pieces, which is a jarring yet playful impression of a creepy encounter with bugs.
Titled “Chitins Glanz” and produced under Bracklow’s artistic pseudonym “La Philie”, the works consist of old and delicate porcelain tableware that she collected and meticulously adorned with ants. Using a fine brush to hand-paint the life-size ants in great detail, which they are fired at 160 degrees. The lively looking ants are then engraved on the crockery for good.
Bracklow’s work is meant to induce, in her own words, “fear, disgust, fascination, and admiration”. But more than that, she wants to stimulate the users’ imagination about who could be so forgetful and leave these carelessly placed plates for ants to crawl all over them.
This series reminds me of a scene from Luis Buñuel’s Un Chien Andalou, where it portrays a hand crawling with ants. After the initial bafflement, what is it that you relate to this collection?
The Chitins Glanz series is now on sale on Etsy.
