Family (家)

Family (Jia 家) installation is composed of ceramic plates, bowls, mugs and other objects resembling traditional Chinese tableware arranged on the elevated surface. It connects ancient Chinese culture to the Present whilst investigating the differences between the East Asian and Western naming conventions through the inscription of surnames in Chinese, Japanese and English on the ceramics.

 

The practice of inscribing characters on objects can be traced back to the Zhou dynasty’s (11th–3rd century BC) Zhong Ding Wen 钟鼎文 – text inscribed on ritual bronze vessels or tripods, which were cooking utensils – a way of recording texts in ancient China. The aim of Family (Jia 家) is to recreate this authentic practice, which in course of time was gradually replaced by mass-produced tableware, in the contemporary realities. Thus, it emphasizes the continuity of tradition and inheritance of the creative endeavors of the ancestors.

 

The project combines the common Chinese surnames derived from the Hundred Family Surnames (Bai Jia Xing百家姓) and common European and American surnames. “In China, we put surname first, everyone remembers a person by his/her full name, and Chinese people value their surname more than their name. In contrast, in most of the European countries, the first name of a person is always placed first and many people introduce themselves by their name. After arriving in the UK, we [Chinese students] only remember first names of our peers, and we don’t even know their surnames. Therefore, this project is highlighting the differences in the name culture between China and the West,” says Yaoxi. 

​————Daria Ozerskaya