Praesent Auctor — Mu Chuan

Glass Heart Crystal Dreams (2022)

Artist book. Coated paper. 210*148*3 mm.

This text is a companion piece to the installation and expands on the central theme and research material. It presents a price comparison of different transparent materials and outlines the hierarchy that generally surrounds the commodity market, which refers to mass production with the lowest priced materials. However, the production of crystal coffins also follows the same process of sifting, resulting in the symbolic enhancement and diminished materiality of crystal coffins. The text is inspired by the narrative in Qiu Miaojin's book Notes of a Crocodile, which predicts how crystal coffins will serve as a weapon against linear time. It compares the differences in meaning between the original English name and the Chinese translation of the film Mad About Men, highlighting the purifying and dispelling effects of hysteria within the crystal coffins. It also illustrates the forms and functions of the glass uterus, associating the poetic language evoked by Poem from the Glass Womb and considering it as an independent female voice. By tracing in detail the train of thought that women refuse to enter into the stream of time, the text aims to provide the audience with a complete guide to active resistance.

Selected chapter from Glass Heart Crystal Dreams (2022), 210*148*3 mm.

꧁Mu Chuan꧂

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Muchuan Chen (b. 2001) is a London-based Chinese research artist currently completing her MA in Sculpture at the Royal College of Art. Chen explores the convergence of landscape painting and ideological influence in the Zomia region. Rooted in the evocative imagery of the Ban Gioc-Detian Falls, these paintings transcend mere decoration to address themes of nationalist pride and territorial sovereignty, while subtly critiquing exploitation and surveillance. Inspired by James C. Scott’s “The Art of Not Being Governed”, Chen sees Zomia as a haven of autonomy that escapes state control. Her practice reflects the changes of recent decades along the Sino-Vietnamese border, where political and commercial encroachments have reshaped the landscape of her childhood.

Chen also treats neon commodities as metaphors of marginalisation to acknowledge the struggles of disenfranchised groups. Emblematic of mass production and low value, these objects have been rendered invisible by the march of urbanisation and minimalism. Neon colours that should attract attention instead remain unseen, a phenomenon that resonates with Zomia’s historical evasion of authority. Her installations are a synthesis of two worlds. By juxtaposing neon commodities with landscape paintings, she traces the anonymity of Zomia’s inhabitants in the context of the global spectacle of modernity. In short, Chen seeks to uncover strategies of liberation and resistance embedded in visual and material culture.