Dormant Volcano - Treasure Hill Village

Sculpture | Fluorescent tubes, metal structure
Treasure Hill Village, Taipei, Taiwan
8 x 1.5 x 1.5 m
2013
 



Dormant Volcano is a light sculpture consisting of crisscrossing fluorescent tubes, and is suspended in mid-air on Cross Plaza, an area where pathways convene in the semi-abandoned Treasure Hill, an early military dependents’ village in Taiwan.

This hillside settlement is situated at the bank of a river in Taipei, and is a typical Taiwanese settlement with complex small passageways that link together civilian houses with the parameter of living spaces of the local residents. The lifestyle of the local residents have gradually changed throughout the last 50 years, with only very few still residing there. Although Treasure Hill is not large, in 2006, the New York Times reported that cultural landscapes of temples and postwar military dependents’ villages are Taipei’s most notable features.

Dormant Volcano is a collection of fluorescent lighting apparatuses that are commonly used in the local households. It uses light to link together the currently dissipating energy of this settlement, and symbolizes a brewing dynamism that is quietly hidden in its hilltop.














Mark