Observed by a virtual camera, a hyper-digital image of one amongst the Chinese terra-cotta warriors dating back to the third century B.C, a virtual scene overflowing with the experience of breathing.
Dis-tense / Terracotta suggests a glimpse into the tension between the trampling of the sanctity of life and the glorification of death and its memorialization.
Dis-tense / Terra Cotta, 2017
3D animation, 03:40 min
A sculptural object crafted from a pair of chopsticks designed as spiral drills, evokes a dynamic of metamorphosis from ancient food cutlery to a contemporary industrial tool, echoing the concept of “hand to mouth.”
In this context of labor, Toren consulted with AI and asked if it had a historical perspective on this juxtaposition between a chopstick and a drill. Surprisingly it suggested a poetic take saying: “The spirals carved into the chopsticks serve as a visual representation of the winding paths of history, where struggles and triumphs intersect to shape a spiral narrative of human experience.” One day, it seems that this kind of insightfulness of the AI will most probably replace labor and will make us all redundant.
A pair of chopsticks, each one designed as a spiral drill
Wood
100/5 cm
A paper work created as a generic silhouette, maybe a head, maybe a skull, a portrait in the likeness of Cho, is embedded within a metal net. It could also have been Chi or Su or Chin. He is no longer a Chinese warrior but rather a construction worker, an eternal migrant in the world, moving between generic building sites, now merging into the legions of human laborers of the 21st century
Hand made paper from Abaca’s fibers
50 X 70 cm
