Ipū

葫芦由于其形状圆润饱满，在中国古代常被赋予吉祥如意的意涵，也因其材质坚硬、色泽中性、易保存、形态有天然的属性等，⼈们常制作酒器、储物罐、浮标、农具及乐器。到了现代中国，其功能逐渐由工业产品取代，仅保留其社会属性。因此，不具有观赏把玩价值的葫芦，葫芦种植户每年会将其视为“次等品葫芦”，大批量地作为废品处理，或送往医疗机构制作储存药物的器皿。在不同文化语境中，葫芦的命运迥异，非洲将葫芦制作酒吧古筝，夏威夷人将葫芦用于食品、药品、艺术，甚至围绕葫芦地种植开发了整个仪式，伴着草裙舞吟唱颂歌。

在胡卢Ipū中，MMR将“次等品葫芦”作为切入点，进行文化追踪，尝试从一如既往的“人类中心”视角中抽离出来，在作品中保留了葫芦本身几乎看不见的自然痕迹，选择具有“几近完美”侧腰弧度的“次等品葫芦”，让葫芦悄悄潜入人类社会，为“胡卢”，提醒人类：葫芦本身就具有生命力。此系列选取产量较高的普通葫芦作为研究对象，探讨葫芦作为一种“天然作物”与“工业产品”之间的关系。

胡卢Ipū采用木材防腐工艺进行表面处理，使之形成一种类似皮革的质感和纹理，表面颜色也会随时间推移改变，并且通过藤编工艺进行连接。这种成熟工艺灵感来源于“竹丝扣瓷”，在景德镇的陶瓷传统包装中也有相似之处。藤条可以和不规则的葫芦可以有机契合，不仅起到结构支撑作用，缝合细节也强调了葫芦不同于木头的“呼吸感”。藤本身也不是完美的直线，它作为纬线往往控制着编织的整体形态，在尊重材料特性的设计原则下，整体装置也呈现出一种矛盾的张力。


Because of the rounded shape of gourds, it was often given auspicious connotations in ancient China, and due to its hard material, neutral colour, ease of preservation and natural properties of form, it was often made into wine vessels, storage jars, buoys, agricultural tools and musical instruments. In modern China, its function was gradually replaced by that of an industrial product, retaining only its social properties. As a result, gourds that did not have an ornamental value were considered by gourd growers to be 'inferior gourds' and were disposed of in large quantities each year as scrap, or sent to medical institutions to be used as storage vessels for medicines. The fate of the gourd varies greatly between cultural contexts, from the African use of the gourd as a bar koto to the Hawaiian use of the gourd for food, medicine, art and even the development of entire rituals around the cultivation of the gourd patch, accompanied by the chanting of hula.

In HULU Ipū, MMR uses the "inferior gourd" as an entry point for cultural tracing, attempting to move away from the usual "anthropocentric" perspective. In this work, we have preserved the almost invisible natural traces of the gourd itself, chosen the "inferior gourd" with the "almost perfect" curvature of its side waist, so that the gourd can quietly sneak into human society and become a "HULU", reminding mankind that the gourd itself has a life force. This series use the more productive gourd as the subject of this study, looking at the relationship between the gourd as a "plant" and "industrial product".

HULU Ipū is treated with a wood perservation process that creates a leather-like texture and texture, with the surface colour changing over time, and is joined by a bamboo weaving process. This sophisticated process is inspired by the 'bamboo filigree button porcelain' and has similarities in the traditional packaging of ceramics in Jingdezhen. The rattan can be organically fitted to the irregular gourd, not only for structural support, but the stitching details emphasise the gourd's "rhythmical breathing" unlike that of wood. The rattan itself is not perfectly straight, as the weft often controls the overall form of the weave, and the overall installation takes on a paradoxical tension while respecting the design principles of the material.