Exhibition scene of ‘ Let's build a house in Xiamen’  装置部分展出现场

Three Shadows Photography Art Centre 三影堂摄影艺术中心

Xiamen 厦门｜2017

这个作品名为《让我们在厦门盖一栋房子》，创作于2017年，使用了概念置换方式去“解决”一个严肃的问题：住房。

The work ‘ Let’s Build a House in Xiamen ’ uses a conceptual replacement method to ‘solve’ a serious problem: housing.

住房成本不断上涨的问题目前已经成为很多生活在城市中的年轻人感到沉重的压力。随着城市化的推进，城市自身的进化逻辑（扩张与高效）与生活在其中的个人的需求之间似乎将始终存在冲突。面对个体在城市生存状态的矛盾和无力感，我的“解决方式”是一个荒诞的黑色幽默：自己“盖”——制造一个“盖房子”机器（它实际是一个可以拼接房子草图的超大印章）。

The problem of rising housing costs has become a heavy pressure for many young people living in cities. With the advancement of urbanization, there will always seem to be conflicts between the city's own evolutionary logic (expansion and efficiency) and the needs of the individuals living in it.Faced with the contradictions and powerlessness of individuals living in the urban city, my ‘solution’ was a black humor: ‘build a house’ by ourself—make a ‘house building’ machine, which is actually a large stamp that can be used to splice house sketches.

在展出时，观众可以挑选喜欢的房屋元素的拼图板，进行自由组合，安装在这个装置上，并用这个装置盖印出一栋属于自己的“自建房”带走。这个“解决方式”是一个的无实用的幽默，但我希望这个简单而略带荒诞的复制过程可以让充满压力的人们会心一笑，轻松片刻。

During the exhibition, the audience can choose the puzzle board of their favorite house elements, make free combinations, install them on this device, and use this device to stamp out a "self-built house" of their own to take away. This "solution" is a non-practical humor, but I hope this simple and slightly absurd copying process can make stressful people smile and relax for a while.

我在厦门本地找了一位有30多年自建房修建经验的老师傅，与他一起完成这个作品。他接受了我采访，并帮我画出了几款当地常见的自建房外型的样式草图。然后，我将这些样式草图分割开，按照图案用木头和橡皮制作成拼图版。接着，我们共同修建了一个可以反转盖章的装置，在其中的翻转板上可以安装已做好的拼图版。

I found an old artisan who has more than 30 years of experience in building self-built houses in Xiamen, and worked with him to complete this work. He accepted the interview with me, and helped me draw some sketches of the appearance of self-built houses that are common in local area.Then, I divided these style sketches and used wood and rubber to make puzzle boards according to these divided patterns. Then, we jointly built a device that can be reversed and stamped, and the completed puzzle boards could be installed on the flip board inside this device.

和我合作的这位老师傅姓陈，他自己现在住的房子是他自己设计的，并且所有的室内装修都是他亲自完成的。在采访过程中，每次话题转到他的房子时，他都很兴奋。这个装置的主体部分是在他的木工工作室里完成的，整个过程持续了3周。期间，我用相机和手机拍摄了一些资料，在装置完成后，将这些资料整理成一部记录片，内容包括从最初的田野研究，模型研究，画图纸，制作装置，以及中途碰到的问题等等整个项目的过程。

The artisan surname is Chen. The house he lives in now is designed by himself, and all the interior architecture was done by himself. During the interview, he was very excited every time when the topic turned to his house. The main part of this stamping device was completed in his woodworking studio, and the whole process lasted 3 weeks. During that period, I took many materials with camera and mobile. After the device was completed, these materials are organized into a documentary, which includes the entire project process from the first visit and interview, model research, sketching, production of installations, and the problems encountered in the middle, etc.

陈工匠在他的木工房里工作

Artisan Chen is working in his wood studio

the installation Under Construction

装置的机械运动原理来自翻转章：升起时，印章版面朝上；压下时，印章版会360度反转，往下压盖。我先pvc板制作了装置的模型，然后再使用木材，工业弹簧，不锈钢管，亚克力板等材料，将模型等比例放大。

The mechanical movement principle of this device comes from the flip chapter: when raised, the seal plate faces up; when pressed down, the seal plate will reverse 360 degrees and press down. First, I made the model of the device using PVC board, and then used wood, industrial spring, stainless steel tube, acrylic board and other materials to enlarge the model to the same scale.

模型印版升起时 

 The model when the printing plate is raised

模型印版翻转下压时 

The model when the printing plate is pressed down

我们花了很多精力在调试装置的精度与易操作性，如下图所示：为了将装置中的印版完全翻转朝下并压住底板，需要一个成人的重量加在上方，这将增加在实际操作上的难度。

We spent a lot of effort in debugging the accuracy and ease of operation of the device, as shown below: In order to completely turn the printing plate in the device upside down and press the bottom plate, at least an adult’s weight needs to be added to the top, which will increase the difficulty of actual operation.

翻转印章板块上每次可以绑定9个图案版，每个图案对应着自建房样式的一个局部板块，例如，窗户，大门，屋顶等。

在设计印章图案时，我希望房子的草图样式可以跳出我的审美，能尽量客观的展示厦门当地最流行的样式，所以这些图案是陈师傅画的草图，再由我刻在橡皮板上。以下图片展示的印板制作步骤。

9 pattern boards can be bound to the flip seal plate each time, and each pattern corresponds to a part of the self-built house style such as windows, doors, roofs, etc. These patterns are all sketches drawn by Chen, and then carved on the rubber sheet by me. So these patterns are out of my personal aesthetics and can show the most common house styles in local area. The following images shows the steps of making pattern boards.

陈师傅画草图的时候，都是随手拆开一个烟盒，在背面空白处画。

When Chen drew the sketches, he took apart a cigarette case casually. Draw in the blank space on the back.

完成印版制作，可自由组合，再插入装置的卡槽中，等待盖图 

You can choose the pattern boards you like to combine, then put them into the printing plate inside the device, and your ‘house’will come out.