Floating Pattern

For DESIGNART TOKYO 2019
Chialing Chang solo exhibition
'Nature as Metaphor'

Year: 2019
Photographer: Yuchi Guo

Following the outcome of the material research Wood Not Wood (2016), subsequent project Floating Pattern further explores expressions and applications for the softened and flattened tree bark. Being treated with a series of drying, refining, leveling and compressing processes, pieces of Japanese Cedar bark are then bound together with thin oriented strand boards to form the composite material.

Seeming pure at the first glance for raw textures directly inheriting from nature, this manufactured board contains no actual solid wood but layers of engineered wood.

Floating Pattern 延續 2016年 Wood Not Wood 材質實驗，更深入發掘樹皮面材之可能與型態。取材柳杉，經過陰乾、軟化、除去雜質、修整等工序，最終與普遍裝潢材料定向纖維板壓製膠合。

柳杉樹皮與各種木片碎料交錯疊合，構成新型態木材，表面質地被完整留下，看似天然木料，卻不帶完整實木，而其中之自然性皆由人為體現。

Irregular profile of bark is taken out of its raw state - from an originally circular arc and turned to a rigid, rectangular shape in contrast, leading to conflicting emotions. With Floating Pattern, people perceive an interval between natural and artificial aspects before being confronted with the realization of how the material could be as to the principle of how it was created.

樹皮脫離其原生樣貌 —— 自不規則的圓弧輪廓及粗糙質感，轉變為俐落筆直的四方平面，引向矛盾氛圍。Floating Pattern 藉木料的重新組合，讓人們在充分理解材料本身、抑或物件是如何形成之前，隱約意識到自然與人工的朦朧邊界。

Adopting a bottom-up assembly approach, Floating Pattern is composed of geometrical parts. The modular design allows textured bark planks stagger in a random rhythm.

Floating Pattern 採用模組化結構，由帶有生硬邊角的單元所組成。自下而上堆疊時，樹皮紋理憑空架起，並以隨機節奏錯落排列，恍若自由漂浮。

Four single units stand alone in varying dimensions yet precise specifications.

四件單元有著相異尺寸而規格精確，並且各自獨立。

When piling up, wooden panels together form separate compartments which serve as the shelves . Playing between the void and the closed spaces, the result is free from definite patterns. Perspectives reveal in the movement by the beholder.

All these natural textures merge into a slender tower structure up to 2 meters that represents the image of a tree — in the pixel-like and abstract way instead of a realistic view.

當所有部件紛紛組合，板材交錯出櫃體的虛實空間，或穿透可見，或三面封閉；Floating Pattern 開放觀者在各自步履間，揭露不同視野。

樹皮紋理盤旋疊起兩米高的塔型，彷彿一棵樹木直立 —— 唯矩形線條譜出幾何隱喻，訴說抽象而非寫實。

All bark materials used in this project are taken from industrial waste of the wood sawmill.

Before the sawing, logs are peeled through high-pressure water jets to remove the rough surface, which facilitates subsequent processing. Without commercial value, the fallen bark is normally regarded as waste material and is incinerated. Working on such material that is commonly undervalued, Floating Pattern aims to bring the bark back to its original context as wood and make the potential visible.

所有樹皮材料取自木料製材廠的產業廢料。

原木在鋸切為板材前，均需經由高壓水柱噴射，除去不規則表皮，以利後續加工。脫落之樹皮往往作為廢材，因不具商業價值而受焚燒處理。Floating Pattern 應用如此材料為主軸，期望將樹皮帶回其原生脈絡，重現姿態。

Chialing Chang

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