Above Left: Abyssal close-up detail, 2025, Vitreous porcelain, cobalt and coral glaze, metal bolts, marine cement, 28.75 x 74.75 x 26.5 inches, photo courtesy of the artist; Above Right: Patty Chang, photo credit: Amy Sadao.
"Abyssal”
Thursday, October 23, 4:00 p.m.
Lectures will be in Lawrence Hall, Room 115, 1190 Franklin Boulevard, Eugene, OR 97403.
Abyssal is about what is on land and in the ocean and what connects the two through migration and the ocean itself. It traces the history of porcelain, of Europe and Asia, of transpacific migration, of women’s labor, and its lack of recognition, of the intertidal. When first imported to Europe, porcelain was a mystery. True Chinese porcelain is luminous—when held up to the light, it appears translucent. Europeans didn’t know how it was made, conjecturing that it was made from seashells. Kings hired alchemists to find the recipe for porcelain, and they eventually made it themselves with a different type of clay. This initial contact with Asia and China set up the dynamic of desire—the mystery of the object that underpins the West’s view of the East. This dynamic carries through to the present day culturally, specifically through the desire and objectification of Asian women’s bodies. Bodies that labor and give care.
Patty Chang is a Los Angeles-based artist and educator using performance, video, installation, and narrative forms. Notable awards and honors include Kohler Maker Space Residency in Sheboygan, WI, Anonymous Was a Woman Grant, and Creative Capital Grant amongst others. In addition to numerous residencies, and fellowships, her work has exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art, Guggenheim Museum, New Museum, M+ Museum in Hong Kong, MAAP in Brisbane, Australia, Museum of Contemporary Art and Design in Manila, Philippines, and Moderna Museet in Stockholm, Sweden. Chang currently teaches at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
This lecture is made possible by the George and Matilda Fowler Endowment Fund.