Ghost Fountain

Installation Design

2021

Exhibition at Taiwan Design Expo, Chiayi Art Museum

A virtual fountain formed by reflections from a chandelier.

This work examines how political power reshapes public space through visibility, access, and symbolic control. Chiayi’s central fountain—once a resting area during the Japanese occupation—gradually transformed into a political monument as successive regimes expanded roads, built walls, and installed statues around it. What was originally a communal space became increasingly inaccessible, turning public infrastructure into an object of authority rather than civic use.

The installation presents a scaled, non-uniform reconstruction of the fountain, highlighting its central column and reinterpreting it through translucent PVC tubes that evoke flowing water. Displayed in a visible yet unreachable position, the work invites viewers to reflect on the contested nature of public space and the slow erosion of collective rights. It asks a simple but critical question: public space is never guaranteed—how do we reclaim it?

🍐 Running by Yan & Kai ℗©