“Seven Necessaires”, Secretary cabinet design by Yi-Jou Chuang, wood, tea, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, tea, 2016
中文俚語裡有著「開門七件事 , 柴米油鹽醬醋茶 」的說法，說明人一天的必需品與追求。同時也表示如果人在一天中能取得這七件事物，則能夠完整的過完每一天。它延伸的意義是指人一天生活的必備品。這句話對現今社會大部分的人來說,可能不再是一件不能達成的任務。但什麼是必備品，什麼是慾望，當我們不用再為這七件簡單物品奔波時，是什麼製造了社會的各種故事。在我設計的秘書櫃裡，每個抽屜充滿的一張張木板，上刻有原來自報紙新聞的圖檔。內容有政治新聞、社會新聞、旅遊新聞 … 等等。有遊民議題、難民議題、台灣近年社會運動。這些圖像皆被這七種物件所填滿，如同一張張單色照片。觀眾在打開抽屜時必須小心翼翼，以防液體打翻落流出。從展示方式製造的身體感,是 呼應我們對於現在社會所發生的問題提出省思：我們是否過於輕忽，我們是否有無止境的慾望,我們是否對這些議題輕輕開起又輕輕闔上。
In the Taiwanese and Chinese culture, there is a saying called „The Seven Necessities- 開門七件事kai men qi jian shi “. These seven necessities are firewood (柴 chai), rice (米 mi), oil (油 you), salt (鹽yan), sauce (醬 jiang), vinegar (醋 cu) and tea (茶 cha).
When you have these seven things you are able to cope with everyday life and to live your life without any worries歐While reading the newspaper, I asked myself what kind of content in newspapers really closer to my daily life, really attracts my attention, the leading article about important but often also depressing world events or the holiday advertisements. How far is the distance between daily life and the World in the Newspaper? If everyone in this world could live a good life without any worries, maybe the world would also become more positive.