Hunp1ng, 2018, Clay, velvet. 39 x 27 x 15 cm
Hunp1ng is the name of a series of sculptures as webcam hide.
A webcam hide is usually a tiny piece of plastic to be put in front of a computer webcam: it hides the camera lenses so that you cannot be filmed and your privacy is safe.
The name Hunping, translated as soul jar or soul vase, is a type of ceramic funerary urn often found in the tombs of the Han dynasty and especially the Six Dynasties periods of early imperial China.
Placed in a tomb together with armrests, banqueting tables, food, and drink, it was hoped that the soul of the deceased would return to reside in the urn, entering through the gates that appear to lead directly into the sculpture/urn.
Similarly, Hunp1ng (crafted to sit on an iMac) could hide the computer’s webcam and your privacy and soul could be safe and could “return to reside in the urn”.
The sculpture’s size, fragility and its military bunker-like shape is a reminder of the very nature of privacy that nowadays needs some effort to be preserved and a strategy to be defended.
Co-produced by Marsèll