Transubstantiation was a result of by my time as an artist in residence with Six Stone Art Space in New Taipei City in late 2019. I was inspired by the temple architecture as well as the preponderance of arcades housing the ubiquitous claw machines. This piece notions of capital and exchange as they are practiced in these two types of sites. I researched the symbolic exchange of capital and goods in the context of Confucianism and how that contrasted or mirrored the ideas of luck and chance when interacting with the claw machines. In addition to these theoretical parallels, I saw similarities in site and form. Both temples and arcades are widely prevalent throughout the city. Both utilize bright colors and lights in their design.
The items inside the claw machine consist of items I collected in Taiwan as well as from my personal collection. I chose items that had a symbolic meaning to reference the various cultural and historical influences that have acted on Taiwanese culture. Plastic puppet heads from the market are interspersed with mini Dutch wooden shows, a Chinese lion, a Sheriff’s badge and a Japanese lucky cat.
All of the color and texture come together to intice the player to try their luck and maybe win a prize.