Enamel on hydrocal, in five parts

Each 50 x 21 x 21 cm

Collection of Five Perfect Vehicles is part of Allan McCollum’s Perfect Vehicles series which began in 1985, where the same iconic sculptural form is continuously presented in slight colour variations. All sculptures in this series take on the same shape of a Chinese ginger jar, a household item in Chinese culture that has been extensively copied and reproduced for centuries. Yet, in this work, McCollum strips them of their practical use value as these particular jars have no opening. Instead, each sculpture is thickly painted in a different hue of commercially available acrylic latex paint evoking traditional Chinese colour schemes, prompting viewers to think of these jars in terms of what they represent rather than what they are. Thus, these sculptures celebrate the way we seek meaning in the objects around us, as we use them as vessels that give our ideas material form. In this way, McCollum shows that everyday items can turn into something of superior value over time.