Shòu Cháo
Artist Book
The first dummy of the book was completed during the artist book workshop in Berlin, Germany
Fotos by Lorena Florio
Paper supported by Metapaper
2023
Shòu Cháo (受潮） is the damp condition where items are damaged, deteriorate, and lose their original functions due to long-term exposure to alternating damp environments under specific East Asian weather conditions. This East Asian weather condition, called plum rain season, occurs from June to July each year, coinciding with the ripening of plums, and is particularly significant in the Jiangnan region of China, Taiwan, Korea, and Japan. This period is characterized by continuous cloudy and rainy weather; damp conditions can lead to mold growth on household items and buildings, often referred to in folk parlance as 'mold rain.'
Artist Tao Hai Yue discovered a damaged family album by this specific East Asian weather condition, containing childhood family fotos in her old apartment while she was back in China in 2023. Hangzhou, is located in the southeastern coastal region of China known as Jiangnan, which is a very humid city with over 147 rainy days in a year. Due to the lack of proper moisture control facilities in the apartment, many photos, books, and items were severely affected by dampness and mold. These weather-damaged items were supposed to be abandoned like the old apartment, but she decided to rescue them. The images in the photos have become unrecognizable due to the Shòu Cháo, and some are partially affected, capturing the process of moisture engulfing those images.
This artist book commemorate the things Tao considers precious but vanished due to demolished buildings, continuous rainy seasons, and the proliferation of mold in the city where she was born.The first dummy of the book was completed during the artist book workshop in Berlin, Germany, conducted by artist Claudia de la Torre.
The first dummy of the book was completed during the artist book workshop in Berlin, Germany
Fotos by Lorena Florio
Paper supported by Metapaper
2023
Shòu Cháo (受潮） is the damp condition where items are damaged, deteriorate, and lose their original functions due to long-term exposure to alternating damp environments under specific East Asian weather conditions. This East Asian weather condition, called plum rain season, occurs from June to July each year, coinciding with the ripening of plums, and is particularly significant in the Jiangnan region of China, Taiwan, Korea, and Japan. This period is characterized by continuous cloudy and rainy weather; damp conditions can lead to mold growth on household items and buildings, often referred to in folk parlance as 'mold rain.'
Artist Tao Hai Yue discovered a damaged family album by this specific East Asian weather condition, containing childhood family fotos in her old apartment while she was back in China in 2023. Hangzhou, is located in the southeastern coastal region of China known as Jiangnan, which is a very humid city with over 147 rainy days in a year. Due to the lack of proper moisture control facilities in the apartment, many photos, books, and items were severely affected by dampness and mold. These weather-damaged items were supposed to be abandoned like the old apartment, but she decided to rescue them. The images in the photos have become unrecognizable due to the Shòu Cháo, and some are partially affected, capturing the process of moisture engulfing those images.
This artist book commemorate the things Tao considers precious but vanished due to demolished buildings, continuous rainy seasons, and the proliferation of mold in the city where she was born.The first dummy of the book was completed during the artist book workshop in Berlin, Germany, conducted by artist Claudia de la Torre.
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