Eating Soldiers

The giant ceramic ice cream created by Hsu Chia-Yu is enticingly cool and attractive. During the hot summer day people want to get as close as possible to sneak a lick. As visitors get closer, they may find many fully-armed soldiers standing at attention, ready for attack. In this scenario, the ice cream has been made the size of a person, whereas the soldiers are now the size of antsyet still prepared for attack. The artist plays with the proportions of real things and uses ridiculous visual and situational positions to present a black farce that declares the cruelty inherent in the expansion of human striving and desire. The appearance of this work in a cake shop that sells happiness and sweetness offers a stark contrast between dreams of perfect happiness and a world of competing desire.