Trent Jansen, Chinaman’s File Rocking Chair

Chinaman's File is a rocking chair designed for the roughly 16,500 Chinese gold diggers who walked from Robe in South Australia to the Victorian goldfields (480 kilometres in as little as 13 days) during the mid-nineteenth century. The rocking motion experienced by the user mimics the movement experienced by an infant slung to its mother's back. Designed by Trent Jansen, Chinaman's File Rocking Chair is a mechanical version of the maternal embrace.

This artwork was featured in the UCCA exhibition “Broached Retreat,” 2014