SO-IL: Viewing China
Federation Court is a large, light and airy atrium the in the middle of the building that houses the International Collection at National Gallery of Victoria (NGV). Each day, the concrete slabs of its floor feel the transient imprint of thousands of feet traveling to and from all corners of the gallery, whether it be to access artworks, visit the Design Store, or ponder the meaning of the symbols forged in the impressive stain glass ceiling of The Great Hall.
To celebrate the beginning of Melbourne Design week in March, The NGV unveiled a series of geometrically shaped display cases made from brightly coloured dichroic acrylic in Federation Court. Designed by New York based design firm So-Il (Solid Objectives-Idenburg Liu, founded by architects Jing Liu and Florian Idenburg), each multi-coloured vitrine houses white porcelain objects from the NGV’s Decorative Arts collection, ranging from the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
In a more traditional context, porcelain objects of this nature would mostly likely be placed neatly inside a simple glass cabinet up against a gallery wall, or atop an understated plinth in the middle of a room filled with artworks from a similar time and place. It would be a predictable, unassuming display that many viewers would pass without hesitation. However, SO-Il’s presentation of the objects is anything but expected; in fact, it is designed to spark curiosity.
Enclosed within such innovative and unusual display units, in a light-filled and spacious foyer, the objects summon the attention of those walking by. From a distance, the units look like neat and sharp formations that collectively form a carefully crafted rainbow landscape. Each shiny, angular panel reflects parts of the surrounding architecture, and some internal mirrored fragments reflect various angles of the objects within. The display units offer a 360-degree view of each piece of porcelain, and a stroll around the vitrines allows each piece to be viewed and experienced through various veils of colour. The bases are all mirrored, as are some of the angular panels that form the walls of the units. Reflections of the objects bounce around the inside of the display cases, as do shards of colour, streaks of light and subtle echoes of the architecture of Federation Court and The Great Hall.
To quote the architects of SO-Il, ‘our exhibition design unravels assumptions of gallery objectivity, and instead suggests new ways of looking at the delicate artefacts. Rather than interfering with views of the objects, the coloured panels serve as filters. Each multi-faceted case offers multiple unique views of each object’.
There are so many ways to view and engage with the porcelain objects through SO-Il’s display units that close inspection is required. Thus, engaging with the display units themselves is an integral part of the experience. While they may have been overlooked and forgotten in a predictable and unassuming glass cabinet on the second floor of the gallery, these aged objects are drawn into focus and recontextualised, so that they can be viewed and experienced in a fresh, contemporary fashion by 21st century audiences.
The knife-grinder
1740-1745
Chantilly (manufacturer)
Crouching Venus and
The knife-grinder
1740-1745
Chantilly (manufacturer)
Fractured views 
From some angles, the display units appear to collectively form sharp and polished landscapes 
The four seasons
Mennecy (manufacturer)
c. 1770
porcelain (soft-paste)
Reflective shards 
Photos of the porcelain pieces taken through multiple sheets of coloured glass 
Crouching Venus and
The knife-grinder
1740-1745
Chantilly (manufacturer)
Guanyin, in various forms, Chinese and European made 
Streaks of colour and shards of light 
Bugbear and Companion
Derby Porcelain, Jean-Jacques Spängler, 1790-1792
Porcelain (soft-paste)
Bugbear and Companion
Derby Porcelain, Jean-Jacques Spängler, 1790-1792
Porcelain (soft-paste)
Pair of Chinese figures
Saint-Cloud (manufacturer)
c. 1730
porcelain (soft-paste)
Leonard French’s multi-coloured ceiling is reflected in fragments throughout the display 
Crouching Venus, a white figure masked in a transparent green veil 
Clarity obscured, altered, or enhanced? 
Augustus the Strong Elector of Saxony and King of Poland (1714-1725), white, dressed as a Roman Emperor, stands on square plinth. Meissen (manufacturer).
Johann Joachim KRETZSCHMAR (modeller)
The meeting and blurring of architectural lines 
Allegory of Hearing
Derby (manufacturer)
c. 1750
porcelain (soft-paste)
Slivers of mirrored glass harbour lovely surprises 
White porcelain painted in coloured light 
Guanyin
Chelsea Porcelain Factory
1750-1752
Porcelain (soft-paste)
Guanyin
Chinese
17th Century
Porcelain (Dehua ware)
Musicians
Mennecy (manufacturer)
c. 1760
porcelain (soft-paste)
The four seasons
Mennecy (manufacturer)
c. 1770
porcelain (soft-paste)
Geometry 
Federation Court architecture reflected in SO-IL’s architectural exhibition design
art4brunch 
Brilliant – dare I say ‘illuminating’
A quantum leap in display
Is this a permanent exhibit?
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It’s such a rejuvenating way to view these pieces, and there’s nothing quite like experiencing the installation face to face. The works will be exhibited in Federation Court until the beginning of August.
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