Zhanchao Pan









Shell







Shell Ⅰ

2025

60cm × 120cm × 6cm

Glass, metal sheets, shell, induction lights, wooden strip, Extra coarse pumice gel, Air-dry clay

Shell ⅠⅠ

2025

40cm × 80cm × 3cm

Glass, metal sheets, shell, induction lights, wooden strip, Extra coarse pumice gel, Air-dry clay



This interactive installation consists of two main parts: two white door panels as a base, covered with ultra-light clay, creating an irregular, textured surface. Gray sand and glue mixed with pigments are applied to the clay surface, giving it a texture that is both delicate and rough. Glass plates, abalone shells, and metal sheets are embedded within, the textures and reflective properties of the different materials contrasting yet complementing each other, presenting a multi-layered tension between solidity and fragility, coldness and light, hardness and softness.

Two blue glass spheres are fixed within the installation; their shadows only appear when a viewer approaches and triggers a sensor light; the shadows disappear immediately when the light is turned off. The appearance and disappearance of light and shadow not only reveal hidden forms but also enhance the interactive experience between the viewer and the artwork: the observer's approach becomes the condition for triggering the manifestation of the inner world, allowing the viewer to perceive the concealed interior for a brief moment.

The work uses the image of a "shell" to explore the structure and state of being. The outer layer is both protection and isolation; the interior bears fragility while maintaining its shape within solid boundaries. The coexistence of self-consistency and contradiction, resilience and sensitivity, forms a complex and subtle balance. The contrast between metal and glass not only presents a physical conflict but also symbolizes the tension between the individual self and its fragility, rationality and sensibility.

Through the combination of materials, light, and space, the installation constructs a relationship between the viewer and the work: the viewer's approach becomes the triggering action, and the interplay of light and shadow briefly reveals hidden elements, thus prompting reflection on the relationship between the inner and outer, the self and the observed. The entire installation presents a planar spatial structure while retaining a rich sense of layering, strengthening the dialogue between surface and interior, visible and invisible, achieving unity between sensory experience and conceptual interpretation.