Photograph installation
Inflatable materials, 240 x 160 x 140 cm
Digital photos print on poster paper 43.2 x 29.1 cm x 6P, 2015
The Corolla, a series of compact cars, was introduced by the Toyota Motor Corporation, a Japanese automotive manufacturer, in 1966. With over 40 million Corollas sold to date, it has become one of the world's best-selling car models. In Taiwan, the model has dominated the automotive market since its importation in 1980, and it has become a generational symbol embedded in people's memories.
The artist's father also owned a Corolla, specifically a numbered E100 model, which served as the family's primary mode of transportation on various adventures to the beach and the mountains. However, like many metropolises, Taipei, where the artist's father resides, faces the issue of an excessive number of vehicles and insufficient parking space. Consequently, finding a parking spot after their enjoyable trips became an exhausting task, which made the artist's father feel pressured every time they used the Corolla.
In the work The Toyota, the artist utilized inflatable material to recreate his father's car. The result was an inflatable dummy Toyota Corolla E100 that could be easily stored in a trunk and rapidly deployed to occupy a parking lot. This inflatable car represents the original and serves as an embodiment of ownership authority.
Still images from the photograph series The Toyota, 2015 © Musquiqui Chihying
