Jadeite, chrome, chlorine, calcium, iron, and light poured into stone. The material appears simultaneously hard and soft, cold and warm, opaque and translucent. Nine hundred ninety-six sitting, crouching, standing and lying creatures, avian creatures, bovine creatures, dragon and horse creatures, double and half creatures - Alice Cantaluppi inherited from her father a multifaceted collection of complex origin. She regards herself as the custodian of these hundreds of figurines, the acquisition of which began with a tea merchant in Lörrach and was ultimately conducted over eBay classified ads. Her father was convinced that the figures had a task, that they had inherent healing powers, that they could transform and raise consciousness. Despite Cantaluppi’s years-long efforts to clarify the provenance of these objects, little is known about the contexts in which the figures were actually created — except that most made their way to Switzerland from China. Cantaluppi’s piece presents her research and notes, as well as excerpts from conversations with researchers about possible origins and embededness in colonial trade. Museums and universities offer material analysis and historical expertise, both of which have yet to be fruitful in the case of this collection. Fragments and excerpts in the exhibition serve to both contextualize and reveal contradictions. Do these objects have an original social and ritual significance or are they, not least, handicrafts that – given the reference to twentieth century fantasy films – were produced to appeal to the twentieth-century tourist market?
Attempts at historical classification meet with questions of responsibility: with respect to the collection, with respect to potential creators and owners, with respect to their significance in different contexts and their history of impact. Lines of relation and connection such as those between daughter and father, between people and things, or things and their fields of resonance sit at the heart of Cantaluppi’s insights, guiding her process of questioning and reappraising this inherited collection.

As an additional physically experienceable sonic level of the installation, Aio worked with 13 "dragonrings" from Alice's father's collection that were not shown in the installation. With the objects set in slight vibration, a composition of unequal relationships and oscillations, uncontrollable swellings and unpredictable movements emerged. Through methods of empathic and careful listening and the awareness of the limits of listening positionality and its entangled im/possibilities of improvisation, the contradictory composition searches for an additional layer of narration via ressonance and relationality.