LAURENS TAN | Jin & Jin

“Jin & Jin, the boy and girl are two ‘love’ characters from the Chinese ‘Happy Toy’ (shown above), a plastic musical ornament that is now extinct. Usually it was shelved in amongst other ornamental miscellanea- the toy exudes a very bright dynamic sense of joy and celebration. The toy has nothing distinctly Chinese in its design, yet is unmistakably Chinese. Distinct in its gesture of giving like modern Chinese birthday cakes, they are intentionally over-coloured and over-decorated- the epitomy of what the West might call ‘bad taste’. The toy reflects on frugal aesthetics and on simple pleasures.”