FRANKENPLATE
The frankenplates originally came from a colonial influence- Hong Kong and Australia are former colonies of the British Empire. So it made it difficult for others than me to read or to understand them.
In an attempt to extricate them from myself, I looked at the plot of their original inspiration – the willow plate - the most famous is the one of the two lovers, who meet, are split, meet again, run away, die a terrible death and are reincarnated by the gods. This story is a romantic trope, and with members of these various cultures, I rewrote these lovers’ tale in three distinct voices, with visual items serving to mark the six major plots of the story.
This allowed me to establish each singular cultural love tale- which led me to iteration- I chose these percentages in particular because I think they show the widest difference in iteration, and so have clear visual difference and make it easy to reshuffle visual elements, allowing for a wide range of clearly different iterated tales.
The Frankenplate outcome was a set of twelve, divided into a series of four with three plates in each series- so each series has a dominant frankenculture. Click on the pictures for a closeup! On one of the images, the story of the doomed lovers is outlined.
ORIGINAL STORIES
AUSTRALIA
Dazza and Kiara-Lee met in a dodgy nightclub. She was high, and asked him to push a pinger up her butt.
He was so drunk that he couldn’t stand, so he said yes to the pinger and a one-night stand.
After the one-night stand at Dazza’s place in Auburn, the next morning our two lovers agreed to split and never to talk of their drunken adventures in the night previous.
However, fate was not yet done with them, and they met again at Coles, where their hands met over the last jar of Vegemite. And as Dazza heard her call the pimply checkout cashier a ‘dog-cunt’, he knew they were meant to be.
She loved him for his disability pension, and he loved her for the grant their gromit brought, allowing him to get the plasma he’d been desiring. They ran from judgement to the Outback.
Unfortunately, their love was not one meant to last; when swimming at Bondi over Christmas, a Great White took them both.
The gods of Dreamtime were touched by their tale of true blue love, and turned them into Kookaburras, forever screeching their tale from the tops of the gum trees.
CHINA
Zi Jun and Yu Chen met at Bandao Coffee, when their hands met over the same take-away coffee. He was struck by her beauty and paleness, and let her take the coffee, and took her phone number in return.
They were however, divided as he was the only son of an high-ranking government official, and she was a poor commoner scraping her way through in Beijing.
However, fate was not yet done with them, and they met again at Long Yin Temple, when he saw her making a prayer. And as Zi Jun watched her pray whilst reciting his favorite Buddhist chant, he knew they were meant to be.
She loved him because he was a kind person (with access to a sizable fortune), and he loved her because she was gentle (with stunning looks). They ran from judgement to Sanya, Hainan.
Unfortunately, their love was not one meant to last; during a mild earthquake, their residence was revealed to be a tofu building, and they were buried within.
The Buddhist deities were moved by their tale, and turned them into swallowtail butterflies, to remind people that the truest tales of love spring from the smallest acts.
HONG KONG
Mark and Kitty met at Lan Kwai Fong. He was drawn to her flashy designer dress, and he brought her a jelly shot from Stormies. She sensed money in this MK boy, and being a Kong girl, she said yes to the shot and a one-night stand.
After the one-night stand at a love hotel in Mongkok, our two lovers decided to split and to never speak of their adventures in Mongkok at 4AM in the morning, the provenance of the Triads.
However, fate was not yet done with them, and they met again at a Gongcha stall, when their hands met over the same bubble tea. And as Mark watched her snatch the tea and take the perfect IG selfie and #hashtag it, he knew they were meant to be.
She loved him for his money, and he loved her for her social networking skills, including a follower count in the 100Ks. They ran from judgement to Cheung Chau.
Unfortunately, their love was not one meant to last; when making their way between the outlying islands, their sampan was hit by a Macau-bound hydrofoil.
The gods of consumerism were touched by their tale of love, and turned them into Chinese Pink Dolphins, forever to swim the waters of the Pearl Delta as a reminder of their tale.
SAMPLE PLATE STORIES
20/40/40- Two of Three
Zi Jun and Yu Chen meet at a bar called Stormies. The two lovers are then split after their one night stand at Zi Jun’s home, which is a love hotel.
They meet again, at a Gongcha, where their hands meet over a bubble tea.
They make plans to run away to the Outback. Thier love was not meant to last, however- a great white took them both during a Christmas Day swim.
The gods of Buddhism, moved by their love turned them into swallowtail butterflies, proving that love can come from the smallest actions.
33/33/33- One of Three
Dazza and Keira-Lee meet at a bar called Stormies. This leads to a one night stand in Dazza’s bungalow.
They meet again, at Long Yin Temple, and then make plans to run away to Cheung Chau Island.
Their love was not meant to last, however- a great white took them both during a Christmas Day swim.
The gods of Buddhism, moved by their love turned them into swallowtail butterflies, proving that love can come from the smallest actions.
50/25/25- Three of Three
Mark and Kitty meet at a bar called Stormies. He was so drunk, he agreed to a one-night stand.
The two lovers are then split after a night in a seedy Mongkok love hotel.
They meet again, at a Gongcha, where their hands meet over a bubble tea.
They make plans to run away to Uluru in Sanya, Hainan. Their love was not meant to last, however- they were crushed by a tofu building.
The gods of Dreamtime, moved by their love turned them into kookaburras, forever screeching from the tops of the gum trees.
PLATE IMAGES
