Can/Can't

Can/Can’t is François Ruegg’s sculptural installation of eight busts handcrafted from Jingdezhen porcelain, four finished with celadon glaze and four with black satin glaze. The figures with covered eyes, ears and mouths illustrate the Japanese pictorial maxim of the "Three Wise Monkeys".

● Type: Sculpture
● Material: Jingdezhen porcelain, celadon glaze, black satin glaze
● Date: 2017

The Can/Can’t figures hidden under a thin porcelain veil, with their eyes, ears and mouths covered, symbolise the maxims incarnated in the form of the "Three Wise Monkeys", interpreted here as "do not see; do not hear; do not say". Sometimes a fourth recommendation is added: "do not do".
François Ruegg's installation of busts titled Can’t See, Can’t Hear, Can’t Talk, Can’t Think play with these maxims. The human figures placed atop plinths resemble chess pieces, pawns ready to be manipulated, unable to think for themselves.

Porcelain VirtuosityExhibition