Red earth is everywhere in Hengchun.
Along roadsides, field ridges, and exposed slopes, different shades of red appear between rows of crops. Surrounded by sea on three sides and mountains behind, Hengchun is shaped by wind, cultivation, and everyday life. Much of its character can be found in these ordinary scenes.
In March 2024, we visited Liang Shi Liang Shi Farm in Hengchun, Pingtung.We followed the farmer into the fields, listening as he spoke about the soil, seasonal crops, and the small routines of farming and daily life. Walking between rows of produce, we learned what was growing, how it was cultivated, and how it might eventually reach the table. Through these conversations, Hengchun began to reveal itself through its food culture and everyday rhythms. What stayed with us was more than the landscape itself: the warmth of soil in our palms, wind moving across the fields, and a conversation that gave us another way of seeing this place. With the farmer's guidance, we collected several soil samples. Held side by side, even the familiar red earth revealed subtle differences in shade, grain, and texture. Later, the samples travelled with us back to Tainan and into Tu Xing Studio.
Back in Tainan, the red earth collected from the farm in Hengchun was brought into Tu Xing Studio as part of its ongoing Soil Plan.
"Soil is a primordial material. It follows nature, constantly changing with its environment, holding unknown connections yet to take place." This understanding reflects the studio's open approach to material—not as something fixed, but as something that continues to shift through environment, temperature, and making.
The Hengchun soil was prepared, tested, and fired into a series of sample tiles. The red tones first seen in the field changed through the kiln, revealing different depths of color and surface texture—some finer, others still visibly granular. Through these samples, we were able to see more clearly how the soil changed after firing, and what qualities it could take on as a material.
As each piece was made, clay covered the hands. Each work was shaped by hand, deliberately preserving the subtle impressions left by the fingers. Traces of hand-building and firing remain visible on the surface. The soil from Hengchun passed through testing, hand-forming, and kiln fire before returning to VUDAS, where it became part of the space.
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