September 11th Memorial Installation -
White
九一一紀念的装置 - 白
2001 - 2002
Mixed media with audio
30" x 30" x 36"

The Tragedy of an Aftermath is The Lesson Not Learned. As “Bread is the Staff of Life” to the West, rice is the essential staple in feeding the World. It nourishes and underpins the foundation of culture and civilization. A shared Chinese vernacular etiquette with the East and South East Asian cultures and its greater diaspora including that of Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore of not sticking chopsticks vertically into a bowl of rice is because of the resemblance of joss-sticks in an urn – which is a religious offering. The only time a pair of chopsticks is stuck into a bowl of rice is at the beginning of a funeral procession to signify that “Death is here.” Your Difference is My Acceptance for We Are One. This installation is my personal offering to the September 11th victims and the lost World Trade Center Twin Towers. It marks the nation’s loss of her innocence by deconstructing the US flag. The seven red strips of the flag correspond to the seven bloody bleeding lines of the large white bowl. The blue quarter manifests into the blue prayer candles with 50 stars of the 50 states shimmering and longing for the departed. The low sound of murmuring chants of a Buddhist prayer for the dead calling for salvation is heard. This is a round low table for one. When will World Nations join in and Share at This Table of Humanity? In sharing we enrich, extend, and maximize the limited resource of our global society. The only limit to our growth and progress is our weakness to accept beyond our understanding. Humanity is immeasurable which is what makes us human. History is thus written by the victor, it is written and rewritten daily, and we write our history today. 2011 Click here to read the full introduction essay • Click on the image to see it bigger

September 11th Memorial Installation -
Red
九一一紀念的装置 − 紅

View of installation at Queens College, 2010.