From the times of old to the present, in eastern culture, weddings of matrimony have been referred to as “red weddings”, conversely, however, death has been historically referred to as a “white wedding”. In the case of white weddings, mourners partake in a grand ceremony as to celebrate the excess of life. In such ceremonies, there are songs and musical instruments paired along with tears and mourning. Through such a ceremony, the complex emotions that are associated with death are exemplified.
As to express this grand ceremony, I have combined the concept of “qi’ （器）or vessel that is present within traditional Chinese culture. The Chinese character “qi” is not solely representative of the word vessel, but can also be understood pictographically as the character for “cry” (ku 哭) while also having two characters for “mouth” （kou 口）, which are representative of the emotions that are brought out through funerary services.
The main body of the work is a container for a dead life, while the transparent part of the piece is an abstract expression of the human face. The face is made of translucent material as in my opinion, it seems that after death, people no longer have any privacy to speak of their personal belongings, life experiences, and all of the words and deeds the said and performed throughout their life. Within this grand ceremony of nostalgia, the exchanging and discussion amongst friends and family digs a hole into the transparent face, scraping away some if not all of the privacy once enjoyed by the deceased, all of which is done with the intent of revealing a side of that person that may not have been known to others.
The appearance of the work changes under different types of light. Colorization will be altered based on the use of white light, violet light and night light, which allows for different interpretations of the multi-faceted emotions during the “last rites”; celebrating and mourning. Additionally, these shifts in color allow for interpretation of the multi-faceted nature of human beings, good and evil, sorrowful and jubilant, resulting in the composition of a symphony for the shortness of life.
This work, through oriental cultural symbols, hopes to provoke people to think about their lost lives while also honoring the souls of the eternally departed while maintaining respect for life.
