Pillar of Salt: Illuminated History in Writing is a series of illuminated crowd-sourced written history in the shape of light sculpture, honoring individual’s intentions of advancing gender equality. The project was supported by Halcyon Arts Lab Social Impact Residency (2018-19).
In the course of 9 months, I partnered with Hirshhorn Museum/French Embassy, The Goethe-Institut DC, Flow Yoga Center, Corcoran School of Arts and Design and the Smithsonian Freer|Sackler Gallery and launched a series of interactive installation, activating existing physical space to engage, empower and mobilize the communities.
Participants were invited to respond to the prompts through an intention setting writing ritual: To advance gender equality, what are you doing well? What can/will you do better? I collected the commitments, and used the paper pieces to construct light sculptures, during which process illuminating individual’s personal relationships with existing gender stereotypes and their intentions to contribute to building a future of gender equity.
T h e C o m m i t t m e n t s
What are you doing well? What WILL you do better?
"I have to learn to forgive myself before I forgive others."
"I know my beauty is not tied to my site and I defy anyone to reject the love I have for myself."
"I will commit to keeping learning more about marginalized groups in order to expand my empathy & deplete ignorance towards groups of people who have seen different experiences than my own."
"Volunteer to help people register to vote - because every vote counts."
"Not put down members of my community for better opportunities."
"I would have listened when she told me she was uncomfortable."
"I will make a greater effort to demonstrate my love and support to my gender non-conforming and trans family."
"I will listen more than I speak. Even when I feel slighted, I will try to understand others’ perspectives before I contribute."
"I eat when and what I want."
"I want to live in LOVE! Not Fear!"
B y T h e P e o p l e F e s t i v a l
June 15 - 23, Autoshop Union Market, Washington DC
The exhibition, Pillar of Salt: Illuminated History in Writing, aims to provide a visual archive of this endeavor, showcasing 6 light sculptures built with the written commitments previously entrusted to the project in the year of 2019. These one-of-a-kind sculptures were constructed through a labor-intensive process of laminating 12 layers of thin strips of paper onto wooden forms, creating organically curved surfaces to contain the light within. Here, paper is the recording medium of abstract thoughts as well as the constructing material of the sculpture, functioning on both metaphorical and physical levels.
Human Essence: The Essence of Human is Light
Paper, Wood, White Glue, RaspberryPi, Pi Camera, LED Matrix Panel, Wires
Paper, Wood, White Glue, RaspberryPi, Pi Camera, LED Matrix Panel, Wires
During the exhibit, visitors are welcome to sit down on the meditation cushions or utilize the reflective corner if they would like to contribute new entries onsite.
Visitors will also have the chance to experience Human Essence, an interactive installation consisting of two flat light sculpture panels that interact with the visitors as a set of mirrors, capturing and reflecting human silhouettes in real time. All visitors’ image are rendered and represented as bright human figures regardless of age, gender, racial background and emotional status.