2007
Medium: wax and cheesecloth
Dimension: dimensions variable
This work was created according to the form of the Chinese traditional bell. I threw a fifty pound clay bell on the wheel, and then cast the bell into a negative mold by plaster. Instead doing a normal cast, I chose to apply a very thin layer of wax and let the form distort. The cast bell parts distorted and created a series of organic forms, which are totally opposite to the traditional Chinese bronze bell. Experimenting with materials and techniques, I challenged and questioned the tradition. The usually heavy and strong bells now are soft and light. They barely stand on their own. This implies a more family-bound and socially enmeshed life in China. In China, everyone is in everyone else’s business, you can’t stand by yourself.
The quality of the material that I chose decided how the work should be displayed—it has to rely on something, the wall or the floor. This character of the work reinforced the idea of interdependent Chinese social structure.
From the most original bell form to the most distorted bell, a line of movement and a sequence of transformation were clearly represented.