When French Jesuit Missionary Alexandre de Rhodes latinized Vietnamese writing, he wrote in his diary that the Vietnamese language sounds like “a twittering bird.” Song of a twittering bird is a story of negation.  Borrowing the aesthetic and structural language of the folding screens and shadow lantern - ubiquitous decor of “Asian” flare, to re-present another voice, another way of speaking.  As the warm air rises from the halogen lights, the cut-out text spins and projects moving silhouettes onto the folding screens’ panels. Four sets of folding screens, each panel measures 6’6”  x  2’6”.


Text:  “But, I don’t like fried rice.”, “I am sorry, I don’t speak Chinese.”, “Uhm no, I don’t go to Karaoke Bars.”,

“Actually, I don’t have a cellular phone.”



material:  wood, metal, halogen lights, handmade shoji paper, craft paper, cut-out text and projections.



Song of A Twittering Bird

1996

mixed-media installation, dimensions variable.

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