Ximplification of a Language
2016sound installation, silk screen printed notation paper with cut-out, 18-tone music instructment
The artwork addresses the loss of language under imposed national standards, reflecting on China's 1956 simplification of 2,235 Chinese characters. Contrasted with traditional characters still used in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macau, the work uses simplified characters overlaid with a cancellation cross. By subtracting the original characters from the cross symbol, broken languages emerge. These serve as notations, read by a device to evoke the audible sounds of linguistic loss.