CYCLETENDER
Money paper, gold frames
40*40cm, set of 4
Shenzhen, China | 2013
Chinese money paper is burned to honour dead relatives at special times of the year, with the offering intended to help them pay for things and sustain themselves in the after life. Sometimes burnt and charred fragments can be seen on roadsides outides residences after the custom has been practised. It is traditionally made from inexpensive recycled yellow - representing gold - paper that has been embossed with the shape of old coins, or nowadays fake 100 Yuan notes! I love the effects of the carbon soot on the burnt paper, the same material used for making Chinese ink. This set of 4 works used water to paint geometric square outlines onto the paper, after which it has been set alight to burn away the surrounding paper, and after this process they were mounted in gold square frames. This display slightly resembles a window - possiblily to an otherworldly place - and also incorporates the square symbol which in Chinese can mean 'earth' or 'mouth' or 'individual'., and the 'hui' character which is a square within a square and can translate as the word 'cycle'.