I Keep Simming But Never Reach the Land
上岸

2016
plaster,speaker,video
30 x 30 x 15 cm

I crossed twelfth time zone to be in New York, and the distance from home seems so far.

As an international student, my time in New York is limited. I always face pressure to make the best of my finite time over here. In the spring of 2015, I suddenly had a strong urge to go home after staying here for a long time, but I could not. The loneliness hurt me, so I built an individual theater to share my sadness. I Keep Swimming But Never Reach the Land is a video installation about a swimmer losing his direction in the ocean of time. I created an animation about a swimmer who keeps swimming in the ocean but never reaches the land.

The video looks quiet, but it is about struggle. If I stop swimming, I will sink under the waves. We all have helpless and lonely moments in our lives, and it feels like no one can help you to overcome the situations. I built an individual theater in half-spherical shape with a plaster, so only one person can see the video at a time, because this is a very personal and a delicate moment of sadness. There is a speaker hidden inside the plaster, which plays the sound of the ocean with the video. The closed space inside the theater changes the feeling of the sound. It becomes very deep and dark, like a nightmare in your consciousness.