Chinese Zodiac Annual Exhibition
Each year from 2015-2021, with the aim of celebrating both past and present, a new Chinese Zodiac-based artwork was commissioned by the Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy for Chin Park in downtown Boston. The installation’s goal was to celebrate the culture, history, and traditions of the Chinese New Year and the Chinatown community through the ideas and expressions of contemporary artists. Past zodiac curations included Andy Li’s text and fiber-based installation, The Herd (2021), Furen Dai’s changing neon light A Mouse with Ears and Tail (2020), Elliott Kayser’s ceramic pig sculptures, Year of the Pig (2019), Risa Puno’s community storytelling abacus, Year of the Dog (2018), Chis Templeman’s 3D-rooster printer Make and Take (2017), Don Kennell’s 12-foot Monkey See (2016), and Kyu Seok Oh’s paper-mache Wandering Sheep (2015).
Furen Dai’s A Mouse with Ears and Tail (2020)
Furen Dai’s practice has focused on the economy of cultural industry and how languages lose function, usage, and history over time. Her years as a professional translator and interest in linguistic studies have guided her artistic practice since 2015. For her artwork based on the Year of the Mouse, Dai researched the evolutionary process of the Chinese character “鼠” (mouse), from the ancient Oracle bone script to the contemporary SimSun font.
When foreign language characters are placed in a different cultural context, those without knowledge of the language tend to read the character as a series of abstract lines and shapes. This artwork explores the experience of viewing a Chinese character from both a native and foreign perspective, encouraging both Chinese speakers and non-Chinese speakers to see “mouse” when viewing “鼠”. In this work, the small mouse of the ancient Oracle bone script races around the contemporary SimSun font, which is in turn transformed into a cartoon mouse figure blinking and beckoning us in with its warm, neon glow.
