Sometimes it takes a bit of time for things to be done, but, such is the idle life. Case in point, this project entitled "Auspicious" from 2002 (nearly a decade ago!), and here remembered only because of beginning of the Chinese lunar new year.
In traditional Chinese households and businesses, there are put up posters with phrases on them foretelling good fortune and the growth of the family unit. These often have red backgrounds, gold text, and are garnished with typical motifs such as the bat (fortune), dragon (male), phoenix (female) and other animals to symbolize prosperity and strength. Every Chinese Lunar New Year, these posters are taken down and replaced by new ones to indicate a new cycle of hope.
More often than not, the phrases used are all based around material things such as gold and jade, or in support of the "traditional" family structure. As a desire for something other, something different, and perhaps something better, I decided to post up posters emulating the usual ones, but with sayings which would reflect an other state of thinking. Which which embraces subtle humor, but also one which urges the individual to stand on her or his own outside the false dreams of money and dependence.
On a freezing Lunar New Year's Eve, over a hundred of these posters were posted throughout New York City's Chinatown. Just in time to greet the dawn, and the arrival of a new day and a new year. Although a few of them were torn down by morning, most of them were still evident in the early afternoon when the parade was going full on. The dancing lions were gracing the streets accompanied by the beat of the drums and clash of the percussive instruments, the Chinese crowd dressed in shades of red watched and furtively snapped photographs. Quiet fireworks and red confetti scattered on the floor like leaves, my posters on the telephone poles suspended like wishes on Japanese trees.
Many thanks to Josephine for coming up with the clever sayings and Benson for braving the cold to make this project real, and a Happy Year of the Rabbit to all!
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