This piece was showcased at the "Off the Screen" student exhibition at OSU in March 2022. The video is a reflection of how the ocean acts as both a disruptor, keeping families like mine in great geographic separation, and a unifier - a place where we meet loved ones for the first time, greet each again, and say goodbye. Central in this piece is an altar I constructed with cultural elements such as food, a family photo, and a teapot. Projected onto this altar is footage of my parents each speaking to me in a mix of Mandarin and English wishing me a happy birthday and a happy lunar new year. Projected below the altar is a map of the Pacific ocean, with an animated flight path between the island Taiwan, where my family is from and where my father resides, to Los Angeles, the place I grew up and where my mother, brother, and grandmother live. Projected on the vertical wall is footage of ocean waves filmed off the Oregon coast, where I now live, mirrored and breaking away from each other.
we met at the coast, on a beach, in the sunset until we meet again