Lotus Pool comes from a memory that’s both sweet and unsettling. As a kid, these pink plastic lotus toys were at every birthday party. Each one played the “Happy Birthday” song, a cheerful, harmless sound. But when I put so many of them together for this piece, the result was overwhelming: the melodies clashed, and the noise became chaotic, almost unbearable.
The lotus is supposed to be a symbol of purity and integrity in Chinese culture, but here it’s just plastic, cheap, artificial, and mass-produced. To me, that says a lot. When these toys all play the same tune in unison, the sound loses its meaning. It feels mechanical, forced, even oppressive.