Subscribe: RSS
Gu's studio assistant unpacks a box of hair clippings collected from Dartmouth
College and the Upper Valley.
A plastic template for a part of one of the English characters is carefully
measured out before any hair is applied to the panel.
One completed panel is removed from the template after drying and will soon be
prepared to ship back to Dartmouth for installation.
Six miles of braid, packed on large spools for shipping, were dyed eleven
different neon colors. The braids will form a hair tunnel in Berry Library's
"Main Street."
Each length of braid will be connected to the next by a series metal tags that
are engraved with the names of countries recognized by the United Nations. This
tag features China, which Gu has intentionally spelled backward. Several blank
tags will be on view as well, to comment on the rate at which new
countries appear every day.
Back in Shanghai, studio assistants carried out Wenda Gu's conceptual art project for Dartmouth by preparing large panels of hair and glue using the hair collected from the Upper Valley as the background. Hair from wig factories in Shanghai and India was dyed neon green and used to created English characters on each panel as part Gu's vision of incorporating visual art and language.
