Made after the initial ravages of the pandemic and during restricted social movement in Singapore, the work sees the artist communing with stardust - cosmic ray particle muons. Widjaja performed at the southern coast of mainland Singapore that faces Java, Indonesia, his birthplace. Holding the muon tracker close to his body, Widjaja marked the entry of the muons through his corporeal frame and the device - a corporeal contemplation of mythic origins and his diasporic cosmology. Upon detecting a muon, his tracker flashes in Morse Code the opening verse of 浪淘沙 (“Waves Dredging Sand”). Written when the author was in exile, the poem began with the story of Han Dynasty envoy Zhang Qian’s travels to the West, which like the muons, slipped through boundaries between distinct timespace.
Detail pictures:
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