Breaking Ground — AUGURY HOUSE

The 2023 Lunar New Year marks the year of the Black Rabbit which occurs once every 60 years. In the Yin Yang Five Elements, black represents Water, which also signifies the concept of all-encompassing grace and inclusivity. BREAKING GROUND is an exhibition by Carissa Te-Hsuan Chu to celebrate the 2023 Lunar New Year and serve as a conceptual opening ceremony of the Lone Fir Cemetery Block 14 Cultural Heritage and Healing Garden. Presented by Augury House, BREAKING GROUND also provides a platform for other Asian artists to exhibit their festive artworks. By celebrating the New Year, we want to remind the public the virtue of grace and the beauty of harmony, bringing light for the year to come.

The Block 14 section of the Lone Fir Cemetery is an acre-and-a-quarter plot of land that shelters the remains of early Chinese railroad workers . Purchased in 1891 by the City & Suburban Railway, the site became known as the “Chinese Burial Ground” and was set aside for the early Chinese sojourners who built much of the foundational infrastructure for the Portland Metro area. Originally, the bodies interred at Lone Fir were to be held temporarily until their families could arrange to bring their bones home to China to be buried with their ancestors. For a variety of reasons, many of the bodies remained at Lone Fir, forgotten.

BREAKING GROUND responds to the context of Block 14 through installations, workshops and an interactive livestream by utilizing the mediums of prints, videos, new media, and audience-participatory activities. The artworks will be exhibited at the mezzanine, the ground floor, as well as the PGE Gallery of Portland Center Stage during January 21st through February 5th.

Carissa Te-Hsuan Chu & Kevin Yatsu
BREAKING GROUND
2023
Digital Video, Projection, Installation

BREAKING GROUND is an expansive video piece commemorating the histories of the Lone Fir Cemetery Block 14 site. It consists of two parts:

Golden Spade reenacts the Chinese railroad worker’s effort in building the foundation of this country, it also inscribes generations of immigrants’ endeavor in breaking the ground for their descendents.

Dream of the Scarlet Chamber describes what happens after breaking ground – conquering the linguistic barrier while chasing the American Dream. Language is in and of itself a matrix. It takes at least three generations to crack the code, figure out the language game, understand the unspoken laws of the new land, and finally, to be able to provide a financially and spiritually free life for the descendants to pursue their passions and dreams. In East Asian mythology, the Red Thread of Fate usually represents predestined passions between men and women. In this project, we extend the concept to the Ouroboros and the Eternal Knot – it not only symbolizes the karmic cycle between all beings but also describes the bondage of the stereotypes and limitations imposed on our existence.

By cutting off the red ties, we 斷 sever the Kizuna fetters that confine us, 捨 shed off our ego, and 離part the Red Dust of the world, and thereon unite us all as one.