Faculty of Art

Cross-Disciplinary Art: Life Studies

Vanna Nguyen

DUST THE ALTAR, CONTINUE TO WATER THE SOIL

Place the framed image on the altar Pick up the longan fruit/Place the fruit offerings, the incense burner bowl, and fresh flowers in a vase on the altar Place the longan in your mouth and crack the shell with your canines/Light incense and bow once Peel off one half of the shell and consume the flesh whole/Share your life updates, aspirations, and fears to the hungry ancestors Once you are finished, spit out the seed and wipe excess flesh off on a tissue/Insert lit incense into incense burner bowl Place the clean seed sideways an inch deep in soil/Keep the spirits company as they consume by inhalation Expose to sunlight/Once the incense has burned out, the connection is over Keep the soil moist over the next week/Consume the fruit offerings By the second week, the seed will germinate into a visible sprout/Replace the flowers once they have wilted Continue to water the soil/Dust the altar Expose to sunlight/Return one lunar cycle later to repeat the ritual By the seventh year, your tree will begin to fruit/Add more decorations as you see fit Start picking the longan and witness your care and diligence manifested through the cycle/Return every death anniversary to repeat the ritual/Place another framed image and repeat the ritual/Repeat the ritual/Repeat the ritual/…/We appreciate your care and diligence.

“DUST THE SOIL, CONTINUE TO WATER THE SOIL attempts to imagine a queer future for the tradition of ancestor worship. A future in which the practice is centered around non-human perceptions of time and is released from the dependance on heterosexual reproduction to continue the cycle. As I will not be receiving an ancestor worship altar of my own, I am growing a fruit tree instead because the actions of care involved in setting up and maintaining an altar parallels the level of care required to grow a tree. Like an altar that archives generations of family history, the tree will archive a history moving forward beyond my time on this earth, thus continuing the cycle on my own terms. In addition to growing a tree, I have constructed a sacred space for the tree to inhabit to further emphasize its importance within the space like an altar would. Hanging illegible lines of bioplastic instructions surround the tree as reminders reinforcing the transition from altar to tree all while submerged in red light. Through this piece, I wish to encourage the tradition of ancestor worship to be extended beyond familial ties and that my passing, if not remembered by the humans, will be remembered by the tree. ”