The program assembles interlocking graphical tiles and plays bilingual dialogues that talk past each other and repeat as though caught in traumatic loops. The overall sequence is indefinite and does not repeat.

Its single interactive feature is a language toggle that permits different views of the situation. The situation travels back and forth in time from late adulthood to early childhood, accumulating a picture that enables one to glimpse the forces that govern certain beliefs and breakdowns.

One of its premises is that language is frequently a conduit for misunderstanding rather than understanding. The work is built on failures of communication, which can take on new meanings as the program replays them tirelessly.

The work is implicitly biographical and does not entertain any notion of a conflict between opposing values. Rather, it is an attempt to synthesize, if not reconcile, coexistent truths. The attempt is sometimes obstructed by "things that can't be said."

The work was co-curated by Kate Gu and Kerry Doran at M+. Translations were provided by Yuling Zhong. Web development by Tommy Martinez.

It can be viewed at M+ or directly here.

See also:

Family Maker, Real Milk, On and On and On, Rm 6