DESIREE
THAM
Tuan Yuan, is a series of works that presents and references the cultural gestures of making and eating Tang Yuan as a symbolic element of conveying family togetherness.
The work presents touches on the physical element of sharing a cultural activity together. 5 days of making Tang Yuan together is an installation of an empty fridge filled with all the Tang Yuan that my family and myself had made together which was then shipped over to Singapore to be preserved for as long as it would last. The work signifies the complicit nature of affective familial labour as well as depicting the element of care and failure in relationships within the family. What remains from the work is an ephemeral art object which brings forth a social symbol for family union.