The Tower
Jie Xu
STUDENT ARTWORK
Category
Installation
Artwork medium
Video (projector), Curtain
ARTIST STATEMENT
The Tower takes its name from the tarot card symbolising sudden destruction and change. This work explores fire as both a force of loss and a marker of time’s one-way passage. A video combines the small, deliberate act of burning the Tower card with archival footage of major historical fires—from the Notre-Dame [cathedral] blaze to the Los Angeles riots and the self-immolation of Thích Quảng Đức, moments when fire became a sign of resistance and rupture. The installation uses a burned cloth as the projection surface, its holes and scorch marks breaking the moving image. This strategy brings fire into the space physically, blurring image and material. A soundtrack of reversed, slowed fire alarms removes urgency, creating an unsettling sense of suspended time. Bringing together intimate action, collective history and material traces, The Tower reflects on the permanence of loss and the possibility of rebuilding after collapse.
ARTIST INTRODUCTION
A visual arts student at UNSW.
Acknowledgement of Country
UNSW School of Art & Design stands on an important place of learning and exchange first occupied by the Bidjigal and Gadigal peoples.
We acknowledge the Bidjigal and Gadigal peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land that our students and staff share, create and operate on. We pay our respects to Elders past and present and extend this respect to all First Nations peoples across Australia. Sovereignty has never been ceded.
