Paper fantasy

Abstract

By exploring the relationship of an “Ancestor” and “Descendant”, we can investigate their connection and intertwined reliance. The act of burning paper offerings functions as a platform for this relationship to exist. It is a process of continual exchange that takes place between the living and the dead, which reinforces the fundamental Confucian value of filial piety.

This work characterises the relationship by constructing an imagined world of the “Descendant” that resembles psychedelic spaces of extravagance and exaggeration. This is contrasted with the imageries of burning paper house –depicting reality – that provokes us to think whether the paper house still exists even being burnt. However, does this matter to the descendant? Is burning paper offerings a duty of filial piety, or is it merely an emotional and spiritual assurance for the “Descendant”?