The Psychopomp Plan – Stop 2: [Beholding Cell Art Space] by John Chuang
Art has always been a medium for approaching difficult subjects.
I visited an exhibition about saying goodbye,
expressed through the passing of several fathers:
the artist’s own father, who had never lived with him;
his father-in-law;
and the father of the gallery owner.
What I appreciate about this exhibition is that
it is not simply an act of remembrance.
Instead, it stays with the experience of saying goodbye itself,
and asks what that experience means
to the person who lives through it.
It is more a form of memory than a memorial.
It becomes a shared experience, because no matter what kind of relationship we have with our parents —
or whether they are still alive —
we can all relate to it and reflect on this relationship.
