w̶o̶n̶d̶e̶r̶, v1 by Shirley Wu

w̶o̶n̶d̶e̶r̶ is a physical installation where a visualization is projected over a bowl of water. The visualization animates through four years of my photos, with each dot representing a photo positioned according to how far from home I was when taking the photo.

The works stems from a realization that I had lost my sense of wonder at the outside world because of the pandemic, and especially reports of anti-Asian hate crimes (as a Chinese American woman). The animation shows dots plentiful and dancing across the screen pre-pandemic, then a sudden shrinking and disappearing in March 2020. Water drips while the visualization animates through the pandemic years to distort the surface of the water and the projection.

This is the first iteration of this work, and working on it has been tremendously healing.