"Hope is a waking dream."

— Aristotle once

"Hope, hope, with this shield of hope, to resist the incoming darkness of the empty night." 

 — Lu Xun

A heart without hope is like a barren wasteland without any signs of live. 

Since 2020, both the segregation sign of socio-spaces and the protective masks of identity denial have trapped us in the repression of involuntary isolation. Within a short time, the Coronavirus has almost hollowed our faith, exposing our vulnerability, our fear, our loneliness. We have never been more desperate to find a new "hope".

Along the extensive coastline of the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong, there are a number of "sea pastures". Every year in May, the farmers will put the infant oysters on a string like a necklace, tied under a plastic floating ball submerged more than a meter below the water surface for breeding, until November, when these oysters are ripe and fat, then they can be salvaged and listed for sale. Those colored plastic floating balls of 60 cm in length and 30 cm in diameter are specially used to hang and fix the oyster string. Rows and rows of colorful floating balls are like drifting bottles of hope, forming a pentatonic score over the sea, playing a melodious song of farming and shepherding, flowing with the infinite longing of the ocean people for a better life ......

These colorful plastic floats are made of polyvinyl chloride material, which at the end of their lifespan, if not recycled, will flow into the sea and become a source of marine litter and microplastics. If not handled properly, "sea pastures" can provide nutrients and protein for humans while also negatively impacting marine wildlife and ecosystems.

The Drift of Hope, a public art installation built with recycled and disposed of drifting floats from the Pearl River Delta seashore, advocates the practice of sustainable concepts, using the affinity of its form and the soothing power of its color to carry out a local and collective creation, emphasizing the connection and symbiosis among artists, local residents and local communities.

Expressing attitudes towards social issues, through visual and interactive installations, the forms and colors are cast into a unity that inspires us, is pleasing and meaningful. As a means, communication, and symbol, the installation engages the attention and participation of the public, gains support and consensus among the general public, and leads people to open up communication in shared community, bringing physical and mental healing and solace.

Let the recycled mariculture drift float be a medium of awareness and perception, a " messenger " of communication, for self-practice and reflection. By self-responding and working with others, we find and construct a common connection between each other, finally leading us to identify our common needs. That means that we need to consider ourselves not just as an isolated individual, but to share a common identity with the other. It is a public consciousness and responsibility to inspire each other, to revive the good expectation of life, and to step into a better future.