Yangtze Rising
2003
29" high, 24" high in diameter
Stone, Glass, Copper, and Solder
Yangtze Rising commemorates a significant event in current human history, the damming of the Yangtze River. The Chinese Government, in an attempt to create a continuous source of electricity for its growing population while establishing a system for flood control, has constructed a 610-foot tall hydroelectric dam, the largest of its kind ever constructed... the Three Gorges Dam. It is estimated that over 2,000,000 people will be displaced from their ancestral homelands.
Yangze Rising neither protests nor defends this effort, but recognizes its immense significance to human history. The Yangtze River is symbolized in the creeping dragon with its long, winding tail as well as the flowing waters below. The three separate rocks represent the three gorges to be inundated by the rising river. A stained glass pagoda stands in solemn remembrance of ancient times. Finally, an incospicuos footbridge marks the unprecedented relocation of remarkable mass of humanity and the uncertainty that it entails.
