Bo-Li, 2024, GIFs file
Bo-Li is a digital artwork that combines queer cultural symbolism with the scientific exploration of Prince Rupert’s Drop. Filming through the bottom of the water tank, the footage captures the moment of glass falling. This experiment produces toughened glass beads by dropping molten glass into cold water, inducing stress between the outer cooled layer and the warm inner layer of the glass, resulting in a powerfully resilient tadpole-shaped glass object that can withstand a blow of a hammer.
The work weaves scientific processes with cultural symbolism in Taiwan, where the term “Bo-Li,” meaning glass, was used as a derogatory euphemism for queers and homosexuals in the 1970s and 1980’s. Bo-Li challenges stereotypes and emphasizes the robustness and warmth of the queer community by positioning glass as a dynamic substance. The narrative unfolds through GIFs, repetitively showcasing a single motion of the instant drop into a dance of empowerment. The exploration blends tangible processes with metaphorical reflections, creating a work that converges materiality and identity.