The installation is a visual and vocal work that refers to the linguistic barriers when one enters a new environment.
This is based on the personal experience after two months of adjustment to study abroad, along with a drastic change in life and culture. Being a foreigner is a challenging experience, language is only the tip of the iceberg, the adaption to native culture, or even other foreigners’ is more challenging. Many thoughts cannot be delivered properly, some words are being swallowed during conversations. These moments are called “lumps”.
The constant projection of the body that tries to speak and the static black balloons, which are metaphors as lumps, are placed on the corner of two walls, high up that almost reaches the ceiling.
The sound experience is a mixture of the sound of the noise of a television without a signal and the sound of squeezing the balloons. The idea of this work is not only to explore the verbal aspect of barriers between newcomers but also culturally, there are unspeakable boundaries between individuals.
“I got a lump in my throat 'cause…” is a quote from the song “Riptide”, that is a pretty precise description of being unable to speak because one has difficulty to voice out, due to physical reasons, or in more situations, psychological reasons. The piece is only to show the unpleasant experience, rather than a solution to deal with it, but perhaps the fragile nature of balloons hinders the possible way to reduce uncomfortable situations.
