His Eye is on Sparrow
144 cardboard boxes, acrylic color,  found objects, 1-channel video essay (colour, sound, 13:59)
part of the Mahjong Friends exhibition “Build to Break the wall”, in collaboration with Kenneth Lin

Mahjong is a game that encapsulates the layered histories and cultural traditions of East Asia. Inspired by the game’s potential to connect people across languages and ideologies, the Mahjong Friends project was initiated by Kenneth Lin (Taiwan) and zhaoyuefan (China) in 2022, using Mahjong as a medium for dialogue across cultural and political borders.
As part of their first solo exhibition Build to Break the Wall, His Eye Is on the Sparrow extends the project into a spatial and allegorical installation. Composed of 144 mahjong-like cardboard boxes—the same number as tiles in a complete Mahjong set—the work translates the structure of the game into a sculptural field. Through the arrangement of boxes and assemblage with ready-made objects, it gives form to the political and emotional tensions embedded in Mahjong: luck and desire, lust and caution, violence and care, war and peace.
In dialogue with the video essay Sparrow Story: An Allegory (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1asw1kH_dso), the installation becomes a tableau of encounters between histories, ideologies, and the everyday gestures of play. The title recalls the Chinese name of Mahjong (麻雀, sparrow), a creature fragile yet full of vitality, light yet enduring.
Installation view at "Build to Break the Wall", a.p. Berlin, Nov 2023