Chinatown Public Library
1135 Powell Street
Take Root is a set of bi-lingual panels referencing traditional Chinese salutary plaques in contemporary materials of rear-illuminated, die-cut anodized aluminum. The Chinese text is based on calligraphy written for Take Root by well-known artist and calligrapher C. C. Wang. It features a Chinese-American saying about setting roots in America, that is adapted from a traditional saying about returning to the old country at life’s end. The English text is a poetic translation.
Light sconces bear the names of key departing and arrival cites in Asia and America.
Copper-leafed columns bear copper panels that are etched with bilingual community poems about the library and referencing the immigrant history of the community.
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Rene Yung is a visual artist living and working in San Francisco, California. She grew up in colonial Hong Kong before emigrating to the United States. Her work combines visual imagery with text to explore issues of culture and identity. She has exhibited nationally and internationally, including at the Palazzo Giustinian Lolin, Venice, Italy, as part of the 1995 Venice Biennale; Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, Texas; Center for the Arts, Yerba Buena Gardens, San Francisco; San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art; the Richmond Art Center, Richmond; and other Bay Area institutions.
