“Broken Dreams No.1” is a mosaic that consists of 518 broken-down pieces of plastic and natural matter placed side by side. The work organises and coordinates the fragments by shape, colour, and luminosity and they are all used in the original way they were found; neither colour nor size has been manipulated. liina collected every piece from the shores of the South China Sea in Hong Kong over the course of one year. A single piece of waste by itself is considered unsightly, dirty and worthless, yet the resulting mosaic is initially perceived as aesthetically pleasing. liina explores the perception of value and waste, of beauty and belonging depending on context, location and integration into a bigger picture.
“There is a contradiction between a single piece of waste being perceived as unpleasant, even ugly and the sum of colour being seen as the exact opposite: as beautiful. It is this conflict which fascinates me because the objects intrinsically stay the same – it is our human perception that changes. This work asks: Exactly when does this transition happen? Why does value become waste? Can beauty be life-threatening? And, will we be able to turn the threat into positive change?”
liina klauss
