On the street
Gained many trusts and supports from the storytellers met on the way. Many story about death has something in common.
Echo Pops
Years later, we met again at his funeral,
His violence and control, their silent complicity,
Drove me to become a kite, soaring free,
Never to return.
Now happiness and independence encircle me,
My wife and children, the strings that hold,
My in-laws like my own, our family a tree,
With roots deep in the earth.
#EchoPops
Inspired by death stories exchanged on my way and donated by people all around the world, Echo Pops is a series of collaborative artworks based on real stories collected or donated during my journey. Each story has been shared with consent and stripped of all private and sensitive information. Each piece is co-created with the story donor.
Each person’s story about death has the potential to inspire others. I believe death is a mirror reflecting life. Using art to openly discuss and confront the topic of death in public spaces is the original intent of the Echo Coffee project. I plan to take these artworks and their energy to exhibitions around the world, resonating and connecting with audiences everywhere.
Privacy Protection Statement
This project is committed to strict privacy protection for all donated stories. When your story is transformed into an artwork, any information that could identify you will be removed or altered to ensure your personal privacy is not compromised.
If you wish to support this project, collaborate, or donate a story, feel free to email me or message me on SNS.
siyuissiyu@gmail.com siyusmall@qq.com ins: siyusmall0 wechat: liusiyu_net
“A cup of fresh coffee for a story about death.”
“I’d like to trade a cup of freshly brewed Yunnan coffee for a story from your experience about death.”
Exchanging stories on the street of Chengdu, China.
No.202 Spiritual Essence Space
This is a small part of the 202 Spiritual Essence Space Project. The apartment where my grandparents lived, built in the 1970s, is considered a dilapidated building by modern standards. I don’t know when it will disappear, so I am slowly recreating this home as it looked in my childhood within a virtual world, using my graphics card.
Here is my grandfather (in his robotic form). His actual soul, in his previous reincarnation, was born into a poor family in Beiping at the end of World War I. The reason his character is designed this way is because I spent many years thinking about what kind of grandfather to place in this virtual space. When it comes to recreating deceased loved ones, as long as one is willing to put in the effort, the technology has long been able to make them look just like they did in real life. But what is real? After all, we only want the version of the person we remember—should we recreate them in their youthful vigor, their kind and gentle old age, or their final moments in the hospital? There is no such thing as absolute reality. Thus, pursuing an artistically accurate yet abstract cartoon representation, which can later be animated, seems like a better approach. Placing a robotic version of my grandfather in this recreated home allows one to feel the presence of his soul.
Echo Coffee: A Life Story Exchange Station
Project Overview
"Echo Coffee: A Life Story Exchange Station" is a unique artist residency project exploring the relationships between life, death, and sustainability through the exchange of coffee and stories. By transforming a camper van to offer locally sourced Yunnan small bean pour-over coffee—not for sale, but in exchange for personal stories related to death—the project aims to traverse various locations over two months, collecting people's stories. This process is intended to provoke deep reflections on life, death, and sustainability.
Implementation Plan
Vehicle Modification and Preparation: Select and modify a suitable camper van into a mobile space capable of offering pour-over coffee services. The design will incorporate elements of life and nature to create a warm and inclusive atmosphere.
Coffee Selection and Preparation: Choose high-quality, sustainably sourced small bean coffee from Yunnan. The pour-over method will provide participants with a unique coffee experience.
Story Collection and Sharing: Encourage participants to share their personal experiences related to death using a dedicated recording device. All stories will be anonymized to respect privacy.
Location Selection: The project will take place in various locations, including parks, arts districts, and community centers, to ensure a diverse range of participants.
Sustainable Practices: Implement sustainability by using renewable energy sources (e.g., solar panels) to power the van and biodegradable coffee cups.
Exhibition and Sharing: After the project concludes, the collected stories and experiences will be shared through online platforms and physical exhibitions to further explore themes of life, death, and sustainability.
An art museum about mortality
I made my logo into sustainable architectures, rendered in Blender.
See you down the road
What a struggling process on transforming a car in a llegal way in China…
my sketch and designs of a mobile studio and an art gallery about death always on the way
Start to record stories with quick illustrations
As I get even more stories from every unexpected places, I was struggling how to remember all these treasures and trusts without any risk on privacy, I want to trade stories with people but I definetly don’t want to trade their privacy. Peope trusted me and told all these private stories, how could I go on without forgetting them?
I started to record my process on little redbook ,a Chinese social media, but I still need to summarize every step I go forward.
Story of Titi
This is a comfort toy I designed, and her name is Titi. Titi’s body is shaped like the number 13, and on top of her head is a golden number 20.
Titi’s design is inspired by a story about life and growth, shared by Ms. Guoying Lam.
Once, there was a 13-year-old girl who was about to spend the final days of her life in a children’s palliative care facility. Before she passed away, she prepared a letter for each of her parents and asked Nurse Lam to keep them safe for seven years, only to be given to her parents on her 20th birthday. Nervously, Director Lam agreed to the girl’s request.
Seven years later, Director Lam was still working in the same field. She called the girl’s mother to tell her about the existence of the two letters. The girl’s mother was very surprised, as just that day, while looking out the car window at the university students full of youthful spirit, she had been thinking, “If my daughter were alive today, she would be 20 years old and maybe in college like them. I wonder what she would be like.”
After reading the letter, the mother was deeply moved. In the letter, the girl told her parents, “I am now 20 years old and I am doing very well in another place. Don’t worry about me; you should live your lives to the fullest.”
When the father read his letter, he cried for a long time. Unlike his wife, he had never spoken about having a daughter in the past seven years and avoided any reminders of her. Now, it seemed as if he was releasing seven years’ worth of tears all at once. After that, he began to share stories about his daughter with others.
Note: Ms. Guoying Lam is a senior nurse from Hong Kong with many years of experience in children’s palliative care and a senior advisor at Butterfly House. Butterfly House is China’s first charitable organization providing palliative and hospice care for critically ill children.
Design Description: Titi is holding a colorful butterfly. The number 3 on her back is made of colorful, thick yarn woven like insect wings. Two squeezable red plush socks symbolize good luck.
Death is a mirror reflecting the overall meaning of life.
Telling stories about the growth of the soul through art and design is what I do best.
这是我设计的一只安抚玩具，她的名字叫Titi，Titi的身体是数字13，头顶上有个金色的20。
Titi的设计来自林国嬿女士讲述的一个关于生命成长的故事。
曾经有一个13岁的女孩将要在儿童安宁照顾机构度过生命最后的时光，她临终前给父母分别准备了一封信，嘱咐林护士替她保管7年，等她20岁生日的时候才交可以她的父母。林主任非常忐忑的答应了这个女孩的请求。
七年之后林主任还在从事这个职业，她打电话给这个女孩的妈妈告诉她这有两封信的存在。女孩子的妈妈觉得非常惊讶，因为那天她在路上的时候看着车窗外那些上大学意气风发的女孩子她还在想，如果我女儿活到今天已经20岁了，可能和她们一样正在上大学，她会是什么样子的呢？
妈妈读到信以后非常的感动，女孩信里的内容是告诉爸爸妈妈，我现在已经20岁了，我在另外一个地方过得非常好，你们不要担心，你要好好的过自己的生活。
当爸爸读到另一封信之后，这个男人痛哭了好长时间，和妻子不同的是，过去的7年里他绝口不对任何人说自己曾经有过一个女儿，不去回顾任何和女儿相关的事物。现在他仿佛要把过去七年的眼泪一次哭出来。从那之后，他开始能够和别人分享讲述自己和女儿的故事。
备注：林国嬿女士是一位多年从事儿童安宁缓和医疗照护的香港资深护士，蝴蝶之家的高级顾问。蝴蝶之家是中国首个为危重症儿童提供舒缓护理与安宁服务的慈善组织。
设计说明：Titi抱着一只彩色蝴蝶，背上的3是彩色粗毛线编织像昆虫翅膀，两个可以捏的红色毛绒小袜子代表好运气。
死亡是反映生命整体意义的一面镜子。
用艺术和设计讲述灵魂成长的故事是我做的最好的事情。
柳二猫
“A cup of coffee for a story about death.”
It all begins with an idea in April 2024.
After a 50 days trip of art and writing in Yunan, a most vibrant province with colours and various ethic nations in China. I thought I should design and transform a mini campervan to go on the next trip so that I can sleep in the car, and to stop in proper locations as I wish. I got very found of the coffee beans in Yunan, which are very good quality and easy to get.
It all begins with an idea in April 2024.
After a 50 days trip of art and writing in Yunan, a most vibrant province with colours and various ethic nations in China. I thought I should design and transform a mini campervan to go on the next trip so that I can sleep in the car, and to stop in proper locations as I wish. I got very found of the coffee beans in Yunan, which are very good quality and easy to get. I came up with this draft idea of trading a cup of freshly brewed Yunan coffee for a story about death from the experience of anyone.
