Title: Dowsing Stylus
Year: 2025
Medium: Mixed media
Dimensions: tray 30”x21.5”x1.75”, stylus 13”x6.5”x4”, installation adjustable to the space

Dowsing Stylus (尋龍筆)  is an interactive experience that explores the subconscious and non-verbal communication, where the viewers search inward and still meet each other in a collaborative experience. The inspiration comes from the Taiwanese religious practice, Fuji.

Fuji (扶乩)  is a form of automatic writing that often uses a suspended sieve or tray filled with sand or incense ash where characters are written using a pen or stylus. The messages from deities, ancestors, or spirits are conveyed through a wooden stylus guided by a medium. It serves as a method for connecting individuals or communities assembled at an altar with a particular deity. This practice aims to fulfill personal requests, promote healing, and provide moral guidance on individual or societal matters.

The piece provides a platform for cognitive exploration and blurs the religious instrument and art. It highlights the interpersonal connection that taps into the subconscious world where non-verbal communication can cross cultural barriers and generate new relationships and meanings of presence.

Stylus User Instruction: 

• Find a partner and be silent. 
• Draw a stick from the cup and match the number on the stick with the card to find the subject.
• The stack of cards is under this instruction holder.
• No verbal communication,  you can redraw a new subject if both parties agree.
• Pick up the stylus at the same time with your partner. Be very gentle (don’t break the stylus!)
• Feel the other’s intention and draw the image together on the sand.
• Use the wooden wiper with the clam handle to erase the image if needed.
• You can stop and start over anytime.
• Please return everything to the original state when you are done.

Photo credit: Merik Goma