A Thousand Nights of Tea Breaks
A SELF-EXPLORATION
CONNECTING, OVERLAPPING, CONTEXTUALIZING
HOME BELONGING & LIVING BELONGING
Creative project by: Alfred Xinghang Fu
Supervised by: Michael Mossman, Justine Anderson， Catherine Donnelley， Isabel Gabaldon
I believe “Home” connects with our sense of Self through layered Contextualization—through space, Belongings, and the sense of belonging and memory those belongings carry. For me personally, the archetype of “ Home” emerges every night after dinner and before bedtime, when my family and I take a tea break in the living room. Each of us brews a cup of tea with a teabag, cradles the mug in our hands, and sits on the carpeted ceramic floor, leaning against the sofa leg and cushions by the fireplace. The warmth of the fire and the hot tea, along with the cozy embrace of the entire space, embodies what I regard as the true essence of home.
Home is wrapped in the warmth and fragrance of tea, just as the country is wrapped in countless homes, like the countless eucalyptus leaves of this land in my backyard home, layered and interwoven. The country is also the foundation of home—Solid yet Gentle—intertwining Nature, Culture, and Spirit, thereby connecting home, each individual, and the broader world.
To me, both home and country are warm enclosures—they are Layered, Wrapped, and Contextualised, imbued with meaning. They are warm yet firm, allowing identity and belonging to take root within them.
Home - Country
LIVING BELONGING
For me, “Country” represents the Land, Soil, Sky, Nature, and Culture—all of which steadfastly envelop us. She embraces every individual on this land through earth, plants, leaves, scents, and warmth, layering and interweaving them into an intricate embrace. When these individuals come together, these elements intertwine, forming the warm nest that is home.
“My living belonging” exists in the moments that evoke my deepest sense of home—every night before bed, as my family gathers, sitting on the floor, leaning against the cushions by the fireplace, sharing warmth and the soothing aroma of tea. It is the feeling of being layered, wrapped, and interwoven within country and nature, bound tightly by a complex web of connections. Home is wrapped in the warmth and fragrance of tea, just as the country is enveloped by countless homes—like the eucalyptus leaves in my backyard, layered and interwoven. Country intertwines nature, culture, and spirit, connecting every individual within the home to the wider world.
In this work, tea leaves and 1,000 eucalyptus leaves are ground into fine powder and mixed into clay, forming a new material that is layered, woven, and overlapped to create a fragrant vessel. The vessel is then fired to harden, and natural hemp rope is woven around its upper edges, connecting it back to nature. It is further adorned with eucalyptus leaves, flowers, and tea leaves.
This is my interpretation of home and country—a vision embodied in a layered, interwoven vessel titled
“A Thousand Nights of Tea Breaks.”
--Alfred Xinghang Fu
