An installation of a 1996 gold proof half-sovereign as a switch-button, a light box, an engraving in aluminium, a pile of newspaper, an audio and motor system, 2014
Two parts of the installation are set 40m away from each other and the audience cannot see both at once.
On top of the light box is the engraving, No politics today!
quoted from a Mainland Chinese student who shouted this out when Taiwanese singer-songwriter Deserts Chang held up the Republic of China flag on stage during her live concert at the University of Manchester in November 2013.
The newspaper is falling after pressing the button.
(When music starts)
American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald last performed in Manchester in Free Trade Hall on April 8, 1964. Love for Sale was recorded with Oscar Peterson Trio.
The image of the light box is the Free Trade Hall, public venue in Manchester for civil activities, from political forums to music concerts until 1996 at an original site of struggles for democracy. It was later sold to a private developer and turned into a 5 Star-hotel with the original facade partly remaining.
The coin is minted in 1996 with St. George killing the dragon on this side and Queen Elizabeth II on the other.
The aluminium engraving is the front page of Hong Kong Standard on June 16, 1996.
The IRA bombing wounded 200 and killed nobody and was a strong hit at the commercial heart of the city during an economic depression. Afterwards the UK government provided strong support to Manchester for the economic recovery.
Ella Fitzgerald died on the same day.