The Great Wall Snaking through the Mountains, from the series "Sacrifice" One from a set of twenty-four album leaves; ink on paper; with signature in clerical script (lishu) reading "Li Junyi 05"

Curator: The somber hues and gridded effect give "The Great Wall Snaking through the Mountains," by Lee Chun-Yi, a distinctly unsettling mood. Editor: Indeed, it’s from his series "Sacrifice," and it makes one consider the human cost behind monumental constructions, doesn't it? The material is simple, maybe ink on paper, yet it speaks volumes. Curator: Absolutely. The grid almost transforms the landscape into a commodity, each square representing labor, resources, perhaps even lives. It prompts questions about the wall's construction and its impact. Editor: And how it functions today, within the global tourism market. Its very image—mediated and reproduced—perpetuates its symbolic power, divorced from its historical context. Curator: Precisely. Seeing it framed like this makes you question the very act of viewing—what are we sacrificing when we consume these images of cultural icons? Editor: I agree. I leave feeling that Lee has deftly re-framed what we consider of value in cultural heritage.