UMass Boston

The University Hall Gallery is hosting ‘thousands of horizons, endlessly returning,’ a solo exhibition by artist crystal bi featuring photographs and video documenting her floating sculpture “perfect memory” and the community programming surrounding it.

Constructed from locally harvested bamboo and flowing fabric, perfect memory was an idea crystal bi had been exploring through smaller prototypes for several years. The work embraces the ocean and water as a place of memory, imagination, and connection across generations, inviting viewers into an act of remembrance and quiet reflection. 

Anchored just off the Harborwalk at Fox Point Pavilion on UMass Boston’s campus, the artwork was on view from August 11 through September 1, 2026, as part of the Boston Public Art Triennial’s Public Art Accelerator in collaboration with Arts on the Point. 

Following its outdoor presentation, the sculpture is now the centerpiece of crystal bi's solo exhibition, thousands of horizons, endlessly returning, which is on view at UMass Boston’s University Hall Gallery, curated by Gallery Director Sam Toabe.

The exhibition features photographs by Javier Rivas, UMass Boston’s university photographer and videographer, documenting the sculpture and the community’s engagement with the piece. It also includes a video work informed by bi’s visit to Taiwan’s Ghost Festival, where floating lanterns are used in rituals honoring ancestors.

For bi, the idea began with a personal connection to the ocean.

“I just felt like it was a nice offering and for me, it felt like a powerful offering and symbol of my relationship with the ocean and the ways that the ocean has supported me and held me,” she said of an early prototype of perfect memory. 

bi’s mother is from Taiwan, and her family’s cultural traditions have shaped how she understands the relationship between water and ancestors.

“I remember learning early on, as a type of warning, that spirits live in the water,” she said. “It felt natural to me to turn to the ocean as a site for honoring ancestors and spirits.”

The title, perfect memory, draws from Toni Morrison’s essay “The Site of Memory” and its reflection that “all water has a perfect memory.” bi connects Morrison’s ideas to the relationship between memory and imagination.

“The part of our brain that is activated when we imagine is the same part that is activated when we remember. As artists, when we are envisioning something, it’s also a type of practice in remembering. In Morrison's essay, she talks about how our visions are informed by a type of embodied remembering. This idea really resonates with my own process in creating this piece,” she said.

bi shared how the installation came to UMass Boston’s campus: 

“Sam was really supportive and they have their own strong connection to the ocean, so they really believed in the concept of the project. They are a huge reason why the project came to UMass Boston,” bi said, referring to Sam Toabe.

Toabe helped connect bi with the Fox Point harbor master while she researched whether a floating sculpture could remain safely anchored in the water for an extended period. The project required engineering work and collaboration with several partners before becoming a reality.

bi hopes the work encourages visitors to consider their own relationship to the ocean as a space for connection across time, even if only for a moment.

“The ocean has a quality, just like a crackling fire, where it brings us into a meditative state and allows us to dream, or to remember and go into our internal world, and feel connected to something larger,” bi said.

At UMass Boston, thousands of horizons, endlessly returning offers visitors an opportunity to encounter that invitation beyond the shoreline, considering what it means to remember the past while imagining what future generations might inherit.

Upcoming events:

UMass Boston will host several public programs in conjunction with the exhibition.

• Artist Talk with crystal bi: Friday, Oct. 30, from 1 to 2 p.m., as part of the Visiting Artist Lecture Series, in University Hall, Room 4380.
• Performance by Dzidzor Azaglo and Charles “Esuyah” Murrell: Tuesday, Nov. 17, from 6:30 to 8 p.m., at University Hall Gallery, Room 1220.
• Panel discussion with Lan Tuazon and crystal bi: Friday, Dec. 11, from 2:30 to 4 p.m., in University Hall, Room 2120. The discussion will be moderated by Gallery Director Sam Toabe and Associate Professor John Tyson. A reception will follow from 4 to 7 p.m. at University Hall Gallery, Room 1220.

thousands of horizons, endlessly returning is on view at University Hall Gallery through Dec. 12, 2026.