The Fatigued Gavel

On July 10, 2022, four women in Tangshan were beaten to permanent disability after resisting sexual assault in a barbecue shop. The perpetrators received relatively lenient sentences, reportedly due to their personal connections with the Tangshan Public Security Bureau.

Earlier that year, in January 2022, a photograph of a woman chained inside a cottage in Xuzhou went viral online. Rumors claimed she had been kidnapped and forced to bear eight children, while official reports described her only as a “tramp cared for by the village.”

In this piece, I shaped bamboo into the form of a gavel, wrapping it in tree-rind paper to evoke the texture and color of decaying wood. The beaded white ant, an insect that feeds on wood, represents those who exploit political power and nepotism to erode justice from within. The bead-encrusted lumps across the surface suggest the rot and decay of the legal system.

The handbag’s handle is attached from the inside, so when one holds it, their forearm becomes part of the deteriorating gavel rather than grasping it. This design symbolizes how those delivering verdicts are often constrained, coerced, and corrupted—unable to act solely according to their own conscience.