Trụ Cột (2025)

Breadwinners is a work consisting of seven pumice stone columns. At the base of the seven columns, small pumice stones are spread. One of the columns has a round hole in its body, from which Ursula K. Le Guin’s poem Marrow will be played in both English and Vietnamese.

There was a word inside a stone.

I tried to pry it clear,

mallet and chisel, pick and gad,

until the stone was dropping blood,

but still I could not hear

the word the stone had said.

I threw it down beside the road

among a thousand stones

and as I turned away it cried

the word aloud within my ear

and the marrow of my bones

heard, and replied.

Pumice is a volcanic rock that consists of highly vesicular rough textural rock glass. It is created when gas-saturated liquid magma erupts and cools so rapidly that the resulting foam solidifies into a glass full of gas bubbles. The glassy material that forms it can be in threads, fibers, or thin partitions between the hollows. Pumice is mainly composed of glass. Pumice has a low density due to its numerous air-filled pores. For this reason, it can easily float in water. (Geology Science 2023)

Like pumice, which is a rock but is actually glass. In his book Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do About It, Richard Reeves, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, explores some of the key challenges facing boys and men, including the “friendship recession.” The friendship recession is particularly affecting men, with the percentage of men reporting that they have no close friends increasing fivefold since the 1990s. This social isolation can lead to a variety of mental health problems and negatively impact their overall well-being. Additionally, Reeves notes that suicide rates are significantly higher among men than women, reflecting a serious but under-recognized mental health crisis. Reeves also notes that men are less likely to seek psychological support, due to social norms that encourage resilience and self-reliance, which leave them feeling “useless” and “worthless” in the face of hardship. Additionally, social expectations and gender norms play a significant role in shaping the choices men and women make in their careers and personal lives. (Reeves 2023)