I had the honour of being the inaugural exhibitor at the Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art in Rotterdam when it opened its doors in 1990. The exhibition was a survey of my furniture sculptures, language paintings, and photo-text works. One of the latter works included was Melly Shum Hates Her Job (1989). Represented is a disheveled young woman sitting in her cramped office. Along with this photograph is text that echoes the title of the work. The vibrating “HATES” speaks of the frustration of Melly Shum even though the voice of the text is ambiguous. As a way to advertise my exhibition and the opening of the Witte de With, I was asked whether I would agree to remake one of my photo-text works in billboard form for display on an outside wall of the museum.  I agree on the condition that the billboard contains no mention of my name or any wording citing my exhibition.

At the end of the exhibition, the image of Melly was taken down and the Witte de With staff received several telephone calls and a number of written protest messages demanding Melly’s reinstatement. Asked by Witte de With curators and staff why it was important for Melly Shum to return to the corner at Witte de Withstraat and Boomgaardstraat, several callers reasoned that every city needs a monument to hating one’s job.  Melly has been permanently installed since 1990.  Since then, Melly Shum has become much more than a marker for the people of Rotterdam: she exists as a dynamic symbol of the relationship between the Witte de With and the world at large. The ways in which people have interacted with Melly Shum Hates Her Job continues to surprise me. Flickr and Facebook pages have been created in honour of Melly Shum and her persona has even been adopted by a Tweeter who regularly tweets about hating his own job. While I may have created Melly Shum Hates Her Job, the public has been activating the work far beyond my initial intentions.