Oversize replica of a Beijing opera drum.

"The Opera of Silence addresses "the oppressive benevolence of the United States," represented by the circle of light in the center of the drum where it meets the skull of the staff. Normally the staff would be used to beat the drum; here it is the drum's only support. The bone refers to a Tibetan rite wherein a similar flute, fashioned from a human thigh bone, would be played to call forth a spirit. The white reflective surface on the opposite side of the drum signifies treachery in the Chinese opera." --Exhibition brochure, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, 1989.