About

Artist Gwen Boyle’s sculpture, Abacus (Suan Phan), is a large-scale counting board suspended between cement pillars and crowned by a sweeping red top reminiscent of temples and palaces. The abacus, a tool for calculating values, was historically used by European, Asian and African merchants since the 8th century BCE and was commonly found in Chinatown shops during the late 19th and early 20th century. A red frame outlines the traditional Chinese abacus with rows of moveable jade beads, two on the top and five on the bottom.