installation

In the degree show, i will show a series of photographs and a series of sculptures. It is quite difficult to me  to install my works because i didn't have many experiences about exhibitions.

I decided that i would just mount them on MDF without framing them because all the objects are framed within the images by the plates/platforms already and it might be too much if i put another frame outside the prints. The reason i chose MDF was because i liked the thickness of it and it changed the prints into objects. In terms of display, i had an idea of using shelves to hang my prints. Initially i didn't get a firm concept about this decision. Through the time working in the exhibition space, i realised these two ideas actually can work with each other. The content of my pictures is about daily objects and i usually will put them on shelves in my flat. I hope the whole installation can give the viewers the domestic feeling. In addition, the wall i chose in C6 has (annoying) panels that people always complain about. However the distraction from panels now gives my prints something extra. It looks more homey and cozy in a way which is good for my prints.

Talking about how to place my sculptures, that was really a challenge to me. Although i exercised the display of my troop of owls in my first year project space, i still found it difficult to me. Especially they are all different objects with various shapes and scales. My plan was to display them directly on the ground because of the nature of trash. In the first try, i placed them nicely and neatly but they didn't look right to me. They look like they are in some well organised museum showroom which is not my expectation. Then I did the second try that just piling them up randomly and spontaneously. They definitely looked better in this way and can deliver a strange feeling toward the audience especially they looked like the real trash now after patina. The only concern was they would be too far away from the viewers and people wouldn't be able to know that they are actually made of bronze after talking to some colleagues but i still want them to be displayed like rubbish on the streets anyway.

Everything is in their position gradually and comes to an end. EXCITING!!!

four books

I am always interested in publication especially those lo-fi things like zines. I learned some basic book-binding skills in the first year from the workshop that was held by illustration department. I love the idea that you actually can make a book by some papers, one needle and one thread. I made tons of notebooks and some zines by found materials to give my friend as presents. The procedure is like a ritual to me and always can comfort me. Also, i like thread more than staple because you can sense the warmness and patience by seeing and touching it.  It is a therapy to my undoubtedly!

For the reason above, i always want to combine my photographs with this format of publication with not that high quality. Therefore i made four books and put them into the final submission.

LAST CHRISTMAS

This is a practice for my Christmas tree project. As i mentioned in my previous post, i did a project about abandoned Christmas trees after the holiday. I printed all my images whose size is similar to 120 film just wanted to see them on paper and got a rough idea about all images. In this one, my hand-made book serveed as a vehicle and i just put my photos inside. Because i kept adding thickness into the books and the book started to expand and explode which was my initial intention. This was just like those countless Christmas tree i encountered on the street. I felt overloaded and overwhelmed by those discarded trees and the expanded book seems can't take them either.

In addition, the colours i chose was inspired by those dying trees covered in dust or dirt sometimes and sat besides the bins always.

THOSE PIECES

Those pieces are what i found on the road in my daily life. Some are normal and some are strange. I used to take tons of snapshots but i didn't know why i stopped after i came to Edinburgh. I didn't feel that comfortable to take out the camera in public anymore. WEIRD!

However, i decided to pick up my old habit since last September and then i tried to take pictures constantly. The aim is to find something interesting in my mundane life. It turned out like a journey or trip to me. I feel so close and so away from those images at the same time. When present becomes past and memory forms in its own way. It seems like that i lose control of my life and photographs are the only thing i can grab. Memory isn't reliable and photographs aren't trustworthy either. Anyway, this zine is about life, coming and going.

HOMESICK

The book i made by the materials i found in John Lewis. The theme is about old photographs i got in the flea markets. I love to collect old pictures because they provide a way to experience others' life in different time when it is impossible for me to live. I love the ambiguity dwelled in photographs just like what i mentioned. Photographs do leave the trace and track of something but they will make you question something inside/outside the frames as well. To me, those pictures always can inspire me and generate question and curiosity.

I always want to make something by those old photos but i don't have any idea how to edit them. I scanned them and tried to arrange them in the software but somehow i reckon that will decrease the charm of them. They should be old, yellow and sometimes ripped and wrinkled. It will only be a unnecessary process if i scan them and print them out afterward. Therefore i decided to use them directly. The idea came to me few days before the deadline when i discovered those demonstrating sheets of furnitures from John Lewis. I always go to John Lewis to use toilet after my trash/treasure hunting in car boot sale. That was when i got those sheets as well. Suddenly i linked those domestic surroundings to family albums and photos. The contrast between old and new, fake and real appears when i put these two elements together. Honestly, i will do more editing later on. I think it needs some texts or drawing within pages but unfortunately i couldn't figured out before the deadline. 

GOOD TO HEAR FROM YOU

This is another creation about old pictures. I forget to mention about the major feature of old photographs, NOSTALGIA. In this book, i used envelops to be pages. Paper mail is another object that contains strong nostalgic feeling especially in this digital era. Ironically, people maybe only receive paper mails of bills and advertisements nowadays. Mail used to be a medium of connecting personal life and experiences with lots of emotion and affection. Just like photography, both of them face the impact of digitalisation and transform into new formats. I think putting them together will produce stronger feeling of the past and nostalgia. This is the birth of an envelop photo album.

p.s
I didn't get the chance to take pictures of them before deadline so i put some old books i made in the past to demonstrate instead.

a paragraph

A paragraph which i didn't know where it was from. I remember my friend told me this long time ago and i wrote it down in my notebook. I don't remember the exact sentences but i keep the idea in mind until i found my old notebook recently. I hold this idea all the time to attend every meeting for degree show...

'Compromising' doesn't mean that you are wrong and someone is right. It only means that you value your 'relationship' much more than your 'ego'.

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struggle and comfort

I never stop doubting myself and my works. It is not that easy for me to make sure if my works are good or bad. Are they proper photography works? Are they in the category of contemporary art? Are they boring? Are they attractive? Lots of questions and doubt never end.

Accidentally, I came across my notebook when i used in Taiwan two years ago the other day and i found out that i wrote down some words from Louise Bourgeois. 

'Tell your own story and you'll be interesting.'

Suddenly i felt much better about myself and my works. Although some people say their works are not about their personal life and they are mainly art works. However, in terms of my works, i would say they are all from my personal life and daily experiences. Those pictures and objects i made are symbols of me being a person on earth. Just like the sentence from Bourgeois, i tell my stories by my photographs and other works and i guess i will be interesting anyway.

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before rubbish transformation

Recently, my major task is focusing on retouching my images by photoshop. There is always some unexpected dust on the film and the whole process seems never end. Seriously, that 4x5 films are really that big to contain uncountable dust!!!

At the same time, i still need to finish my trash sculptures before the assessment. After spending a lot of time polishing and filing, john tells me they are all ready to do the patina. Through considering for a period of time, instead of using one colour to link all my pieces,  i decide to apply their real colours to each objects such as old yellow banana peel and white grey styrofoam chips box. These pictures are their final stage of being obvious bronzes objects so i take some photos to memorize it. I hope all the process goes well and have some good looking trash in the end!

a garden

I did my Talbot Rice foyer last weekend and get the result afterward. I used three cameras(DSLR, normal 35mm film camera and pinhole camera) to take my pictures. After i got all the images, i was still fond of the outcome of images by films. Here are some frames from my Canon AE-1.

I decided to use the picture i took by pinhole camera for foyer exhibition. I thought it fit my concept more because the characteristics of pinhole camera make a soft and dreamy garden. In addition, the panorama can contain the whole garden i make. Hope it will look good in the foyer in Talbot Rice.

p.s

I update my blog after deadline because I really don't have time to put things up before it. The posts before this one were written before deadline and ready to be assessed. I just want to make my blog more complete for my projects and put things up when i have time now and you don't have to assess these new posts.

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