︎BIOGRAPHIES
OFF TRACK
A documentary on my personal train experience travelling across Europe for two months.
- Featured in The World’s Best Typography
- 2018, Group Exhibition, Cooper Union, NYC
- 2018, Group Exhibition, Sheridan College
• Background
The winter of 2015, I travelled alone in Europe for 2 months. Time spent on trains composed a major part of my memory of that experience. Each trip I sat within a moving cabin waiting for the next destination approaching. The space is a heterotopia grouping people taking an inevitable pause in between two sites, the “is” and “alt” in life.
• Design Details
The size follows the size of TRAVELER'S notebook, and the binding using multiple elastic strings indicating "tracks", creates the potential to add more book pages, just like our memories work.
• Content & Structure
The book overlays the trajectory of my life and the trains. OFF TRACK, meaning that I was on track, but off track in my life (foreign languages, off-campus, major-changing, away from friends and family, ...). I want to show the confusion, the feeling of being outsiders not only in where I traveled to but also where I belong, the "off" timing and space physically and metaphysically, and the energy I gain from the trip in this book. Therefore, I organize the things I want to include in these four major parts: Off Track, On Track (facts of the journey, pictures I took, ...), Lose Track (of time, space, limitation, ...), Keep Track (of things I wrote down, new words I like, words from people I encountered...). These parts are not listed in the book. They are instead meshed together and following the sequence of my journey.
︎“BIOGRAPHIES”
Mapping a Journey to Past Lives
A archive folder based on a fiction I wrote that
speculates on widly varying lives for one genetic identity.
- Featured in STA 100 Annual
• Fiction
I was asked to examine my daily routine, create a conceptual matrix analyzing my activities and experiences between two geographical points of everyday life, and enter words as coordinates and organize useful vocabulary into meaningful groupings.
I chose the path from my apartment to school. Since I'm living right next to my school, for me the path seems more of a three-dimensional space than a linear journey. My daily walk to school reminds me of an imperfect beauty with the unfinished graffitis on walls, discarded objects and fallen leaves on the ground, flying crows, the light of sun and shadows of buildings etc. Therefore I collect words that summarize this image: imperfect, impermanent, incomplete, indefinable and nature.
Use elements of the matrix as conceptual constraints to think about the story of a journey in a symbolic way. My fiction is about a woman involved in a life extension program and started looking through her past lives recorded in the archive. It stays true to historical and physical facts. The technology introduced changes from the ALCOR (frozen bodies) program to a possible clone technology in the future. I decided to choose the well-known actress, Marilyn Monroe, to expand the fiction.
I was asked to examine my daily routine, create a conceptual matrix analyzing my activities and experiences between two geographical points of everyday life, and enter words as coordinates and organize useful vocabulary into meaningful groupings.
I chose the path from my apartment to school. Since I'm living right next to my school, for me the path seems more of a three-dimensional space than a linear journey. My daily walk to school reminds me of an imperfect beauty with the unfinished graffitis on walls, discarded objects and fallen leaves on the ground, flying crows, the light of sun and shadows of buildings etc. Therefore I collect words that summarize this image: imperfect, impermanent, incomplete, indefinable and nature.
Use elements of the matrix as conceptual constraints to think about the story of a journey in a symbolic way. My fiction is about a woman involved in a life extension program and started looking through her past lives recorded in the archive. It stays true to historical and physical facts. The technology introduced changes from the ALCOR (frozen bodies) program to a possible clone technology in the future. I decided to choose the well-known actress, Marilyn Monroe, to expand the fiction.
• Artifacts
To illustrate the fiction in believable ways, I collected and created data, generated a variety of discrete but interrelated graphic artifacts, collect objects, create documents, fake proofs. I collected the Monroe's past photos，videos, and written pieces, as well as photos of actresses that looks like Monroe at different times as artifacts for the archive, also including a personal journal recording the process of her rebirth, and a membership application for the Alcor life extension program.
• Outcome
The archive is presented as a closed folder organized in a chronological way. The folder illustrats a journey to past lives. Starting from the first natural life of Marilyn Monroe, and an extended lifetime after awakening from the frozen body, followed by the clone child of herself. The archive created three different lives for Monroe and placed her at different times.
• Afterthought
The project speculates on widly varying lives for one genetic identity, and somehow offered me a private relief from the anxiety of being unique or important. It diffuses a sense of nihilism when we are deeply impacted by our time, which is randomly assigned.
To illustrate the fiction in believable ways, I collected and created data, generated a variety of discrete but interrelated graphic artifacts, collect objects, create documents, fake proofs. I collected the Monroe's past photos，videos, and written pieces, as well as photos of actresses that looks like Monroe at different times as artifacts for the archive, also including a personal journal recording the process of her rebirth, and a membership application for the Alcor life extension program.
• Outcome
The archive is presented as a closed folder organized in a chronological way. The folder illustrats a journey to past lives. Starting from the first natural life of Marilyn Monroe, and an extended lifetime after awakening from the frozen body, followed by the clone child of herself. The archive created three different lives for Monroe and placed her at different times.
• Afterthought
The project speculates on widly varying lives for one genetic identity, and somehow offered me a private relief from the anxiety of being unique or important. It diffuses a sense of nihilism when we are deeply impacted by our time, which is randomly assigned.
︎“ART & DESIGN”
⌘P
11 x 17 in, 17 x 11 in
laser printing
Exhibition focused on exploring the browser in digital and analog ways. “Command P” – the hotkey on a Macintosh keyboard to print the website was used repeatedly throughout exhibited works.
4 Posters in a series, 11x17in, laser printing
Signage
Vinyl
Posted on Instagram | Sound: keyboard “⌘”+“P”
• Design Details
The exhibition showcased works of 7 designers focusing on exploring the browser in both digital and analog ways. The vertical and horizontal overlapping placements indicate the intersection of the digital and analog ways.
We define the exhibition space as a 3D webspace. Using tags to state the attributes of each <wall>, <floor>, <window>.
The exhibition showcased works of 7 designers focusing on exploring the browser in both digital and analog ways. The vertical and horizontal overlapping placements indicate the intersection of the digital and analog ways.
We define the exhibition space as a 3D webspace. Using tags to state the attributes of each <wall>, <floor>, <window>.
︎“ARTS”
搞 (Rock the Boat)
Publication
2018
68 pages
newsprint
Inkjet Printing
5.5 x 8.5 in
Exhibition catalog for the first edition the exhibition series. It was held every three months at discarded sites in cities to discuss a range of topics such as gentrification and local community changes.
• Special thanks to Jody Huang, Chen Si-Yu, Sun Wei, Wang Yi-Shan, Chen Wei-Cai, Wen Hao, Ling Si-Han, Company Art Group.
"这是一个没人看守的，一次性的艺术现场。如果作品被损，场地被拆，展览就终止了。”
“This is an unguarded, one-off art scene. If the work is damaged, or the site is demolished, the exhibition is terminated."
• Background
I first heard about the exhibition a month before I started this project. I was attracted by the temporality of the exhibition, and how the works and the exhibition are changed naturally or deliberately by audience overtime. I saw photos where audience are adding their own words next to the work, taking some pieces apart, treated the work as trash or kept as souvenirs. Since this particular exhibition located in a demolished building surrounded by construction and life trash, it is a perfect test ground to observe how art differentiate from its strong-stated environment.
I couldn't find any more information on this exhibition other than its name and inviting artists. So I reached out to a friend of my friend who post the images about it, and luckily he knows the exhibition organizer Jody Huang. After a few rounds of discussions on WeChat with the Jody, where she said that they were deliberately avoiding any formal press release because they want to take time to form their voice. To respect that, we agreed on doing informal chats via WeChat with individual artists for the texts of this catalogue, and my chat with Jody was also included as a "preface".
Nevertheless, the theme/focus of the exhibition is explicit. In my own notes, it includes discussions about these demolished building's previous residents - people fought for a better life in a big city, their life and spiritual conditions, or observations of the architectural structure, sounding environment, etc. And my goal is to create a catalogue that respects, records and reflects the spirit of this exhibition.
I first heard about the exhibition a month before I started this project. I was attracted by the temporality of the exhibition, and how the works and the exhibition are changed naturally or deliberately by audience overtime. I saw photos where audience are adding their own words next to the work, taking some pieces apart, treated the work as trash or kept as souvenirs. Since this particular exhibition located in a demolished building surrounded by construction and life trash, it is a perfect test ground to observe how art differentiate from its strong-stated environment.
I couldn't find any more information on this exhibition other than its name and inviting artists. So I reached out to a friend of my friend who post the images about it, and luckily he knows the exhibition organizer Jody Huang. After a few rounds of discussions on WeChat with the Jody, where she said that they were deliberately avoiding any formal press release because they want to take time to form their voice. To respect that, we agreed on doing informal chats via WeChat with individual artists for the texts of this catalogue, and my chat with Jody was also included as a "preface".
Nevertheless, the theme/focus of the exhibition is explicit. In my own notes, it includes discussions about these demolished building's previous residents - people fought for a better life in a big city, their life and spiritual conditions, or observations of the architectural structure, sounding environment, etc. And my goal is to create a catalogue that respects, records and reflects the spirit of this exhibition.
• Design Details
The catalogue is saddle stitched and folded in the middle, creates 2 layers of reads: with the smaller spread, only images are shown; with our "interviews" stored behind the "spine" of the images, open the wider spread to read the "interview".
In the catalogue, the "interviews" are kept in raw online chat format to establish its casualness. I had a great time online chatting with these artists, we went deep into some of the micro-issues and the macro-environment of the city. Showing our dialogue in its original form also ease in the reader with my perspective.
Every work has its "label" hand written with chalk on the wall, next to the work. I asked my friend took photos of them, and processed it as the title of the work in this catalogue, in order to preserve and display the rusty feeling of this exhibition, and how it merges into its rusty environment.
Since I'm unable to return to the original exhibition sites, I took the photos of this catalogue on a very similar space - the construction space next to our school.
• Following Up
Luckily, I went back home the summer of 2018, and get to meet with most of them in person. I sat through their discussion on their next exhibition 搞 #2, and we went through the catalogue, and together we decided to print 100 copies for friends & families, and people who has invested in this exhibition as a gift of gratitude and future reference.
The catalogue is saddle stitched and folded in the middle, creates 2 layers of reads: with the smaller spread, only images are shown; with our "interviews" stored behind the "spine" of the images, open the wider spread to read the "interview".
In the catalogue, the "interviews" are kept in raw online chat format to establish its casualness. I had a great time online chatting with these artists, we went deep into some of the micro-issues and the macro-environment of the city. Showing our dialogue in its original form also ease in the reader with my perspective.
Every work has its "label" hand written with chalk on the wall, next to the work. I asked my friend took photos of them, and processed it as the title of the work in this catalogue, in order to preserve and display the rusty feeling of this exhibition, and how it merges into its rusty environment.
Since I'm unable to return to the original exhibition sites, I took the photos of this catalogue on a very similar space - the construction space next to our school.
• Following Up
Luckily, I went back home the summer of 2018, and get to meet with most of them in person. I sat through their discussion on their next exhibition 搞 #2, and we went through the catalogue, and together we decided to print 100 copies for friends & families, and people who has invested in this exhibition as a gift of gratitude and future reference.