House of Dreams
This project aims to present a two-set assembled installation, in the hope of painting a scene of how we, as adults, would visit the idea of childhood and adolescence. As we have grown out of the time of being naturally naïve, the glassy innocent phrase seems too far to reach. But there are always moments of longing and mourning for it, which takes up our days and nights. Realizing and accepting that it’s impossible to return to what has been both alienated and deprived, emotionally and physically, it’s like making a phone call that no one ever picks up. The sense of deprivation is a hidden driven force for living through the so-called adult life. We’re distancing ourselves from the very identity of a ‘child’. Behaving and functioning like one grown-up, the spirit of younger ones slumbers and fades after every passing second.
Being an adult. Suddenly, a cursed magic descended upon and we gained power of acting larger when encountering children, from time to time, this can be such a dangerous thing. The fragile power dynamic between children and adults creates tension, destructs our authorship of sentimental parts at the same time. I want to develop this project as my own antidote of the idea regarding ‘evil adults’. Resisting the damaging social norms, youthful state of mind can bring so much fruitful personal reflection during adulting years. My dream is not necessarily never grow old, but to have the justification of carrying the essence of being a child, a dreaming about everything one, a seeing the world as just as how it is one.
This project had been developed from one tent-looking setup to two. The shape of tent represents a sense of safety and enclosure, such appearance solidifies a creation of partly opened space within a bigger exhibiting space, which sometimes can be draining to the eyes as the examination of a piece of artwork requires an offered rhythm of looking at things – closely and from a distance. Thus, a more loosened presentation of the tent-looking part is quite important, it can deliver one other type of space, a rather relaxed one.
The Spirit of Youth and the City Street, Jane Addams
Attachment & Dynamic Practice, Jerrold R. Brandell and Shoshana Ringel
A study regards youth and children, how they conduct and perform activities. Both of these books are from adults’ point of view, one paints a more literal and romanticized picture of troubled youth, the other examines the young people’s mental and family related issues through a professional measure.
Deprivation and Freedom,
Richard J. Hull
(see in Critical Analysis)
Rebel Without a Cause, 1955
(see in Critical Analysis)
Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices, Stuart Hall
Social Psychology of the Self-Concept, Morris Rosenberg
Social Psychology Handbook of Basic Principles, Arie W. Kruglanski and E. Tory Higgins
A list of reading concerns self concept and acknowledgment of identity, both commonly and privately. During teenage years, the development of the perception of oneself is the fundamental part of molding the mind into its matured form. From a distanced view, adults around them played important role in terms of either helping or threatening the condition of such development.
The mostly closed tent:
hanging shape in the center, blue blanket on the floor, a black fence with tinsel decoration surrounded,
cube made from metal with hanging curtain, square patches sewed together with rubber-made numbers inside, thin layer of plaster lashed on
Tent made with layers:
semi transparent organza, clean film wrap with confetti, safey pins
Relaxed shaped tent:
thin wooden stick standing, lines of colorful paper string attached on top and dropped on the floor, a black star is on top of the stick, white stones secured ends of strings (see reference picture below)
Hannah Black, New Dawn, 2017
Hannah Black and Precious Okoyomon, I NEED HELP, 2018
*toys, metal structure
*power dynamic, contrast between different textures
*political discussion presented by child-looking objects, a play with irony
Roni Horn, Library of Water, 2007
Roni Horn, 2017
*a study of actual weight and the look of lightness
*transparency in the space, working with natural lighting
*faded colors, the nature of materials
Yuri Pattison, user, space, 2016
*a variety of material, cleanliness, ambiance
*a building up of scenario
*absence of human figures, presentation of objecthood
Helio Oiticica, Eden, 1969
Helio Oiticica, Nests, 1970
*creation of spaces within a bigger space, interactive construction
*a sense of playfulness, community
*shapes, arranging and assembling
Maggie Lee, Gigi*s Underground, 2016
Maggie Lee, Balloons, 2017
Feliciano Centurión, craft and woven works, 1990s
*hand-made, objecthood
*DIY, fabric, miniture
*child-looking, cartoon, pop culture