Photo Project during January 2012

I went back China in January, 2012, took some photos of my neighborhood and interviewed some of the people. I live in the City of Foshan, located in the very south of China, 80 miles north of Hong Kong.

Rong, Owner and photographer of Jin-Hai Digital Photo Studio

Rong is originally from the City of Qingyuan, one of the most diverse urban cities in Guangdong Province, located around 43 miles north of Foshan. He came to the Pearl River Delta around 17 to 19 years ago and, according to his words, “happened” to work for a photo studio on the Bitangdongyi Street. Later on when his boss decided to sell the studio, Rong took the opportunity and bought the studio, becoming his own boss and owner of the photo studio.

Rong’s studio has experienced dramatic changes as photograph technology progressed. He still remembers the days and nights he spent in the darkroom, when people were still using roles of film to take pictures. As division of labor developed, they began to take the films to nearby company that was specialized in processing. Then finally when everyone started using digital camera, Rong bought two computers and some other equipment to catch up with the technology. As a result, the darkroom in the back officially retired and was changed into a kitchen for Rong and his wife.

Along with the technical development, society changed and people’s tastes changed. Ten years ago, people came to Rong’s photo studio before the Spring Festival or birthday to take posed photos with New Year Posters or other extravagantly decorated pictures as backgrounds, holding a guitar in hand or sitting straight up on an antique chair. Nowadays, people came to Rong’s with a disc that has digital information of the photos they took by themselves. Sometimes people came here to take photos for various IDs.

He Guotian, owner of the Pin Qin Recreation and Sports Bookstore

Mr. He was originally a teacher who taught almost everything in the 70s, as he called himself "万金油" (wan-jin-you, “one size fits all”). In the 80s he came to Foshan University to teach Electro-Mechanical and English to the undergraduate. Around 1985, he became the manager of a little shop in the Foshan University in his part time, selling snacks. Following the trend of privatization after Deng Xiaoping’s policy, Mr. He then privatize the shop and moved it to the street right outside of the university, becoming his own boss. In 1996, Mr. He redecorated his shop and changed it into a bookstore.

Mr. He plays violin in his part time and the name of the bookstore Pin Qin, literally “taste violin,” was named by a professor from the university, a good friend of He and frequent customer of the bookstore. Nowadays Mr. He no longer sells textbook, but mainly magazines, newspaper, and books that help students to prepare for CET (China’s mandatory College English Test), Test for Master’s Program, and Entrance Examination for Civil Service.

When Mr. He knew that I wanted to take pictures of him, he took out his calligraphy and hang them up as the "background."

Mr. He playing violin in the limited space of his bookstore Pin Qin -- "Taste Violin."

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January photography project

I am thinking about starting a photography project during my January break back at home (China, Foshan), inspired by the “World Document” exhibition at Mount Holyoke College Art Museum.

Through camera lenses, photographers in that exhibition showed us images of common people in their daily lives. They eat, sleep, talk, walk, … all kinds of activities. But once recorded by camera, these human activities became interesting, seemingly not so trivial because of the moments of the past were frozen forever.

Of course, sometimes good photographs depend on the chosen perspectives, “skilful” eyes, aesthetic compositions, equipment, etc. But sometimes it’s about the subject itself.

I think about all those people living on the same street where I lived for my first 18 years. All kinds of people and business of a variety of “social hierarchy”: tailors, supermarket, restaurant, snack sellers, bookstores, open-air market, farmers (who come to sell their vegetables), people who fix bicycles, barber’s, a branch of local government tax collect department, etc. The street is also right beside a local university, and therefore, becomes the place for those university students to hang out. People are of different background, some locals, some far away from “inner area of China.”

I spent 18 years living on that street, but never got a chance, or, to put it straight, never gave these people a thought – and never realized how “interesting” their life stories may be. But after seeing the exhibition, I realized what a “rich pot of raw materials” I have in hand.

My main idea for the project is to first talk to various people – walk to strangers, talk to people who my parents know better, talk to people who I personally know (a little bit) – and then try to get them to talk about their life stories, and finally get their permission to take a photo of them – a portrait (within their working/living environment). It’s a very general idea, but I will figure out the details once I get back to China and talk to a few people.

I don’t have much time during this January break – have lots of stuff to do already: eat, talk, sleep, and eat, talk, sleep, etc. But I will try my best to start up and finish part of the project. I haven’t thought about the “outcome,” but I will definitely post some of them on the blog (if I get the permission from my “subjects”).

Good luck everyone. Merry Christmas & Happy New Year! (Chinese New Year too!)

Oh, Art History again.

I've declared my art history major for more than 2 years, and I am still thinking about the question: "what's the point of art history (as an academic discipline)?"

If we focus on the "history" part, I can figure out the answer because I personally think that art is a great resource for us to think about history and society: how people thought, behaved, and responded to their time and social changes.

I am now taking this art history seminar about American Gilded Age. Unlike some of my other art history classes, the reading assignments of this seminar are works reflecting the society at that time (instead of art theories): novels by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Jack London, Stephen Crane, Horatio Alger, Jr., Jacob Riis' How the Other Half Lives, etc. Different social phenomena that are of particular significance are discussed, such as Masculinity, Nervousness, New Women, Child Labor, etc. Last Wednesday we even had a little "mock trial of Thomas Eakins" in which students got to know the characters and the backgrounds that "caused" thoughts and opinions of the characters. In such way, art history becomes part of "sociology" or "history" discipline where art doesn't really speak for its aesthetic and decorative value, but for its social and historical value.

I love that.

However, some of my other art history classes are mostly about movements within the "art world." They are more into "art and its trend," focusing on "the history of art"—which is the most traditional explanation of the discipline. Of course there are great portion about the society, but the emphasis is on art itself.

Art cannot stand alone. It could be decorative and beautiful, and truly everyone loves "good-looking things" and art can absolutely be the representative of visual pleasure. However, art can be more than that. It can bring inspirations through its various media, subject matters, etc. Art is not limited and therefore, can stimulate people's minds to think more creatively and deeply. Art can draw people's attention to certain social phenomena and art itself is also a kind of social phenomena, leaving people an enormous space to reflect.

Art, at first is part of the history and society—an "artifact", and then is "art".



PS. I love this sofa!!!

A 1934 version of "Education Plan" for a primary school in China

Recently I ran into an “Education Plan” for Xin’ai Primary School 6th Grade in Huai An (a city in Jiangsu Province of China), published in 1934. I was surprised and touched by the great ideas of those early Chinese educators. What I said “great ideas” were really just “small things” that reflected those educators’ focus on developing children in the most natural and humane way.

This primary school was founded by Wang Da, a student of the great Chinese educator Tao Xingzhi (189-1946). Tao had his own core for education: life is education, society is school, teach and learn combined.

The “Education Plan” was divided into four parts: Finance Support, Life, Environment, and Slogan (I don’t understand the last part). The second part “Life” is very fascinating, focusing on “Healthy Body,” “Science,” “Interest in Art,” “Production Skills,” and “Spirit of Freedom, Equality, Help each other.” (I translated all these directly.)

Just list some of the “requirements” below:
- Do physical exercise once everyday
- Clean (your) room once everyday
- Write a diary everyday
- Drink five big bowls of water and one big bowl of soya-bean milk everyday
- Have one motion everyday regularly (I’ve never tried to say this in English before O.O!)
- Read local and national newspaper everyday

Some other “requirements” based on year round includes:
- be able to recognize at least 10 kinds of most common plants and animals; observe the growth of one kinds and understand its relation to human
- be able to recognize at least 12 stars (that can be seen every night); understand some of the most important natural phenomena: wind, cloud, rain, fog, etc., and their relations to human
- be able to appreciate some famous songs and art as well as natural beauty
… …

In addition, there are some other very “practical” requirements. For example, learn to use at least 10 different kinds of most common medicine; be able to swim …
Some of these requirements may be regarded as very “traditional” since science had developed a lot. However, the education plan was very detailed and focused on children’s natural growth as 1) a human being within the natural environment and 2) a human being who will further develop intelligence.

I feel that the composer of this education plan really regards those children who will follow the plan as his/her children. The love and warmth in this plan are very touching and persuasive.

For those who want to know more about this “education plan,” here is the original Chinese title of it: 1934年度《淮安新安小学第六年计划大纲》

More information could be found on this Chinese blog: http://bulaoge.net/topic.blg?dmn=weixi&tid=2252117

One of the books that mentioned this education plan is 追寻失落的中国教育传统 (Looking for the lost Chinese traditional education) authored by 王丽 Wang Li.

Ouyang Xingkai's Photographs

Recently our art museum included five photographs of Ouyang Xingkai into her new acquisition. Four of them are now on view in a special exhibition “World Documents” at Mount Holyoke College Art Museum (Check Out Here). The five photographs are part of Ouyang’s “Hongjiang” theme—a series of documentary photographs he took in the last seven years.

Ouyang Xingkai was born in the city of Xiangtan, Hunan Province in China. In October 2003, Ouyang visited Hongjiang, where he made friends with Shen Xianghua, an elder of the town who still kept his clear memories of everything happened in the past eighty years—both glory and decline of Hongjiang. During Ouyang’s visit, Shen showed him around and told him stories and legends of the town. All these reminded Ouyang of his own childhood experience and he began to take photos of the town and its people in the following years.

Hongjiang sits at the junction of the Yuanshui and Wushui Rivers in western Hunan Province. Because of its significant location, Hongjiang was a major distribution center that connected Hunan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, and Hubei provinces. During Ming and Qing dynasty, Hongjiang became an important commercial town in southwestern China and reached its heyday at the beginning of the Republic of China. With its booming prosperity the town was well known as “little Nanjing”. However, water transportation started to decline as the road and railway transportation developed and expanded throughout the country. Hongjiang, as a result, gradually lost its significance and was forgotten by people. For more than a half century, numerous merchant families left their home and Hongjiang was preserved well as if time stopped here.

Ouyang first got interested in the special architecture Yin Zi Wu 窨子屋, or cellar houses. In the past, Yin Zi Wu used to be mansions of the rich merchants. These cellar houses have very tall exterior walls built with grey bricks for guarding against theft and fire safety. Attached with the walls is the interior wooden architecture structure. The roof inclined inwards and forms a rectangle atrium in the middle, letting in rains and sunshine. Lintels, window frames, columns are all carved with detailed patterns. From the architectural design we see the prosperous and luxurious living condition of the rich merchants in Hongjiang. But all these were gone.

Nowadays, Hongjiang became a quiet “undeveloped” town after it was deprived of its significance in transportation. Most of the residents now living in these Yin Zi Wu are elders who still keep their traditional simple life regardless of the dramatic industrial development outside of the town.

No. 166-4, Jianshe street, Tuokou town, Hongjiang. Peng Zaoxiu, 80 years old (left) and Li Guomei, 70 years old (right).

Zhu Guoshou, 91 years old, has been living in No. 17 Aozibao for 30 years. When Ouyang visited the museum, he especially talked about this photo and explained some items in the picture. The back rows of cabinets were made by the old man. During the Cultural Revolution, China made commercial exchanges with Romania and imported these Romanian style cabinets. Zhu couldn’t afford these popular furniture and he imitated the style to make his own cabinets. There is a poster on the left cabinet where two young women can be seen. One of them is Joan Chen (I don’t remember which one). Joan Chen was one of the Chinese actresses who first came to the U.S. and explore their Hollywood career. Then it’s the old television, on which, I think everyone can recognize, is the Titanic movie clip.

Ceng Chunchang, 76 years old, now lives in No. 10 Youlou alley with his 73 years old wife Xiang Lanxiang, a retired worker of Hongjiang Food Company.

Shen Jinqiu, born in 1921, now lives in No. 26, Xiangyangping, Hongjiang.
As this particular photograph shows us, Shen Jinqiu, a Chinese medical practitioner with over 70 years of working experience, is taking the pulse of a little girl. Under the girl’s wrist, a book serves as a pulse feeling cushion. On the shelves on the back wall are roles of jars that contain various herbs. Everything in this photograph reflects a typical traditional “taste” of the elders in Hongjiang—using colorful New Year pictures as wall decoration, hanging frames with photos of family members inserted, sticking newspapers on walls. The gentle light comes in through the window and gives the interior setting a quiet calm moment.

During his visit, Ouyang talked about how he got familiar with every family of the town, how he joined the families during Spring Festival (as significant as Christmas in western countries), how he witnessed the young daughter of a local family got married, etc. He took pictures for the local people and gave the pictures to them as presents. Ouyang also talked to every person (especially the elders) about their life and background. He was using his camera to record the old traditions, local cultures and life styles that are gradually lost as the elders pass away.

School Starts and I lOVE it.

School started long time ago. Now the fourth week begins and everything goes well except the weather—rained for weeks, my umbrella broken, favorite shoes got wet and failed to dry up in my basement single room.

I love my courses:
1. American Art History seminar “the Gilded Age”
2. “Strategies, Dark Secrets, and Dangers in the Writing of History”—a history class emphasis on critical thinking
3. “Individual and Organization” taught by a business school professor—interesting and inspiring exercises in class
4. “History of Performances” of the theatre department, focuses on various more conceptual forms of performances

AND, a GOLF class—love it! Don’t know why but I just feel very relaxed when hitting the ball. Last Thursday we learned “chip”. Golf is a great sport. Different from the boring jogging and other too exciting sports, Golf requires people to use brain, control your muscle, while stay relaxed.

Four full-credit courses and a PE is enough for me. I don’t feel like burying myself in piles of homework and papers. But I have very high requirement for the “inspirational level” of the classes—for in-class discussions, reading and writing assignments, and sometimes “field assignments.” I expect my classes to extend my “teleneuron”—getting intellectual and physical excitement that will open my mind and expose me new perspectives. I know that college may be the last opportunity to do this.

I am also continuing my internship at the college art museum. The past three months were filled with various events and curatorial projects: participated in a contemporary Chinese photographer’s visiting “interview session” and translated for the photographer and the art professors; wrote object summaries for some art works that will be viewed by different classes; research on Japanese art works (mostly prints and paintings) and Japanese artists names (those messy first name and last name order…)

This is my third college year and I am considering studying abroad next semester. Destination may be University of Edinburgh, not sure yet, but already get excited. Anyway, good luck everyone and enjoy the New England fall (…whatever fall around the world).

The busy summer almost gone!

August is almost gone, one more days left. It has been a very busy month for me—commuting between Boston and West Massachusetts every week. I have two internships: Monday at South Hadley MHC Art Museum, Tuesday to Friday at Boston MFA. Now one more week left and then school starts—can’t wait to see my friends, classmates and professors again!!!

MFA Boston is really a huge art museum with numerous tunnels and storage rooms underground—of course, since they have a huge collection. I’ve seen parts of the Chinese jade, ceramics and lacquer collection and I’ve already lost my way underground. My major job is researching on the Chinese highlight objects and some other cataloguing work. I love the job because I got familiar with MFA’s great Asian collections and got chance to go through their books and periodicals (the department library is filled with books of various languages: English, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, etc.). But the best part is the discount I get with my staff card (!) in their wonderful shop and café~! Hahaha…

Compare to MFA Boston, MHC Art Museum is a small art museum with a few staff members. Each person has individual work to do but also helps with everything else. Here I got to know almost every part of the art museum: the object file, the back storage room, the mat cutter, the secret storage cabinet hiding in the gallery, etc. And, there is this fabulous Ice Cream Thursday to gather us together and “taste” ice cream and go through the Mad Libs that makes everyone laughs.

When I look back at my experience during the summer, I realize how much I get from my internship experience and how much I grow. Now summer almost ends and school starts in a week, and I look forward to future opportunities and challenges~!