Paper Project

As an artist my primary concerns are people and how environment affects their behavior without conscious.  A recent example of this - is the work that I am currently developing on my MA course. Different from local people, as a visitor from Asia, however, I suffer from culture difference / shock. England is a multi-culture country, London and Manchester it contributes the biggest population of Chinese people. Both city has strong oriental background, even though I still do not feel comfortable during the time in Manchester.


"Culture shock is precipitated by the anxiety that results from losing all our familiar signs and symbols of social intercourse. These signs or cues include the thousand and one ways in which we orient ourselves to the situations of daily life: when to shake hands and what to say when we meet people, when and how to give tips, how to give orders to servants, how to make purchases, when to accept and when to refuse invitations, when to take statements seriously and when not. Now these cues which may be words, gestures, facial expressions, customs, or norms are acquired by all of us in the course of growing up and are as much a part of our culture as the language we speak or the beliefs we accept. All of us depend for our peace of mind and our efficiency on hundreds of these cues, most of which we do not carry on the level of conscious awareness. Now when an individual enters a strange culture, all or most of these familiar cues are removed. He or she is like a fish out of water. No matter how broad-minded or full of good will you may be, a series of props have been knocked from under you, followed by a feeling of frustration and anxiety." Culture Shock , Kalervo Oberg


I have been taking diaries about my experiences and memories in Manchester everyday to record a foreigner's life in the UK. What is the difference between western and eastern society? What features will catch my attention? What is unbelievable for a foreigner? I try to record what happened around me everyday then transfer the feelings to images. This project I got inspired from ipod. Ipod is a magical small white accessory, nowadays a lot of people using ipod everywhere anytime. However I feel people using ipod to divide their own private space inside the public space. Let music take their spirit away.