Nan Ji Chang Project
Instead of asking questions directly, we draw free portraits of residents in exchange for their stories. A direct interview doesn’t easily open up a conversation, and bringing such a sign would make people notice us.
Nan Ji Chang Project
A free portrait for a local story.
Nan Ji Chang is a community in the city where I live. It used to be a military land, and there are a lot of houses. There are overcrowded living conditions, with a large number of senior citizens and children. The community is famous for having an active and enthusiastic chief of village who wants to improve the living conditions of the residents in the community, with measures such as shared meals for the elderly and food refrigerators.
This work was made together with Tz-Heng,Hsu . We think we may not be able to help Nan Ji Chang in a practical way, so we hope that we can let more people know about this place, and that there are many wonderful people and things in this place.
(Free Portrait)
I designed the mobile vendor with detachable joints, so that we can easily carry it to Nan Ji Chang by the leather belt.
We decided to create a treasure map for people who got the map could follow the hints to various spots in Nan Ji Chang, such as the famous Nan Ji Chang Night Market, the Chief’s office, the food bank, etc. We also place the artwork at that spot, linking us to the residents.
Instead of asking questions directly, we draw free portraits of residents in exchange for their stories. A direct interview doesn’t easily open up a conversation, and bringing such a sign would make people notice us.
It did make collecting stories much easier, talking to people of all ages and professions, from caregivers, night market vendors, foreign helpers, local seniors, children, etc. We collected many profoundly true stories, some warm and some even too heavy for us to bear.
We work together to develop the overall structure, such as all spots in Nan Ji Chang. I make the mobile vendor and record the process. Tz-Heng draws the portraits and vendor logo. Finally, we produce video and installation works respectively through the stories.
AUDIOTAPE
Nan Ji Chang Project
Walking to the restaurant gathering place, the owner of the small restaurant told the story of her past, and this installation also tells the four stages of her life. She used to work as an employee of a tape company, then quit her job, came to the Nan Ji Chang with her husband to open a store, had three daughters and now her daughters are all grown up.
The appearance of the installation is like a cassette tape. When viewer turn the central handle, the disc turns and starts to play the story. Each story appears at the top of tape each turn and then moves on to the next life stage.
The lady told us the story of her daughter and her past.
She used to be a quality control worker in a tape company. One day, her partner said to her, “Why don’t you open a restaurant with me？” And they stayed together at Nan Ji Chang.
I don’t know how it really was, but I thought it was romantic. The lady holding a portrait and her husband smiling from the back looked good.
