The sense of home is connected with little things, certain furniture, certain quirky decorations…I have established a deep connection to one place such that my body has gotten used to the way certain things are placed, how certain things feel. When I use a hotpot and a long-handled spoon, I immediately feel a nostalgia for home; when I use a sanitary pad printed with the label of a Chinese brand, I feel more comfortable and reassured. I always try to arrange the bed in my dormitory like the bed in my home: same number and size of soft cushions, same material in pillows and quilts…In an unsettled environment, I intentionally create a spot that evokes an intimate sense of home by mimicking a composition from my house through my belongings. Those little solitary objects then compose a home in another environment.
This book is a collection of all the belongings brought here from China, catalogued into what I decided to bring, and what my mom and dad packed in my bag or sent to me. Going through each object and the story behind it, you can get a sense of my life in China and how it remains connected to my new life here at school. With the fragments that have travelled with me from home, my life in 2 College Street continues…
LOGO
The logo for the project takes forms from Chinese character "物",which means "thing". The resonance in shape between the two language is accomplished by stretching the curved strokes in original Chinese characters and English letters. In the final version, all the edges in the logo are smoothed to emphasis the approachability and intimacy in my family.
ITEMS
BOOK
The form of the book is quite flexible. Taking form of a flag book, it can be read both as a normal book, page by page, and as a stretched poster. When the "flags" are closed and the book is read as an ordinary book, each page contains one item and provides the description of it as well as the story behind. When the reader stretches the book and pulls the flags out, only the images can be seen, and the book will serve as a catalogue.