Perceptions:

Abstract

When I came to the United States to pursue a further education in fine arts, I came out of my old art practice and started to explore new concepts and media. The new practice has leaded my work into the field of installation and video. Throughout this three years MFA program, the Salvation Army thrift store by the side of the old studio has always been an incredibly interesting place to me. It is not a typical place for making art, but I found the potential of developing artworks by it, and decided to locate my thesis studio practice inside the store. At the very beginning of my thesis project, I wanted to take advantage of the store environment and create videos to represent paradox phenomena. Later on, when I was testing sample videos in the store, I talked to customers who consciously or subconsciously stopped in front of my works. I found that their reactions were so different than the academic world, and "how people perceive my artworks in a thrift store environment" became to the most interesting part so far. This phenomenon makes me think: "Are artworks considered to be art only if they are put in the galleries? Do average people really need or care about Art? Actually what is Art? Can we really define Art?" I failed to answer these questions. Instead, I decided to listen to people. From then on, I let my works became to containers. I used them to collect different perceptions from random people who are passing by my works in the store. Unexpectedly, the project became extremely rich and interesting after this transformation.