As I started working on this series, I was thinking a lot about what education means and decided to conduct around 30 informal interviews during winter break (January to March 2020) , asking people I met on the airplane, in galleries, and friends of friends about their paths and what it means to receive an education. Some of the interviewees were Chinese alumni of liberal arts colleges and larger universities, or currently enrolled students; some were Americans and Chinese who graduated many years ago, while others decided to pursue another degree many years after their first graduation. I based my interviews around the differences and the similarities between Chinese and American education. There is more freedom of choice within American education and more restrictions on Chinese education. I experienced those restrictions growing up and am thus conscious of the fewer restrictions existing in the American context. Black and white. Freedom and restriction.  How does it shape our lives?

 

2020年，当时我大四，毕业之际就一直在寻思教育的意义。于是从一月份到三月份，我采访了30个来自不同行业以及不同教育背景的人。采访问题主要基于中美教育的对比，特别是在美国教育中的自由以及中国教育中的限制。作为一个小学有在国外生活经历，同时在内卷中心的北京海淀读了初中高中的我，希望以艺术的表现形式探索自由与限制。如黑色与白色勾勒出一幅素描一般，自由与限制，这两个概念是如何塑造我们的生活的？ 

 

Building on the idea of restrictions, I developed this series of work that consists of black and white photographs of vendors and customers at the meat market (Photo taken January 2020 Hainan) , accompanied by text pieces that respond to the images. The relationship between the image and text is in some ways more symbolic than literal, and in many ways, it is antagonistic and restrictive, which symbolizes the way cultural definitions impose societal restrictions on people’s behavior. The decision to work in black and white can also be symbolic, for without the black the white would not be well defined, just as without the text pieces the photographs are perceived in a different manner. Ultimately, through these dualistic relationships, I hope to illustrate that there is often an untold story behind what we see. A full understanding of something requires having a sense of both sides; things are often relative–something restrictive allows a greater appreciation for the not restrictive.

 

围绕限制这个主题，我将黑白摄影（主题为肉市场的影像）以及采访反思之后创作的文字结合，创造出了《肉市场》这个作品。文字和影像相互衬托的表现形式，象征意义，以及观点阐述如同文化定义给予人群行为的社会性限制。文字与图片的互相衬托，如同黑白颜色在生活作品中的互补性。若没有黑色，白色在图片中就并没有那么凸显。若没有观点输出，这些影像作品可以有不同的表现形式和理解。以双重关系为切入点《肉市场》想要讲述的是，人们在表面生活以及文字描述背后的故事，所有事情都是有相对性的，有时小范围的限制，给予社会的是大范围的自由。

 

Conceptually, the series is based on observations and personal experience, especially the products of a Chinese and American education. The market, to begin with, speaks of physiological needs, a place where people come to buy fill everyday needs and where the vendors make the income to sustain their living. The relationship is mutually beneficial and creates a sense of stability for the whole community. In the photographs, I try to capture how people communicate as I am interested in how much they are willing to reveal in certain environments. When people are made aware of restrictions, they become more conscious of specific words and how their action would consciously generate their own reality.

 

《肉市场》从最基本的生理需求出发探索限制这个主题。在肉市场中，商贩和消费者以交换的形式得到各自基本需求的满足，也是这样的关系为社会创造了稳固性。在拍摄这组作品之时，我刻意的想要捕捉商贩以及消费者分享信息的神情，当人们关注到了限制之时，他们在特定环境下的对话及行为，和他们创造的市场环境氛围。为了让自己满意自己的现实，了解更多社会信息以及限制之时，很多人都会选择控制他人对自我的表象认识。

 

When people experience dramatic restrictions in life, it is then that they think about what they really need. People become more grateful when they are made aware of receiving. There are a lot of grey areas in life, and ambiguity we must accept since we are all human. If you have seen black, you can be clearer in your definition of white. If you have seen white, you can be clearer about what constitutes black. Clarity about opposites, like colors, makes it easier to accept the grey. Therefore, the photography series ends on the note of love, it is inclusive and acceptance, it is grey, it is the action and the words, it is the negatives and the positives, and it is extremely ordinary.

 

当人们经历了巨大限制的时候，他们都会思考他们真的需要什么。这个时候，当人们得到很想要的东西，他们就会变得异常感激也会异常珍惜。当然这个世界上也有很多不是那么明显的灰色地带。黑色会让白色更显著，白色会让黑色显得更有边界。当我们更加理解也会更好定义黑色与白色的时候，我们这个时候就可以更加明显的接受灰色地带的混沌了。这个作品选择以爱结束，这样可以提倡我们去接受同时去爱。人们因为爱会愿意去接受，因为去接受所以才会更愿意去识别颜色，也会更加愿意明白文字以及行动中表达的真实意思。

 

Published in May 2020, and edited in March 2022 

发表于2020年五月，编辑于2022年三月