ABOUT ME
Coming from a highly collectivistic country, I unconsciously classified myself as a member of my family, neighbourhood, and larger community.
In the postmodern era, the world experienced by human beings is increasingly fragmented. We shuttle through different cultural contexts and are destined to ‘flow’, to be decentralized and fragmented. Moreover, the individual self is divided, fluid, changeable, and displaced.
How can individuals in post-society access stable affective connections, a deep sense of belonging, and a reliable, ideal life?
As an Asian, living in a Western world made me fantasize and yearn for voluntary communities.
Maybe —
Being part of a community is a practical approach to taking off the label of being a misfit.
Being part of an international community is ‘evidence’ to pretend that I can fit the Western culture well.
Being part of a Chinese community can help me find a sense of belonging and cure my homesickness.
But —
How can someone be part of a community?
What makes a community?
What is it for?
I am constantly addressing social contracts and interpersonal relationships.
I made a naive assumption in a shared house and failed.
The failure of kitchen project proved that building a real community is not easy.
Now I am focusing on interactions and conversations between close feminine friends and in a micro-community to find the answer,
through participatory filmmaking, autobiographic writing/poetry, and communal meals.
I am negotiating the location of shared as well as divergent identities, cultural practices and rituals within the 'global' University.
Because —
To answer the question of who I am is to explore what community I am in and what community I am excluded from.
I am always on the way to exploring who I am.