Siyuan Lin
Gift - Courage & Strength
Class of: 2024
Major: Product Design BFA
Medium: Photographs with edits through Adobe Photoshop
Faculty: Gyun Hur
Prompt: I was assigned to create a gift of ritualistic gestures to my partner for the Bridge 2 project. An interview was conducted between us to allow me to have more understandings about my partner, her preferences, her personalities, just more in depth about herself as an individual. This gift will serve as a source of ritual, an encouragement, and an affirmation to support my partner in her future. To celebrate her as an individual and how she had come so far.
The interview between my partner and I went out smoothly, I was able to decide on what kind of gestures should I produce according to her answers. The most important information that I obtained from her answer is that she is also participating the offsite semester at Shenzhen just like I am. Since then, I wanted this gift to be an encouragement to her for her new experiences in Shenzhen. From the interview, I found out that my partner is a very polite, gentle person. We had many things in common, for example liking the season winter and likes to lay in bed. During class times she seemed like a very shy person as I did not hear much of her voice in classes. However, during the interview, she was able to deliver a list of information about herself. I took out some specific questions which I found interesting in her answers and could be elaborated into different gestures to encourage her.
The four topic I chose to focus on from the interview were: “Darkness & Fear,” “Introvert vs Extrovert,” “Shenzhen,” “Do Not Disturb.” Since we are both participating in the Shenzhen Global Offsite Program, I was able to use the sight of Shenzhen University to my advantage when taking my pictures.
After finishing this project, I came to an understanding of how a simple gesture could carry so much meaning behind it. The fact that how these little to big movements could be so impactful to one another. This project offered a great opportunity for me to know more about my classmate and also for me to express my creativity through a medium that I have never considered of having connection within my past life.
