2019.8
Residency at Mas Els Igols, Torreles de Foix, Spain
Residency at Mas Els Igols, Torreles de Foix, Spain
I was an international student for six years. I travelled between China and the U.S. frequently, and I have come to realize that I don't identify with either culture. I don’t think I have found a place in this world that I want to call home yet. Sitting in the middle of the countryside, thinking about what I have experienced in the past two residencies and the past six years of studying abroad and living in other people's houses, I asked myself these questions:
-What does a home consist of?
-What makes me feel comfortable?
-What are some objects that represent home?
-What do I always do wherever I go?
-What do I always carry in my luggage when I travel to different places?
-Which places that I've been to so far do I feel like home?
I thought I should make a piece about my ideal home, so I wrote a text (see below), inspired by the song “Somewhere That’s Green” from the musical “Little Shop of Horrors”.
After singing the song (with the new text) and recording myself in the midst of vineyards, I thought I should actually build a physical model of this ideal home, using the objects that I mentioned in the text. The form of the house is inspired by my many visits to museums in Barcelona, including MUHBA, where I saw ruins of ancient Roman houses, and Gaudi’s Casa Mila and Casa Batlló.
-What does a home consist of?
-What makes me feel comfortable?
-What are some objects that represent home?
-What do I always do wherever I go?
-What do I always carry in my luggage when I travel to different places?
-Which places that I've been to so far do I feel like home?
I thought I should make a piece about my ideal home, so I wrote a text (see below), inspired by the song “Somewhere That’s Green” from the musical “Little Shop of Horrors”.
After singing the song (with the new text) and recording myself in the midst of vineyards, I thought I should actually build a physical model of this ideal home, using the objects that I mentioned in the text. The form of the house is inspired by my many visits to museums in Barcelona, including MUHBA, where I saw ruins of ancient Roman houses, and Gaudi’s Casa Mila and Casa Batlló.
Text:
A fried egg that’s not burnt
A bookshelf without worms
A path covered with cobblestones
Wake-up calls from the birds
A hammock and a sleeping bag for watching stars at night
If mosquitoes go rest
That’ll be best
Brown paper or cardstock
The printer does it all
A wardrobe that folds all my clothes
Shower drains that never clog
A microwave cooks every meal
The toilets massage my soul
Postcards from long-lost friends
Hang in a row
I wish to build a small dome
I can sing there; no one hears
And a studio that’s not smelly
Where I sit, and think, and talk to me
Maybe some random guy
Will enter this life someday
I’ll add a swinging piano
And we’ll fit it on a boat
A sewing kit to mend the holes
And a backpack for the road
Out of this world
No one will know
That’s where I’d go
A fried egg that’s not burnt
A bookshelf without worms
A path covered with cobblestones
Wake-up calls from the birds
A hammock and a sleeping bag for watching stars at night
If mosquitoes go rest
That’ll be best
Brown paper or cardstock
The printer does it all
A wardrobe that folds all my clothes
Shower drains that never clog
A microwave cooks every meal
The toilets massage my soul
Postcards from long-lost friends
Hang in a row
I wish to build a small dome
I can sing there; no one hears
And a studio that’s not smelly
Where I sit, and think, and talk to me
Maybe some random guy
Will enter this life someday
I’ll add a swinging piano
And we’ll fit it on a boat
A sewing kit to mend the holes
And a backpack for the road
Out of this world
No one will know
That’s where I’d go