Yuetong Li | Master Application Portfolio

Yuetong Li Architecture Portfolio

Harvard GSD Master of Architecture Application Bachelor of Arts in History of Art University of Michigan - Ann Arbor Selected Works 2019-2022

PROLOGUE

CONTENTS

Academics Architecture is not an isolated entity but an integrated embodiment of culture, history, and aesthetic philosophy within a specific context. Professional skills should be involved in architectural designs, but those embodiments cannot be sacrificed to achieve flamboyant skills. Rather, architecture is designed to promote the good of humankind. It should demonstrate recognition and respect for its surrounding context, bring connection and care to different groups of people, and enhance the sense of belonging to everyone within this architecture.

01 The Future of Benin Art

A Crossing-Time-and-Space Museum: Royal-Head Exhibition

02 Complexity and Contradiction

An Installation Art that Displays Superimposition and Juxtapositions in Architecture

03 Twisting Story to be Told Over and Over A Cabinet of Curiosity or A Cage of Cruelty

Architecture creates a unique space to restore history, alternatively addressing political issues worldwide; architecture allows inclusive combinations of elements from various historical periods, breaking boundaries and reforging communal connections in an age of division; architecture challenges human’s inherent superiority, calling for a returning order through our resituation; architecture places ancient culture within contemporary urban contexts, promoting cultural heritage in different narratives.

04 Superehero Among and In Us

A Comprehensive Analysis to Comic and Real Life in New Gods: Yang Jian

Other works

Uneven Heating

A Recommendation for Seating in the Michigan Stadium

Race, Ethnicity, and Gender

An Asian Art Analysis From An Art-Historical Approach

Artwork in 2D and 3D Concentrations A Selection of Studio Artwork

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Benin Airport

Benin Museum

Police Station

Site Analysis | Satellite Imagery

THE FUTURE OF BENIN ART

A Crossing-Time-and-Space Museum: Royal-Head Exhibition Fall 2021 HISTART 406 Instructor: David T. Doris Site: Benin City, Nigeria Individual work "To consider a building only as a static object would be like gazing at a gull endlessly, high in the sky, without being able ever to capture how it moves."

Benin's museum is a fluid and dynamic architecture: the entire narrative is unabridged in the space of the entire architecture. Its narrative started in the fourteenth century when the Benin Empire was established, continued from the fifteenth to the nineteenth century when Edo people in Bwnin faced internal and external threats, and lost in the twentieth century due to European colonial conquest.

Bronze heads displayed in the exhibition are not only witness of Benin's long history but also carriers of Edo people’s identity, culture, and heritage. The workshop, at the end of the architecture's circulation, suggests the future of Benin art, even the future of African art, depends on Edo people in Benin. Every unstarted piece of bronze will be an artifact in the future. One day, the entire human race can finally appreciated these African treasures without stereotypes towards this continent.

Site Plan | Sketching Diagram

Parley

" I want to generate a regional and continental network to show how trade, art, and culture are interrelated as African countries communicated with their African partners and explorers from Europe and the New World."

Lidded Saltcellar, 15th-16th century. SapiPortugese artist, Sierra Leone. Ivory.

"Portugese exploreres were intrigued by ivory carvers along the west coast of Africa, so the saltcellar in this region combined both African and European aesthetic and forms."

Image retrieved from MetMuseum.

Pair of Busts: King (Oba) and Queen, 2006. Edo, Nigeria. Brass.

Weltmuseum Wien, Vienna.

Double Diptych Icon Pendant, early 18th century. Amhara or Tigrinya peoples, Ethiopia. Wood.

"Casting technique originated from trade between Benin and Ife Empire in presentday Nigeria in the medieval period."

"Ethiopian artists were inspired by European expressions of personal icons, cuniform designs, and Crhistian beliefs.

Image retrieved from Weltmuseum Wien.

Image retrieved from MetMuseum.

Portugal 38°46' N 9°9' W

Europe

Europe

Roman Egypt

Sierra Leone 8°29' N 13°14' W

Ife, Nigeria 7°27' N 4°33' E Benin, Nigeria 5°37' N 2°27' E

"The New World" (Portugese colonies in American continent)

Benin, Nigeria Niger Delta, Nigeria 4°52' N 5°53' E

Angola 12°20' S 18°30' E

Sudan 15°47' N 30°11' E

Ethiopia 9°08' N 40°29' E

Countries where selected artworks were produced Countries that participated in trade

Parts of the continent that participated in trade

Seated Chief Playing Thumb Piano, before 1869. Chokwe artists, Angola. Wood.

Plaque: Warrior and Attendants, 16th17th century. Edo artists, Nigeria. Brass.

Jug with painted decoration, 30 BCE-364 CE. Meroitic artists, Sudan. Pottery.

"Chokwe chiefs in savanna of present-day Angola and Democratic Republic of Congo were active trading partners with merchants from Europe and the New World."

"Edo people in Benin traded with Ife in Niger Delta in the east and the coastal lagoon of Lagos in the west, bringing metal and bronze-casting technique."

Ceremics with clay decorations are typical in Meroitic regions (present-day Sudan), where Meroe people trade with Roman Egyptians. Different artistic styles can be identified on the vessels, proving the thriving ceramic industries and active trade.

Image retrieved from MetMuseum.

Image retrieved from MetMuseum.

Image retrieved from MetMuseum.

Proposal Map of Southern Nigeria. Retrieved from Barbany Phillips, Loot: Britain and the Benin Bronze. London, United Kingdom: Oneworld Publications, 2021). 11

"I want to show how Benin's heads developed from the 15th to 21st century with investigations on fields like the head's iconographical analysis and Benin's social, political, and historical contexts."

Copper mask representing Ife Figure: Male Head, 15th-19th Bronze head, Nigeria, 15th H e a d o f a n O b a , 1 6 t h Head of an Oba, 1550–1680 H e a d o f a n O b a , 1 9 t h century A. D., h. 33.7 cm century. (Benin Kingdom). century A. D., h. 23.5 cm. king Obalufon II, 12th-15th century A.D., h. 24.1cm.

A. D., h. 27.3 cm. century A.D., h. 29.5cm.

Benin kingdom was founded by one of the princesses or sons from Ife in the mid-fifteenth century. Under this circumstance, Benin learned the brass casting technique from the Ife royalties. Therefore, we can start our exhibition based on the head's origin -- Ife.

The Male Head demonstrates how Ife mask and Benin head were both similar and different. As Edo people learnt casting techniques from Ife, Benin's head kept a similar carving angle as Ife head had. The difference in iconography represented royal succession from Ife to Benin Empire.

This bronze head is both traditional and innovative as it kept the head's overall proportion that originated from Ife and, meanwhile, started to develop Benin's unique facial expression that became more and more typical in the later centuries.

The eyes were enlarged to match the seemingly swollen face in a stylized way of bronze casting.

As Benin traded in the Niger Delta and the coastal lagoon of Lagos, merchants brought metals and casting techniques to Benin. Bronze head then became thicker as it served as a unique currency. This Head of Oba in the 16th century proves the point with increasing thickness and decorative elements.

Bronze heads in the late seventeenth century continued to increase the thickness of bronze and added more ornamental texture of textile onto it. Similar decorative patterns of coils are evenly distributed to the neck and back. It is also obvious to see an increase in the head's height comparing to heads in the previous periods of time.

The neck of this bronze head increased to nearly half of the overall height. We can notice a color change of this head -from previous metalic brown to novel yellowish brown -- resulted from a slight change in chemical composition of bronze during this time period.

Nigeria More flamboyant and repetitive decorations were around the jaw, as we are entering the 18th and 19th centuries. The heads — as represented by this particular Head of Oba — were evolved to columnar pieces, requiring more brass and casting technique to build them. It is worth noting that the head's facial features had also been changed: from calm beauty to exaggerated shocking expressions. Moreover, due to the political crisis in Benin royal families, bronze head gradually evolved to a visual aid for political agenda, explaining the increasing height stood for stable rulership of Benin Empire in the early nineteenth century.

Edo State

Benin Kingdom

Pair of Busts: King (Oba) and Queen, 2006. Edo, Nigeria.

Brass. Weltmuseum Wien, Vienna.

City Center

Benin City

Head of an Oba, 18-19th century A. D., h. 58.4 cm.

Pair of Busts: King (Oba) and Queen, 1980s. Edo, Nigeria.

Brass.

In the late 19th century, Dutch traders announced to the world about the local community of Benin. In 1897, British sent punitive expeditions to Benin for meeting with Oba. They sent out armies, destroyed the palace of Benin, and finally took all of bronze plaques and heads and sold them throughout the world. This action resulted in the cry for the return of these precious heads to Nigeria. It also posed a problematic question about the restitution to make the history right in recent years.

The Pair of Bust made in 2006 demonstrates the exquisite casting techniques that Edo artists preserved over centuries. Moreover, it reminds us of those ethical questions that are still waiting to be solved.

Pitch

Museum Investor

Provide financial support to museum

Merits 1. Construct the narrative not just saying about objects.

2. Explore how trade and colonial conquest shaped Benin's art and history.

3. Focus primarily on Benin's head over period of time.

4. Analyze nature of portraiture and iconography.

5. Contemplate the inevitable worldwide problem of looting in the colonial period and think of possible solutions that meets the needs of both countries.

Organizer

Construction

Gain from Investment

Future investment in Benin

Advertisement

Museum as brand image of Benin Raise museum's income

Operation

Problems 1. Different materials in making heads make it hard to categorize.

2. Hard to locate the exact time period of certain heads.

3. Thefts in Benin challenges the protection over bronze heads.

Trademark

Attract tourists Arrange exhibitions

Museum management

Benefits

Profit

Supervising King/Authority

Provide a resolution for the long-lasting looting problem Increase national income and GDP

Politics

Provide oppportunities to learn culture, history, and bronze casting Viability 1. Compare and contrast iconography, portraiture, and casting techniques of Benin's heads in response to trading activities, colonial conquest, and historical events.

2. Design an actual museum as the medium to display and protect these African treasures in Benin City, Nigeria.

3. Providing extra information like tour-guide maps, floor plans for further details.

4. Analyze and balance different roles in museum-building-and-operating process to ensure it is well-functioned.

Allow more academic research towards Benin's heads

Education

Supply Demand Citizens

Promote national confidence

Economy

Acquire knowledge about art and history Increasing opportunities and disposable income

Culture

Preserve bronze casting skills Contribute to Benin head's research Science

Presentation

Topic III: Restitution [20th-21st Centuries]

Information Board

Information boards explains Benin’s history during the colonial period and lists the gradually resolved issue of repatriation and restitution. (For instance, Germany made compromise in May 18, 2021, planning to return all of the Benin artifacts in 2022.)

Topic II: Progression [16th-19th Centuries]

Conceptual Plan: Outline the museum's plan, cut the 1/32-inch-thick basswood sheet, stick them together, and place them perpendicular to the plan to construct a 3D model.

Wall Experiment & Replacement: Tall and wide wall on the right would undermine lighting and aesthetics. Thus, it is better to replace the one-piece huge wall with two-piece smaller walls that embedded with window.

Showcase are arranged in chronological order to give the impression of how Benin heads gets taller, thicker, and heavier. Thus, they are also in different size to accomodate different heads. Information boards serves to explain the head's functions as political agenda and the material change of the head from lighter bronze to heavier brass due to Benin trade with Portuguese.

Topic I: Relation [12th-15th Centuries]

Weight Support: Add columns to the ground floor to balance the weight and support the entire structure.

Garage-Height Testing: Test the height with high and low versions to find a suitable one for the undeground garage.

Final Model Demonstration: Spatial details Benin Museum Construction | Model Photo | Scale: 9'' × 6'' × 4''

Visitors enter from the gate that faces the inner courtyard. Appreciating Ife and Benin heads in the early welfth century and reading the information board, visitors can learn more histories of how Ife and Benin interacted through watching films in the minicinema.

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COMPLEXITY AND CONTRADICTION

An Installation Art that Displays Superimposition and Juxtapositions in Architecture Summer 2022 Independent Research Individual work Contradictions and complexities in architecture cause "both-and" phenomenons that leads to double meanings. This phenomenon demonstrates the relation of parts to the whole at varying levels of program and structure. It is based on the hierarchy that yields several levels of meanings among elements with varying values. Varying levels lead to ambiguities and tensions. For a single piece of architecture, double meanings exist in contradicting shapes and patterns. At a city scale, architecture has double meanings regarding its role.

Contradictions and complexities in architecture bring double-functioning elements, especially the particulars to use and structure. Forms also evoke functions: structural fragments are inseparable from a greater functional and spatial whole.

Old and new meanings also get connected through double functions. Architects reestablish the old buildings with new uses in both programmatic and symbolic ways.

We can accommodate contradiction by using convention unconventionally as the anomalies and uncertainties give the architecture validities. In Renaissance, architects revived ancient Roman elements with new combinations. Similarly, we can also adapt and juxtapose contradictions to contain violent contrasts and uncompromising oppositions. In other words, the exception can become the rule to accomodate complexities.

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Time and Space | Categorization Chart

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Hagia Sophia

Monticello

Seagram Building

537 CE | Istanbul, Turkey

By Anthemius of Tralles & Isidore Byzantine & Ottoman Style Made of opus isodomum Christian basilica commissioned by Justinian

1772 CE | Near Charlotteville, VA

By Thomas Jefferson Neoclassicism Style Made of bricks & lime plaster Museum commissioned by Thomas Jefferson

1958 CE | Manhattan, NYC

By Ludwig Mies van der Rohe & Philip Johnson International Style Made of steel & concrete Office building commissioned by Aby Rosen

Philadelphia Acedemy of Fine Arts

Temple of Hercules Victor

Notre Dame Cathedral

Mid-2nd century BCE & later | Rome, Italy

By Hermodoros of Salamina Greek Style Made of Greek marble Round Roman temple commissioned by Marcus Octavius Herennius

1163-1345 CE | Paris, France

By Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc Gothic Style Made of limestones & iron Cathedral commissioned by King Louis VII

St. Peter's Basilica

Obelisk of Montecitorio

Column of Trajan

1506-1666 CE | Vatican City, Rome

By Donato Bramante, Michelangelo, Carlo Maderno, & Gian Lorenzo Bernini Renaissance & Baroque style Made of travertine stones Basilica commissioned by Pope Julius II

595-589 BCE | Rome, Italy

By Giovanni Antinori Late Egyptian Style Made of Aswan granite Roman Egyption obelisk commissioned by Psametik II brought from Egypt to Rome by Augustus in 10th century BCE

Villa Savoye

The Phoenix Hall

1931 CE | Poissy, France

By Le Corbusier Brutalism, Modern, & International Style Made of concrete & masonry Residential housing commissioned by Pierre & Emilie Savoye

1052 CE | Uji, Japan

By Fujiwara Yorimichi Japanese Buddhist Architectural Style Made of wood Temple commissioned by Fujiwara Michinaga

Pantheon

Tomb of Marcus Vergilius Eurysaces

1871-76 CE | Philadelphia, PA

By Frank Furness & George Hewitt Renaissance & Gothic Style Made of bricks & granite Art school & museum commissioned by Charles Wilson Peale

113-25 CE | Rome, Italy

By Apollodorus of Damascus & Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa Ancient Roman Architectural Style Made of bricks & concrete Roman temple commissioned by Roman Emperor Trajan & Hadrian

Triumphal Arch of the Star

1806-36 CE | Paris, France

By Jean Chalgrin, Louis-Étienne Héricart de Thury Neoclassicism Style Made of marble Triumphal arch commissioned by Napoleon

Unite d'Habitation

1947-52 CE | Marseille, France

By Le Corbusier Brutalism, Modern, & International Style Made of concrete Apartment building commissioned by French government

Lafayette Square

1851 CE | Washington, D.C.

By Pierre Charles L'Enfant Late Victorian & Federal Style Made of concrete & masonry Public square commissioned by US government

Richards Medical Research Labotaries

St George's, Bloomsbury

Grand Central Station

1730 CE | London, England

By Nicholas Hawksmoor Classical style Made of marble Parish church commissioned by parliament

1903-13 CE | Manhattan, NY

By Reed and Stem, Warren and Wetmore Beaux-Arts Style Made of steel Infrastructure commissioned by New York Central Railroad

Adams House

All Saints Church

1884 CE | Washington, D.C.

By Henry Hobson Richardson Richardsonian Romanesque Style Made of bricks Residential house commissioned by Henry Adams

1849-59 CE | London, England

By William Butterfield Gothic Revival Style Made of bricks Church commissioned by Alexander Beresford Hope & Henry Tritton

Villa Shodhan

Trenton Bath House

Palace of Assembly

113 CE | Rome, Italy

By Apollodorus of Damascus Ancient Roman Architectural Style Made of Luna Marble Freestanding column commissioned by Trajan

1951-6 CE | Ahmedabad, India

By Le Corbusier Modern style Made of concrete Villa commissioned by Surottam Hutheesing

1955-9 CE | Mercer County, NJ

By Louis Kahn Modern style Made of concrete Bath house commissioned by Jewish Community Center

Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Alvar Aalto Cultural Center

Middleton Park

1958-62 CE | Lower Saxony, Germany

By Alvar Aalto Modern Style Made of marble & granite Public architecture commissioned by the city of Wolfsburg

1935-8 CE | Oxfordshire, England

By Edwin Lutyens Lutyens Neoclassical style Made of stones Country house commissioned by William Villiers, 3rd Earl of Jersey

Blenheim Palace

The Karlskirche

Time Square

30 BCE | Rome, Italy

By Marcus Vergilius Eurysaces Ancient Roman Architectural Style Made of concrete & travertine stones Freedman funerary monument commissioned

by Marcus Vergilius Eurysaces

1705-22 CE | Oxfordshire, England

By Sir John Vanbrugh & Nicholas Hawksmoor English Baroque Style Made of oolitic limestones Palace commissioned by the Dukes of Marlborough

1716-37 CE | Vienna, Austria

By Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, Joseph Emanuel Fischer von Erlach Baroque & Rococo Style Made of bricks Roman Catholic Church commissioned by Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI

Jishōji Tōgudō Dōjinsai

Medici Chapel

Christ Church, Spitalfields

Ganz Hall

Laurentian Library

1485 CE | Kyoto, Japan Unknown architect "Study" style Made of woods Temple commissioned by Ashikaga Yoshimasa

1869 CE | Florence, Italy

By Michelangelo Renaissance Style Made of marble Chapel commissioned by the Medici as their family mausoleum

1729 CE | London, England

By Nicholas Hawksmoor English Baroque Style Made of marble Parish church commissioned by parliament

1889 CE | Chicago, IL

By Louis Sullivan & Dankmar Adler Art Nouveau Architectural style Made of granite & limestone Auditorium building commissioned by Ferdinand Peck and the Chicago Auditorium Association

1751 CE | Florence, Italy

By Michelangelo Renaissance style Made of marble Library commissioned by Medici pope Clement VII

Monastery of Hosios Loukas

Mill Owners' Association Building

Church of Saint Charles at the Four Fountains

Early 10th century | Boeotia, Greece

By Luke of Steilis Byzantine Style Made of opus mixtum Monastery commissioned by Hosios Loukas

1954 CE | Ahmedab​​ad, India

By Le Corbusier Modern & Brutalism Style Made of bricks & concrete Indian architecture commissioned by Mayor Chinubhai Chimanbhai

1638-46 CE | Rome, Italy

By Francesco Borromini Baroque style Made of marble Catholic church commissioned by Cardinal Francesco Barberini

Fallingwater

Grimsthorpe Castle

1936-9 CE | Mill Run, PA

By Frank Lloyd Wright Modern Style Made of concrete, stones, & steel Residential house commissioned by Liliane & Edgar J. Kaufmann

1715 CE | Lincolnshire, England

By Sir John Vanbrugh Baroque & Classical style Made of bricks Residential house commissioned by de Eresby family

Abbey Church of Saint Michael

1010-22 CE | Lower Saxony, Germany

By Luke of Steilis Romanesque & Gothic Style Made of opus mixtum Roman basilica commissioned by Michael the Archangel

335 CE | Jerusalem

By Zenobius Paleochristian, Romanesque, Baroque Style Made of stone Basilica commissioned by Constantine the Great

1965 CE | Philadelphia, PA

By Louis Kahn Modern Style Made of bricks & concrete Labotaries commissioned by University of Pennsylvania

Colosseum

70-80 CE | Rome, Italy Unknown architect Ancient Roman architecture Made of stones & concrete Amphitheater commissioned by Vespasian & Titus

1903-4 CE | Manhattan, NY

By Cyrus L.W. Eidlitz & Andrew C. McKenzie Art Deco style Made of steel Public architecture commissioned by The New York Times

1951-62 CE | Chandigarh, India

By Le Corbusier Modern style Made of concrete Assembly building commissioned by Prime Minister Jawaharla Nehru

R. W. Evans House

1908 CE | Chicago, IL

By Frank Lloyd Wright Organic Architectural style Made of bricks Residential house commissioned by R. W. Evans

Liverpool Cathedral

1904-78 CE | Liverpool, United Kingdom

By Sir Giles Gilbert Scott Gothic Revival style Made of granite & limestone Cathedral commissioned by Bishop Francis Chavasse

Research and Some Thoughts...

Robert Venturi's book Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture lists various architecture in different periods and styles to discuss the accommodation and juxtaposition of complexity and contradiction. For example, some architecture keeps its original function as developed in the ancient period, protected in isolated areas. In contrast, others mingled with their contemporary surrounding environment to function differently and fit their current needs nowadays.

Inspired by those ingenious architects and their beloved architecture, I organized the architecture in the chart above. The information includes the architecture's name, image, plan, date of construction, location, architects, style, material, and commissioner. Overall, the time range from the mid-2nd century BCE to the mid-20th century. The location varies from Europe to North America and Asia.

After the research, I realized that despite their differences, those architectural pieces are similar since all of them exist nowadays. Various construction dates and styles made them inevitably face issues of complexity and contradiction. Therefore, it can be innovative and inspiring to collect the typical ones together. By creating an installation art piece, we can further explore complexity and contradiction in architecture, especially their interaction with surroundings in the contemporary period.

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I | ANCIENT AND CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE Historical Preservation, Contextual Complexities, and Double Functions The first model illustrates a contextual overlapping between ancient and contemporary periods. As architecture in the past has been kept nowadays, it is inevitable for them to face the problem of contextual change and functional alternation. For example, Tomb of Marcus Vergilius Eurysaces used to function as a tomb for a freedman, hinting at the increasing rights for lower-status people in the ancient Roman Empire. Shifting to the current period, it is now an isolated tourist site that displays Ancient Roman culture since there is no freedman anymore. Similarly, Philadelphia Academy of the Fine Arts was an art school established by Willson Peale. However, it then changes its function as a museum in current contexts. In both cases, the architecture's appearance kept the same in the changing contexts, but their functions have been changed due to historical reservation and current reuse. It is the contextual complexity giving them new functions. In other words, their double functions are contradicted within each architecture from a spatial perspective, whereas they are accommodated from a historical perspective.

II | ARCHITECTURE FROM DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES Both-And Phenomenons, Appearance and Function, and Double Meanings The second model shows contradictions in the appearance of the architecture, but they are simultaneously juxtaposed and accommodated within themselves. For instance, viewing the Triumphal Arch of the Star from Place Charles de Gaulle, the arch is an architectural termination. However, if we change our perspective to Avenue des Champs-Élysées, the arch is both a spatial termination and a symbolic entrance. On the same token, the Karlskirche is contradictory as well. The outer appearance demonstrates both the section of the directional-type church and the body of the central-type church. In both cases, complexities within a single piece of architecture are distributed to different perspectives to accommodate them appropriately.

III | RECTANGULAR FORM AS RESTRICTION Whether to Follow or Escape from the Rule?

The third model demonstrates four different approaches regarding the restricted rectangular form. Maintaining less is more, Mies van der Rohe viewed the diagonal as a free plan rather than a circumstantial condition, so he posed little tension between the diagonal and the rectangular form in his courthouse project. Wright suppresses all diagonals of Fallingwater: instead of strings or railings, he only applies treads to build horizontal plans and rods to form vertical lines from hanging stairs. Le Corbusier juxtaposes the exceptional diagonal in the rectangular frame of Villa Savoye. Finally, Aalto distorted the rectangular plans of each unit to fit them into diagonals for lighting and views from the south. As is seen, following the hidden rule of rectangular form can decrease contradictions. Jumping out of the restricted trap of complexities provides another solution to this issue.

III

Installation Art | Model Photos | Studio Lighting | Scale: 16'' × 16'' ×16''

Installation Art | Model Photos | Studio Lighting | Scale: 16'' × 16'' ×16''

The wooden model is under studio lighting. I used fishlines to fix their position and imitate the fixed positions in the constructed context as they do in real life. Applying dot membranes on transparent acrylic boards, we can both see the architecture itself and its interaction with its surroundings by seeing the pattern integrated from the holes.

Installation Art | Model Photos | Lighting by Different Images from Projector | Scale: 16'' × 16'' ×16''

BACKGROUND EXPERIMENTATIONS Unlike studio lighting, the imagery lighting from a projector gives flexibility for the model to situate in any constructed context. From left to right, the backgrounds are respectively the Karlskirche in Vienna, Ecstasy of St. Theresa in the Cornaro Chapel of the Roman church of Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome, Thomas Jefferson's Monticello in Virginia, and the constructed context of Main Plaza in Tenochtitlan. The projected lighting on the acrylic board allows more complexities than the architecture and its contexts. Images, like the Colosseum's section and Philadelphia Academy of the Fine Arts, disappeared in this process, while others, like Tomb of Marcus Vergilius Eurysaces, still stand out. Different thicknesses and colors of the board lead to these visual effects. The experimentation imitates the real-world situation towards complexity and contradiction in architecture.

TWISTING STORY TO BE TOLD OVER AND OVER A Cabinet of Curiosity or A Cage of Cruelty Summer 2022 Independent Research Individual work In the painting The Artist in His Museum, Charles Willson Peale introduces animal classification strategies of grids inspired by Linneaus. Based on the Great Chain of Being, the specimen of various animals are arranged from stronger ones on the top to the weaker ones on the bottom, where humans are at the very top of this hierarchy. More emphasis is placed on imperialism and nationalism via the exhibited objects. Moreover, we tend to value ourselves as the system's organizer by investigating how the natural system interacts via the food chain and web.

However, facts indicate that we are abusing our power as the top predator to destroy the ecosystem and fulfill our greedy desire, including illegal hunting and global warming that permanently decreases biodiversity.

An axonometric design is developed to reveal a coexisting cabinet of curiosity and a cage of cruelty. On the one hand, the design shows how we classify animal species based on their niche and manipulate their postures to simulate how they act in the ecosystem. Inspired by the American Museum of Natural History, my design follows the overall layout of geographical classification: the animals are isolated in the showcase to reflect a lively natural interaction. On the other hand, the design also indicates how we step out of our boundaries and mess up the system: our behaviors lead to various consequences that are out of our control.

Are we indeed the organizer of the planet Earth? or are we just someone regarding ourselves out of the system and messing it up? Animals need to die to tell the story and resurrect, but they have their own stories that they want to tell. It is time to resituate ourselves in the system that animals should not be exhibited for human desires.

Pre: Charles Willson Peale Charles Willson Peale (1741–1827) is both a scientist and an artist intrigued by interdisciplinary cultural activities. Used to serve in the revolutionary army, Peale was a friend of Thomas Jefferson. In 1784, Peale constructed the Philadelphia Museum (current location: second floor of Independence Hall, Philadelphia) as a public institution providing science and art. Before Peale's establishment, museums, which originated in Europe, were usually private institutions. As an Enlightenment thinker who valued science, reason, order, and classification, Peale altered the long-lasting European tradition by changing the previously private museum to a public institution.

Therefore, Philadelphia Museum was constructed to be open to the public, considering American citizens as its audience.

Sign of imperialism Grid classification is based on Linnaeus's concepts, ranking from penguins that on the lowest level to bold eagle that on the highest level.

Reconstructred Mastodon bones are hidden behind the curtains.

It suggests the abundance of the American continent as the Mastodon is still roaming in the west.

Sign of nationalism

Charles Willson Peale, The Artist in His Museum, 1822, Oil on canvas, 103 ¾ x 79 7/8 in., Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.

Extra Mastodon bones next to the table echoes with Peale's leg, hinting at his own age

C h a r l e s Wi l l s o n P e a l e , Exhumation of the Mastodon, ca. 1806–08, oil on canvas, 49 x 61 1/2 in., Maryland Historical Society.

Charles Willson Peale, The Artist in His Museum, 1822, detail, Oil on canvas, 103 ¾ x 79 7/8 in., Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.

Debate over turkey and eagle hints at the debate over which bird to be the national bird on the national emblem.

Peale positions George Washington's image, the icon of American politics, above the eagle suggests the United State is spinning on the unbreakable order of the Great Chain of Being.

Leonardo da Vinci, Last Supper, 1495-98, mural painting, after the restoration completed in 1999, Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan, Italy.

The whole image suggested the ability to acquire science and knowledge, serving as a sign of imperialism. As a painter, Peale depicted himself as a western man standing in front of the curtain. The curtain here is a theatrical stage of performance, with dark things looming in the background. Those dark things are bones that belonged to Mastodon that Peale excavated from a farm in New York in 1806. In addition to practicing his entrepreneurial idea of selling museum tickets, Peale intended to demonstrate the American continent was a place of abundance, where Mastodon was still roaming in the West, as he did not believe in its extinction. In this way, Peale successfully celebrated America as a place of natural wonder: the nation is capable of competing global economy, politics, and cultures with other countries. Specifically, Europeans believed that America was a degenerated place. By proving the existence of Mastodon, Peale rejected the European stereotype of "the degenerated America" and maintained both citizens and the nation in America should be better than those in Europe.

The pictorial context of the museum that Peale constructed was a sign of nationalism. Peale articulated signs of knowledge on the canvas, for instance, portraits of intellectuals and scientists in the background, a reconstruction of Mastodon that Peale excavated, and specimens he arranged. On the top left corner, the portrait of George Washington was displayed above the eagle, suggesting his role as the icon of American politics. Additionally, Peale indicated the debate between turkey and eagle over the competition of national bird.

Under this circumstance, Peale suggested an unbreakable order system in his painting.

Sign of hierarchy Peale intended to show his audience that the United States is spinning on the Great Chain of being with a strict hierarchy. The location of his museum is in Independence Hall in Philadelphia, where Peale's arranged the showcases below intellectual's portraits. Under this circumstance, Peale hit his American audience with the association between the founding of the country and the declaration of independence.

Moreover, the background in this painting depicted a hierarchical order as Peale arranged his specimen based on Carolus Linnaeus's System of nature. Peale borrowed the methodology of classification from Linnaeus and organized species in various families. The rankings of specimens suggested vitality and order. Within the hierarchy in each family, human beings are listed at the top of the quadruped. Therefore, we can see the portraits of human beings on the very top. Implementing Linnaeus's concepts, Peale's deliberate set-up follows the order in nature. He placed the white-headed eagle's specimen just below George Washington's portrait but still on the top area. Then, smaller and weaker animals, like ducks and penguins, are arranged in the bottom area. By comparing and contrasting the eagle and penguin, the audience can realize that the hierarchy can be transferred through generations.

Moreover, the use of perspectives contributed to hierarchical feeling. Dating back to the fifteenth century, Renaissance artists used perspective to provide three-dimensionality to the audience. Perspective allows objects and space to appear to the view as they appear to human eyes, mimicking our perception of the object's nature. Recall Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper (1495–1498): Jesus is in the middle of the canvas. Da Vinci realized Jesus's central position by not only the physical placement of "the middle" but also the converging orthogonal lines of walls, windows, the table, and even the gazing directions of the apostles. Similarly, Peale borrowed the same one-point perspective for his painting. Orthogonal lines of the showcases organized space and converged to a little white boy.

Peale's deliberate manipulation suggested the importance of education for the future of the United States. Therefore, the audience can recognize Peale's enlightened thinking about knowledge and hierarchy as they analyze the perspective in the painting.

Food Chain Deer

Decomposer

The population of polar bear decreases due to the fast melting ice in the Arctic because of the rapid process of global warming. Sea ice loss also decreases the polar bear's prey, seals, which require ice to raise their young.

Whale Hunting

Removing the fins from sharks and discarding them back to the ocean, the sharks cannot swim without their fins.

After shark finning, the sharks typically sink to the ocean bottom, die, and will be eaten by other predators. This act increased in the 2000s due to the increasing demand for shark fin soup, later being prohibited by many countries.

Polar Bear Conservation

Shark Finning

Wolf

In the 1950s, whale meat makes up 50 percent of meat consumption in Japan.

Maintaining whales are not endangered, the Japanese Minister further increased commercial whaling in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary in Antarctica, which was also supported by a large portion of the Japanese. However, until 2012, whale huntings are still scientifically permitted in the Antarctic area.

Plants

Fox

Eagle

North America

Asia

Europe

Food Web Bird

Africa

Ground Squirrel South America

Australia Grasshopper

Plants

Antarctica

Cell

Tissue

Organ

Organism

Population

South Africa is the home for the majority of rhinos. As the price of rhino horn exceeds the gold price, the poachers supplied by international gangs track and kill rhinos in South Africa. The scarcity of rhinos today drives the price of their horn higher. As a result, protectors are investing more efforts in anti-poaching activities.

Poaching for Rhino Horns

Molecule

Illegal vory Trade

Scientists utilize a biological hierarchy (bottom) to classify different levels in the organism from micro to macro: molecule, cell, tissue, organ, organism, and population. Different populations form a diverse biosphere.

In the macro level of the biosphere, researchers, as absolute organizers of the system, uses the food chain and food web (top) to manage the relationship of "eating and being eaten" among different species.

Wild lemurs in Madagascar are facing extinction challenges due to the exploitation of illegal trade.

Thousands of lemurs are raised as illegal pets. Touching and feeding are also encouraged in Madagascar, whereas laws forbid human contact with lemurs in these regions.

Lemur Exploitation

A ban of ivory interantional trade was imposed in the late 19th century to reverse a rapid decline of African elephant population. However, until the 2010s, ivory seisures are still prevelant in east and southeast Asia.

Ohter illegal trade in Asia includes tigers, rhinos, cloud leaperds, turtles, bears, and Chinese Pangolin.

Prehistoric Resurrection

The top floor is the exhibition of the dinosaur.

Metal sticks balance comprehensively-excavated bones to form a whole dinosaur. While most bones get lost, the merely found bones are exhibited separately in the showcases. The audience cannot see an interactive system of this prehistoric time.

The upside-down view was inspired by the film Jurrasic World (2015). The company hired the genius to develop a D-Rex (an artificial dinosaur) that they cannot control. Various kinds of dinosaurs escaped from the gates. Humans cannot kill the invented dinosaurs. Things get worse and worse...

This floor demonstrates African mammals: elephants are surrounded by other mammals like antelopes, gorillas, lions, etc. It demonstrates the comprehensive interaction of various species in each different showcase. Manufactured postures substitute animals' own wills.

The reversed view shows how human abuse African animals via illegal hunting, such as lemurs, elephants, and giraffes. The upper level reveals Carl Akeley, who named this hall in the museum, came to wild African animals and transformed them into permanent museum decorations.

The lowest floor indicates an ocean view characterized by a blue whale model. The rest of the animals include dolphins, sharks, and penguins.

Various life is separated in the isolated showcase in an order that humans determine. Animals are not able to speak in their own voices.

The opposite scenario shows sea floor mining which humans destroy the balance of the aquatic systems. Coral reefs die, the system is polluted, and the ocean life population decreases. An organizer should be responsible for its behaviors, whereas humans use absolute power to mess up the system.

Terrestrial Resurrection

Marine Resurrection

Cabinet of Curiosity Cage of Cruelty

Regarding human's seeming role as th e o rg a n i z e r o f th e natural system, I designed an axonometric space of which the American Museum of Natural History inspired the layout.

Stairways are added to link the overall system. The space can also be viewed upside down, indicating we are stepping out of the boundary and destroying the system. The usual view indicates a cabinet of curiosity, whereas the reversed view demonstrates a cage of cruelty for not only the silent animals but also ourselves.

SAVANNAH

The layout of the savannah is based on the authentic terrestrial appearance of this particular geographical landscape, characterized by scattered trees and a vegetation layer between the forest canopy and the ground. The interior design of this exhibition follows a sense of broadness where most mammals are situated on the ground, allowing the audience to interact with them via visual aids like interactive screens. Random distribution of species injects freedom into the exhibition that intensively brings the audience back to the animal's original living contexts.

RAIN FOREST

This exhibition achieves geographical qualities to reframe tall trees and simulate a high amount of rainfall characterize the rainforest. The pathways are made of wood for the sake of contextual consistency. The audience can interact with the animals as well based on the screens and artifical intelligence. Unlike the large-scale mammals prominent in savannah, rainforest animals are relatively smaller in scale. Some of them are hidden in the heavy vegetation. The organic placement and interior lead to an immersive experience of this exhibition.

OCEAN

Ocean exhibition conveys a mysterious feeling by developing a dark interior with ocean-life models dragged by the shining suspension wires.

Following an organic demonstration, spiral stairs are surrounded by various fish specimens. Unlike the aquarium, where species are hard to follow due to their rapid movement and the complicated scenery within the big tank, the exhibition allows a closer look at this marine life. Once the audience interacts with the model by waving their hands, various captions regarding the particular species appear on the screen.

ARCTIC

The Arctic is a unique geographical region on Earth that is covered by a thin layer of perennial sea ice and surrounded by land. Due to the industrial revolution in the nineteenth century, global warming intensified, leading to increasing ice melting in the pole areas. By immersing oneself in this reframed natural geography, the audience realizes how flourishing lives interact in this area, promoting their willingness to protect our planet Earth. The reframing also allows the Arctic animals to return to their home and share their own story.

SUPERHERO AMONG AND IN US

A Comprehensive Analysis to Comic and Real Life in New Gods: Yang Jian Fall 2022 HISTART 395 Instructor: Kevin Grey Carr Individual work Yang Jian is a traditional Chinese mythological figure with absolute power and speed. Over thousands of years, Jian kept a consistent outfit of silver armor and a triple-point-and-two-blade spear. However, a recent film, New Gods: Yang Jian, developed a new looking through a humanistic perspective of Jian's figure, challenging his deity nature. On the one hand, he lost all his superpowers and dressed like an average human. Fooled by his master, Jian made mistakes and tried to find the right path himself. On the other hand, Jian maintained a stereotypical iconography of his "Heaven Eye," reminding the audience of his reminiscent superpower.

Additional to the visual and narrative aspects, Jian's complex and ambivalent identity results from Chinese historical and cultural influence. Elements of Taoism, Chinese myths, and frescoes are omnipresent in the film. In other words, New Gods: Yang Jian is a product of Chinese culture, economy, religion, and social values over thousands of years. The complexity and ambivalence of Jian's identity lead to the exploration of Jian's screen image from various dimensions. The following analysis consists of three parts: visual/material, narrative/discourse, and historical/cultural, through an art historical approach.

Placing traditional Chinese figures in the current context, I look for culturally diverse interactions in different countries. Therefore, various spatial intentions have been developed with holographic projection. The audience in this context can experience the supernatural and abstract expression of Chinese culture in different cultural narratives.

Absolute power to challenge leading authorities Plot about revolution Post humanism

Background setting

"Man in the suit"

Soul battling

Ultramanhood

Human or God as the savior Existence of independent consciousness

Yang Jian 杨戬 Part I

Visual/Material Analysis "The film poster suggests Jian's blurred identity as human and deity through figural depiction, color, composition, and format."

In traditional Chinese myths, Yang Jian is a heavenly god with a "Heaven Eye" on the center of his forehead. He's known for his absolute speed, strength, and intelligence advantages. However, in the film New Gods: Yang Jian, his typical "Heaven Eye" was covered, for unknown reasons, by a piece of fabric. The lack of this remarkable eye makes Jian the same as normal human beings, which questions Jian's nature of god. The contradiction between his super handsome face and body shape and his plain dressing also add ambiguity and confusion to his real identity.

Poster of New Gods: Yang Jian (《新神榜 · 杨 戬》) first screening on August. 19th, 2022 Jian's white shoulder corresponds to the lotus's burning flames. In contrast, the end of his robe is unsaturated blue, matching the dark blue background. The different colors that coexist on the same piece of fabric hint at Jian's ambivalent identity as either the righteous hero or a potential villain.

Unlike many anime figures with overly exaggerated facial features, Jian’s face resembles a natural person following Chinese aesthetics. His eyebrows were thick, gradually turning to the thin ends. In Chinese, it is called sword eyebrows, adding a sense of heroic spirit to the figure. Jian has a straight and tall nose with a narrow nasal column, conveying young feelings. The overall shape of his eyes offers the viewer a sense of innocence and sincerity. Jian’s eye sockets are big with lowered eyelids.

His eyes are in the shape of a parallelogram, slanting a bit upwardly (considered pretty in the Chinese traditional aesthetic perspective). Upward eye tails show Jian’s inner pride. Moreover, Jian’s facial proportion is also considered perfect and symmetric in the traditional Chinese viewpoint, as his two eyes and mouth form an equilateral triangle. Besides, Jian has a small but full mouth, thin lips, and a light lip color. The design intends to show the youth hidden in his masculinity. Specifically, his philtrum (the vertical groove at the middle line of the upper lip) was deep and prominent, increasing his facial dimension. Similarly, his face was thin and long with similar high facial dimensions. Noting that Jian’s superior facial dimension is uncommon among Chinese (which Chinese are always pursuing in cosmetology), the Chinese audience will regard Jian as a handsome figure. Jian is 6 feet, 3.6 in tall, the top-one-percent height among the male population. His head-shoulder ratio is approximately 1:3, the golden ratio of male fitness beauty. He has prominent abdominal and pectoral muscles. His wide shoulder and narrow waist form an inverted triangle shape, suggesting his identity as a mature male. As is seen, Jian is a handsome man with a sense of maturity and youth. The design hint at his immortality, as he is always young: he never dies, never grows fat, and never loses body shape.

Howover, Jian's plain dressing style makes him more like a commoner than a godlike deity. He wears a greyish-blue robe slit on the sides over his loose trousers. His scandals and wrist protectors make him seem vulnerable compared to the surrounding figures wearing armors outside the body. The lower and upper gods also have weapons, like the sword, umbrella, and Pipa (a traditional Chinese musical instrument), or the spiritual pet, like the ferret. Even the boy next to him holds a dagger in his hand.

However, Jian has no weapons except a jade he ties up on the waist. One cannot tell whether it's a weapon or just a decoration. Similarly, Xiaotian, his white dog near his left feet, has no direct contact with Jian. We might even neglect the dog's presence if we are not looking at the poster carefully (Indeed, the dog actually contribute little to Jian's metamorphisis). Under this circumstance, the audience might question how Jian, a seemingly average person, is valued as a "superhero" in the film.

Jian's facial and body characteristics.

Screenshots from the film.

From a thumbnail view, Jian's figure stands out due to its unique three dimensionality and the contrasting dark color. The golden lotus echoes the flames in the background.

Blackness gives Jian weight and balance in the light midground and foreground, centralizing Jian's role as the protagonist.

The overall color setting intrigues the audience with Jian's ambiguity between a hero and a villain.

His black trousers constructs the darkest part of the whole picture, whereas the lotus behind him is the brightest part. The blackness gives him balance and weight as the central figure. The tone of his clothes is a little lighter than but similar to the background's tone that situated terrible gods. Meanwhile, his shoulder gradually turns white, close to the lotus's golden tone, symbolizing strength and power. The lotus's flaming is similar to four ferocious gods' flaming in the corners. Therefore, color and shape connections among Jian, lotus, and villains make the audience question if Jian is a hero, a villain, or somewhere in between.

Furthermore, the poster's composition hints at Jian's role as an ambiguous protagonist. Jian has the largest figural size in the poster. The warm-color golden lotus contrasts with the dark blue background, and Jian's greyish cloth in cold tones further contrasts with the warmer lotus. The double contrasts of color secure Jian's central position. Besides, the lotus's flourishing form is also ambiguous, suggesting Jian's nature. On the one hand, the armored lotus in the midground seems to support Jian spiritually, protecting his human body from the surrounding scrolls, The Eight Diagram, and other figures' supernatural powers. On the other hand, in similar flaming shapes of the villain, the lotus seems to be a camouflaged pitfall for catching Jian and the other two characters instead of serving as their spiritual protection. Thus, Jian's pose suggests that he seems to jump out of the lotus.

Additionally, the poster's format novelly centralize Jian's position. Almost everything except Jian was depicted in a two-dimensional format. For instance, the lady dressing in silk is mingled with the lotus's texture, appearing to be a two-dimensional figure. The flaming and auspicious clouds in the background are also in paper-cut texture. However, Jian is three-dimensional, floating in the center of the poster. His hand is stretched to the front, seemingly inviting the viewers to join the story.

The golden light originated from the lotus reflects on Jian's body, giving him golden contours and suggesting his hidden powers beneath the fabric cover on his forehead.

Figural details on the film poster. Four Heavenly Gods holding weapons of sword, umbrella, ferret, and Pipa, whereas Jian only has decorative jade and cute dog.

As a result, the poster's figural depiction, color, composition, and format not only centralize Jian's role as a protagonist but also question his nature as a god or a normal human being. Evidence suggests both his blurred human and deity nature, which intrigues the audience's attention. Therefore, more analysis should be conducted to prove his super-heroic traits to qualify him as a heavenly god.

Vincent van Gogh, The Starry Night, 1889 Similar uses of yellow and blue can be found in The Starry Night and the film poster. Van Gogh uses rough strokes of blue and yellow to create a sense of movement. The poster's designer surrounds yellow burning flames with dark blue, constructing a similar flowing feeling. In both pictures, yellow and blue suggest light and dark. Specifically, Jian's shoulder reflects the lotus's light, whereas the end of his robe is blue darkness. While van Gogh's saturated combination of yellow and blue makes the painting pure and organic, the designer makes the combination unsaturated, offering the muddy sense that corresponds to Jian's complex identity.

Yang Jian 杨戬 Part II

Narrative/Discourse Analysis

As visual analysis stated, Jian has an ambiguous role that can be recognized as a deity or an average human. This narrative analysis will better qualify his transition from a human-like deity to a real deity.

"Jian's blurred identity as either a human or a deity was deliberately set：only when Jian experiences a metamorphosis by overcoming difficulties and realizing his god duty can he turn back from human to a true deity with superpowers."

While realizing the master’s conspiracy, Wan Luo comes to find Jian to help her catch the thief Chenxiang who stole her precious WanBuRuYi Zhan. However, her aim is not to catch the thief but to make Jian realize the lie the master told him.

After Yaoji fell giving birth to Yang Jian, heaven told Yao Ji to repress the mountain to save the world. She then left Jian and jumped into Tao Shan Mountain.

When Jian split that mountain, Yaoji disappeared into dirt with Tao Shan.

Sister Both have the ability to repress the mountain

She rejects repressing the mountain from start to end.

She follows her fate to repress the mountain.

Jian is Yaoji’s son

Chan is Yaoji’s daughter

婉罗 Wanluo

瑶姬 Yaoji

Repress the mountain ↓ Repress the phoenix’s power ↓ Go against the natural order ↓ Keep the now-existing God List

Split the mountain ↓ Release the phoenix’s power ↓ Follow the natural order ↓ Update the God List with new ranking

Wanluo is Jian’s aunt

After his mother’s repression, Jian came to learn magic and Kung Fu with the master. He missed his mother almost every day, so he made no effort to learn everything from the master, trying to save his mother from Tao Shan Mountain one day. With the master’s misleading words, Jian finally split the mountain, realizing his mother can never return.

However, he did not know about his master’s conspiracy then. When he met Wanluo and his long-time-no-see cousin Chenxiang, he realized the master’s lies and helped Chenxiang to split Hua Shan Mountain, which Chan repressed.

Chan, like her mother, also followed fate to repress the mountain. Similarly, she left her newborn child Chenxiang, asking his elder brother Jian to take care of her son. Then, she jumped out of Hua Shan Mountain to repress the phoenix’s power. Chenxiang split the mountain, trying to see her. Only her last piece of soul was left there. Her soul told Chenxiang that she exists in every light within each household as the night falls. After this final word, she disappeared with the mountain, as her mother Yaoji did.

Brother & Sister Jian can split the mountain, Chan can repress the mountain

She followed her fate to repress the mountain.

He split the mountain at first. After Chan’s repression, he protected the mountain from splitting. Realizing the truth, he turned back to the one who wanted to split the mountain.

杨戬 Yang Jian

杨婵 Yang Chan

Wanluo is Chenxiang’s grandmother

After Chan’s repression, Jian sent Chenxiang to his master Yu Ding Zhen Ren since Jian believed the master could teach Chenxiang valuable skills. However, the master kept abusing Chenxiang for 12 years. Wanluo killed one of the master’s brothers, announcing it was Chenxiang’s murder. As a result, Chenxiang had to escape from his master. Wanluo also let Shen Gongbao to teach Chenxiang valuable things to help Chenxiang make a Lotus Lantern to split the mountain.

Chenxiang initially had no preference to either split or repress the mountain. Meeting Jian and realizing the truth, Chenxiang decided to split the mountain.

As one of the deities with absolute power in heaven, the master utilizes tons of lies to make the Yang’s family sacrifice for him. He made the boys in Yang’s family split the mountain, release the phoenix’s power, and rewrite a God List with his name on it. He also asks the girls of Yang’s family to repress the mountain, control the phoenix’s power, and keep his name on the God List. He says he aims to save the life in the world, but it was for his selfish aim of vanity to be continuously kept on the God List. While Jian and Chenxiang realized his lies, he tried to kill them with the Tai Chi scroll. However, they successfully escaped from the trap of scroll. Jian also helped Chenxiang split Hua Shan Mountain with Lotus Lantern. The release of the phoenix's power helped Jian recover his superpower. The master was defeated by Jian’s soul summoned by “Heaven-Earth Incarnation” The master failed at last, and a new God List formed.

Chan is Chenxiang’s mother

Jian is Chenxiang’s uncle Chenxiang can split the mountain

Yu Ding Zhen Ren is Jian’s master

Shen Gongbao is Chenxiang’s teacher

沉香 Chenxiang

Yu Ding Zhen Ren is Chenxiang’s master

玉鼎真人 The Master

He followed the request from Wanluo and taught Chenxiang everything he had learned in his life.

He helped Chenxiang steal the fuel and materials to make the new Lotus Lantern. To save Chenxiang's life, Shen Gongbao was finally killed by Four Heavenly Gods and Wanluo.

申公豹 Shen Gongbao

They tried to catch Chenxiang to perevent him spliting the mountain

The master ordered them to help him keep the mountain’s repression

四大天王 Four Heavenly Gods

Character relationship chart in the film New Gods: Yang Jian

They have weapons like Pipa, Ferret, Umbrella, and Sword. The soul in the center in yellow is their master Yu Ding Zhen Ren.

Twelve years ago, all deities lost their flying abilities in a cruel war, in which Jian also hurt Sky Eye that he couldn't open the eye anymore. To earn a living, Jian had served as a bounty hunter since then.

One day, Jian received an order from Wanluo since her precious vase WanBuRuYi Zhan was stolen by a thief Chenxiang. Chenxiang ought to learn Kung Fu and magic from his master Yu Ding Zhen Ren on the mountain. But, how can he be present out of the mountain? With his confusion, Jian came back to his master. The master told Jian that Chenxiang had killed a person and escaped.

For a long time, the phoenix lived beneath the mountain. Once the mountain was split, the phoenix would fly out of the mountain, and the God List would be rewritten. In Jian's family, boys were able to split mountains, and girls could repress mountains. After Yaoji's repression, the master once cheated Jian that his mother was alive beneath the mountain and let Jian split the mountains to save her mother.

When he split the mountain, he noticed the last piece of his mother's soul disappeared in dirt: his mother was not alive. The master's aim for splitting the mountain is to include his own name in the God List. To ensure the list is not rewritten, the master let Chan, Jian's sister and Chenxiang's mother, re-repressed the mountain and abused Chenxiang to suppress his will to save his mother. In this way, the master's name would be permanently on the god list.

It is inevitable for God List to update over periods. The master's behaviors went against nature.

Realizing the master's selfish aim, Jian helped his nephew Chenxiang steal the fuel and make a new lotus lantern as his weapon so that Chenxiang could split the mountain to create a new God List. Once the mountain was split, Jian borrowed the phoenix's power to reopen his Heaven Eye to defeat his evil master and old deities. A new God List was created.

Jian's blinded Heaven Eye directly links to the inability to use his supernatural power. Jian covered his Heaven Eye with a fabric, concealing his identity as a previous deity. In an average-human appearance, Jian can also experience confusion and made mistakes. Initially, Jian was cheated by his master about the meaning of splitting and repressing the mountain. Splitting doesn't mean to save his mother; instead, it can only update the God List to fulfill the master's wish to be included in the list. Similarly, repressions completed by Jian's mother and sister were not for saving the world from the phoenix's attacks but for stabilizing the master's position on the list. Jian aimed at keeping nature functioning at its own pace, but he actually did something to stop the natural order.

Meanwhile, Jian believed the master's lies about Chenxiang. The master used to try his best to teach Jian Kung Fu, conveying Yaoji's love to Jian. Previously sweet memory made Jian easily believe the master's words that he also taught Chenxiang Kung Fu. However, the master did not teach him anything valuable in the past 12 years: he kept abusing Chenxiang that Chan and Jian abandoned him to the mountain, weakening Chenxiang's will to split the mountain and save his mother. In this way, the master can be permanently on the list without the phoenix's presence. As is seen, Jian was misled by his master and made mistakes, just like an average person.

While his Heaven Eye reopened, Jian fulfilled his role as a god. He regained his superpower, summoning his soul to fight independently. Moreover, he also realized the right thing a god should do: keeping the natural order to save the world rather than protecting a manipulated order. Believing repressing the mountain can save the world, Yaoji and Chan sacrificed their lives to do the right thing.

Similarly, although Jian realized Chenxiang would never see Chan, he still let Chenxiang split the mountain to correct the natural order. A god can sacrifice anything, even their lives, to protect the world if necessary. When Jian realized the truth and let the phoenix escape, his Heaven Eye reopened and his superpower returned with the help of the phoenix's power. As a result, Jian's metamorphosis suggests that only when the deity does the righteous thing to save the world can it be named a deity and can match the power they are endowed with.

Yang Jian 杨戬 Part III

Historical/Cultural Analysis "The film New Gods: Yang Jian is more than a form of entertainmemt — it is a wise man telling brilliant Chinese cultures over thousands of years; it is a witness proving the flourishing Chinese film economy; it is a critic viewing the world through a Chinese lens."

[1] (left). In widespread tales, Jian was halfgod and half-human due to his goddess mother's marriage with an average human.

Jian's birth led the Heavenly Emperor to repress his mother under Tao Shan Mountain as punishment. Learning superpowers and acquiring the triple-point-and-two-blade spear, Jian split the mountain and save his mom.

The tale highlights Jian's humanity under his appearance as a deity, reinforcing his filial aspects. Retrieved from https://wukong. toutiao.com/answer/6478047175866597646/ [2] Liu Yinbo, The Journey to the West Research Materials (Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House, 1990).

[3] Four Great Classical Novels include The Water Margin, The Romance of The Three Kingdoms, The Journey to the West, and A Dream of Red Mansions.

[4] (right). Jian battled with Sun Wukong in the Heaven for 300 rounds. Retrieved from www.sohu.com/a/548540280_121200580

[5] Chinese actors (Feng Shaofeng, Jiao Enjun, Han Dong, Luo Jin) casting Jian.

Retrieved from https://www.douban. com/note/802625959/?from=author&_ i=5423972XP4hqwY

The film New Gods: Yang Jian is an integrated product of Chinese culture, economy, religion, and social values.

From a cultural perspective, the character Yang Jian is a revival of ancient Chinese myth in a fictional high-technology context in the film. Jian's folktales originated in the Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE) and flourished in the Song Dynasty (960-1279 CE). The story was so popular that it finally evolved to a version in which Yang splits the mountain and saves his mother [1]. Later in the Ming (13681644 CE) and Qing Dynasties (1636-1912 CE), Jian frequently appeared in fictional literature, including The Journey to the West and Investiture of the God. He became a famous mythological character with absolute superpowers and intelligence in literature [2]. Decades after the foundation of the People's Republic of China, People's Literature Publishing House published Four Great Classical Novels [3] nationwide in the 1980s. Within The Journey to the West, one of the Four Classical Novels, Jian became more well-known as he won the battle with Sun Wukong after three hundredround fightings [4]. In the following forty years, Jian's images became more and more stereotypical in various visual media: wearing metallic armor and headdress and holding a spear [5], as described in the literature.

However, the director of New Gods: Yang Jian added cyberpunks and fantasies to the traditional narrative. He highlighted Chinese culture's brilliance by keeping traditional visual elements and generating new meanings for the figures. Although Jian's triple-point-and-two-blade spear was removed in the film to fit the narrative, the audience could still echo the weapon's existence by seeing Jian's headwear [6]. Besides, Jian's dog, Xiao Tian, was misunderstood as a black dog for a long time.

However, the scriptwriter consulted the ancient Chinese frescoes and corrected the dog's color to white [7]. Similarly, Wanluo’s modeling was based on Flying Apsaras in Dunhuang frescoes [8]. One can see the flourished Chinese culture behind the characters in the film.

[9] A cyberpunk context with Chinese elements created in the film New Gods: Yang Jian. The architectures and decoration are in ancient Chinese styles, whereas buildings are floating in the air, and deities need to take their boats as flying transportations.

Background picture of the architecutral drawing retrieved from https://www.artstation. com/artwork/eJL1AZ

[6] Details in two posters of New Gods: Yang Jian. Although Jian doesn't hold any weapon (left), the appearance of his triple-point-andtwo-blade spear (right) was reminiscent on his headwear (left). Retrieved from https:// new.qq.com/rain/a/20220830A01DF400

The film also contained new meanings regarding Jian. The whole setting is in a cyberpunk context, where Jian needs to drive his flying boat over the clouds. All the figures in the film need fuel to refill their private transportation as they lost their flying ability after the war [9]. Under this unbelievable circumstance, animals are personified to promote the plot's development. Jian's dog can transform to a little girl; Shen Gongbao, as his name’s last character in Chinese means leopard, was separated to a human accompanied by his pet leopard; and even a monkey can be a tavern owner who sneers at Jian's lost abilities in the film [10].

[8] Flying Apsaras in Dunhuang frescoes (top) and Wan Luo’s modeling in New Gods: Yang Jian (bottom).Retrieved from https://www. lsbkw.com/zh-hk/lsms/lszx/291842.html and https://weibo.com/3435755974/M6tkM3WWm ?layerid=4815427320941554

[7]Jian's dog Xiaotian was misunderstood as black in many images to suggest its ferocious and spiritual identities (upper left). Xiaotian is yet a white greyhound, so the film's virtual modeling of Xiaotian confirms its real identity (lower left). The painting Qingyuanmiaodao ZhenJun also proves Xiaotian's color as white (right).

Retrieved from https://m.sohu.com/a/155292391_127123?_f=m-article_12_feeds_2.

Retrieved from http://xhslink.com/97m1rk

[10] Personified animals in the film New Gods: Yang Jian.

Left: Xiaotian personified as a little girl.

Middle: Shen Gongbao, separated from a person to a group consists of a person and a leopard.

Right: a monkey as a tavern owner.

Retrieved from screenshots of the film.

[12] 逝者如斯，而未尝往也；盈虚者如彼， 而卒莫消长也。Firstly appeared in Qian Chi Bi Fu by Su Shi. It maintains that a person's life has its highs and lows, moving from time to time, just like the moon's shape. Although the moon is sometimes round and sometimes lacking, overall, its repetitive process does not yield real growth or decline. The same is true of people. As time flows, nothing keeps the same, so one should not lament the changes in things. People's gains and losses are also the same. There is neither permanent wealth nor permanent hardship. One does not have to worry about gains and losses; just let time and nature take the course.

[11] Concept Diagram of Chinese superhero anime films from 2016 to 2022: A brief analysis of superhero's god nature and humanity influenced by new cultures.

New Gods was not the first attempt for people to novelly integrate traditional figures with cyberpunk and fantastic elements, but a mature product due to the flourishing economy of Neo-Chinese style in recent years. Just like the Neo-Classicism reverberated ancient Roman elements in modern architecture to remind the order and democracy in the ancient Roman Empire, Neo-Chinese Style borrowed various elements from the five-thousand-year history of China and placed them in innovative contexts to remind the viewers the brilliant Chinese cultures. Regarding animation films, the trials of contextual combination started in 2020. After the success of White Snake (2019), Light Chaser Animation continued the following story in a high-tech narrative of White Snake 2: Green Snake (2020) and started the film series New Gods with Nezha Reborn (2021). Meanwhile, Coloroom, another film company, achieved financial success in Big Fish & Begonia (2016), Nezha: Birth of the Demon Child (2019), and Jiang Ziya (2020). Light Chaser finally produced New Gods: Yang Jian (2022) that followed the trendy favors: revolutionary protagonists, questions about the rights and wrongs, and traditional Chinese elements in cyberpunks and fantasies [11].

Furthermore, Chinese social values shaped the film. It explains an inevitable historical pattern that follows natural order; conveys different thinking that every role is not absolutely correct; and introduces values within the New Gods film series that deities also need to update and iterate (do not think that once you are conferred a god, you will hold on to your position forever). Physically speaking, "Motion is the fundamental property and way of existence of matter." Philosophically speaking, "Rivers always keep flowing, but they do not flow away; The moon is always round and incomplete, but it has not increased or decreased after all [12].” In addition to the main plots, side plots of supporting roles also introduces the same social values. Shen Gongbao rides his leopard, indulges in wine, and says, "The world developed in a moment, and ten thousand years passed in a blink [13].”

He is a representative of Taoism that led by Lao Zi and Zhuang Zi. Besides, as Wanluo arrives at Li Shan, she sighs the experience of Bao Si [14], who was regarded as a scourge of the dynastic downfall and abused by generations. The goddess has witnessed so many rises and falls that she understands the procession of dynasties has its own laws. However, when you become a crucial figure standing on the crucial point of revolution, you will be convicted for whatever you do, even if you just smiled. As is seen, the film uses Chinese values to re-read history, trying to explore the facts of the world, which essentially exceeds its entertainment function as an animation film.

In summary, the film New Gods: Yang Jian is more than a form of entertainmemt — it is a wise man telling brilliant Chinese cultures over thousands of years; it is a witness proving the flourishing Chinese film economy; it is a critic viewing the world through Chinese lens.

[13] 天地一朝，万期须臾。In China, it is believed that the world was in chaos at the beginning. The founding God Pan Gu split the chaos into Heaven and Earth. After long years of development, the world finally became what it looks like now. However, Shen maintained a broad-minded life philosophy, among other selfish and calculating deities, that one should follow his heart to find something passionate since life passed quickly.

[14] Baosi is known for “Teasing the Dukes with Beacon,” a Chinese cry-wolf story. In 779 BC, Emperor You of Country Zhou loved Bao Si very much and tried to make her laugh, but Si never smiled. In Zhou, You set up a beacon tower and a drum. When the enemy arrived, he lit the beacon to summon reinforcements.

Once, when King You of Zhou lit a beacon fire, all the generals came with their troops but found no enemies. Seeing the general in a panic, Si laughed. You was thrilled and lit the beacon fire many times. The generals stopped believing and gradually refused to be called. When the enemy really came in 771 BC, You lit a beacon fire to summon generals to rescue him, but the generals didn't come.

Finally, You was killed at the foot of Li Shan Mountain, Si was captured, and the Western Zhou Dynasty perished. When Wanluo arrived at Li Shan Mountain, she thought of this story and could not help sigh.

THE BEAN (CLOUD GATE)

LONDON EYE

Chicago, The United States

London, The United Kingdom

The spatial intention demonstrates an innovative outfit for The Bean in Chicago inspired by the film New Gods: Yang Jian. The appearance fits its curvy and smooth texture with a holographic projection. Chinese figures are displayed with high technology, producing an abstract and supernatural expression of traditional and mythological figures. The hand of Jian's golden soul seems to protrude out of the screen. This interactive installation enhances the cultural communication of traditional Chinese elements in metropolitan cities like Chicago.

The spatial intention utilizes holographic projection to create interactions between tourists and the still installation of the London Eye. It shows a classical moment in the Ultraman series that the dunamist (the accommodated person for Ultraman) initiates a transfiguration to the corresponding Ultraman. In this case, Tiga Ultraman seems to rush out of the center of the London Eye. High technology is installed to depict popular Asian fictional characters in a western context, bringing cultural interaction and promoting economic development.

ULTRA-REALISTIC 3D DISPLAY

LUSAIL STADIUM

The billboard in Chengdu is an existing installation for ultra-realistic 3-dimensional display. At the top corner of a low-rise building, the screen conveys a stereoscopic feeling with a particular arrangement of images. Jian's flying boat draws the attention of passengers in this commercial district. They stand still to wonder about the visual effect of supernaturalism. Furthermore, this holographic projection increases Chinese cultural pride by referring back to ancient architecture in an innovative cyberpunk narrative.

The spatial intention illustrates a holographic projection of Iron Man within the light and firework show above the Lusail Stadium. The supernatural expression of a well-known superhero adds entertainment to the show. It interacts with superhero fans worldwide in the opening ceremony of the World Cup, offering a sense of familiarity and belonging to them. Moreover, it promotes the international communication of the western culture and cinematic production about heroism and love to the rest of the world in this worldwide event.

Chengdu, China

Lusail, Qatar

UNEVEN HEATING

A Recommendation for Seating in the Michigan Stadium Fall 2021 CLIMATE 102 Instructor: Perry Samson Individual work

I recommend placing the donors on the metal seats of the stadium's west end zone for the warmest temperature on the gaming day at noon on September 22, 2021.

Length of exposure of the surface to the sun According to timeanddate.com, the sun will rise at 7:22 am on September 22 in Ann Arbor. Since the game starts at noon, all the areas in the stadium can absorb heating energy from 7:22 am to 12 pm. Thus, the total amount of time the surface has had to warm on that day is 278 minutes (4.63 hours).

Angle of the sun relative to the surface on September 22, 2021 The maximum elevation angle of the sun (θ max) varies in different positions at the stadium. In the prediction, θ max reaches its maximum when it comes to the seats located on the western side.

We can use the function θ max = 90°− φ + δ+ λ for calculation: 1.Solar Position Calculator indicates that the latitude (φ) in Ann Arbor equals to 42° (Chris Cornwall, Aaron Horiuchi, and Chris Lehman).

2.September 22 is Autumn Equinox, so the declination angle of the sun (δ) equals to 0° on a sunny day.

3.Although the slope of the seats is 0°, the seats are placed on the stadium, which has a slope of 15°.

Thus, the tilt of land (λ) equals to 15°.

4.In the eastern side, θ max = 90° − 42° + 0° − 15° = 33°. In the central part of the field, θ max = 90° − 42° + 0° − 0° = 48°. In the western side, θ max = 90° − 42° + 0° + 15° = 63°.

An increasing solar angle amplifies sunlight intensity. Therefore, the western side has the highest sunlight intensity due to the highest elevation angle of 63°.

Overall Outdoor Comfort - Ann Arbor, MI The horizontal axis indicates 12 months, and the vertical axis indicates a time in terms of 24 hours a day. Inputting heating conditions in Ann Arbor, we achieve the graphic above. Local people experience slight to stronger heat from mid-May to the end of August, whereas enduring severer cold from December to mid-February. The output of information aligns with the real climate in Ann Arbor.

As the game starts on September 22nd, there is no thermal stress, and even slightly cold. Thus, it is crucial to find an ideal spot for the donors with the warmest temperature.

Michigan Stadium Sunpaths (9am - 5pm) This graph shows the Sun path and the temperature at that path. Blue lines show the Sunpath on an annual basis of monthly divisions, suggesting all the days within the same month following the same path of division. We match the bar to each red dot on the blue line and know the dry bulb temperature

Materials of the surface and heat absorption characteristics Regarding the materials of the surface, the field is made of rubber, with a specific heat capacity of 2010 J/kg °K. The metal seat is made of concrete and iron, with a respective specific heat capacity of 880 J/kg °K and 449 J/kg °K (Engineering ToolBox). Lower specific heat capacity results in a faster speed of heating up. Therefore, iron absorbs the highest amount of solar energy, whereas rubber absorbs the lowest amount of solar energy. Concrete’s heating ability stays in the middle. As is seen, the metal seat area can absorb more solar energy than the field area within the length of exposure to the sun.

declination angle of the sun Heat Specific Heat Capacity maximum elevation angle of sun

latitude Tilt of land

Mass

Michigan Stadium Sun Hours (9am-5pm) This graph shows the interval of the total length of the solar radiation in Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor. Each yellow sphere that follows the sun's path indicates the sun's position during that time. Consulting the color indicated in the stadium's ring to the bar, we can derive the place that has the longest time for receiving solar radiation.

RACE, ETHNICITY, AND GENDER

An Asian Art Analysis from An Art-Historical Approach Fall 2021 HISTART 383 Instructor: Joan Kee Individual work

Different artists express various attitudes towards ethnicity, race, class, and gender. NOJIMA challenged the gender stereotype of women as idealized objects based on the new photography in 1930s Japan. GU highlighted the classless communist’s idea through his woodcut during the Chinese-Civil-War period. Lee challenged the rigid identities of belonging in collectivist society and advocated for individualized choices in the fragmented states in the 1990s. Finally, CHEN suggested a presumed egalitarianism and sharpened equalities among the factory laborers when the United States withdrew from Taiwan.

NOJIMA Yasuzo, Miss Chikako Hosokawa, 1932 [Japan]

NOJIMA Yasuzo questioned gender stereotypes in Miss Chikako Hosokawa (1932) by developing an unconventional composition in his photograph. The depicted female figure is a famous actress named Chikako Hosokawa. The photo marks the collaboration between a male photographer and a very wellknown female actress who would have had the means to determine how she would be portrayed.

Hosokawa's half-face suggests her unique way of not wanting to disclose herself and trying to keep part of herself hidden from view, which is typical of a celebrity. As viewers, we are unable to see her entire face. A lot of her face is obscured in shadow, whereas the background is in a lighter tone. The high contrast makes the actress stand out more potently, hinting at the tension between what is highlighted and what is just wholly obscured. Additionally, we also cannot see what she is wearing. Her hand is kind of at the dead center, pushing to the photograph's surface with her face. Her intense gaze and fingers meet up with the eye, trying to stare down the camera instantly. In this way, the gaze evokes the viewers with a solid emotional impulse of firmness. As photography was now a formalized discipline in the 1930s, NOJIMA's work aligns very well with the definition of new photography that was being promoted as something confrontational. Miss Hosokawa here is illustrated as a non-idealistic and earthy figure rather than an idealized and perfect object. In a broader historical context, beautiful women used to be idealized in romanticized fantasy, without name or identity, especially in previous years. In NOJIMA's case, he utilizes his non-idealistic photo to show the individualized expression of a particular female, thus challenging the idea of women as an object. As is seen, NOJIMA's unconventional photo rejects gendered stereotypes with new photography in 1930s Japan.

GU Yuan's Human Bridge (1948) focuses on China's classless difference in communism compared with other countries. GU's woodcut focuses on the action happening at a pace, making icons in the image of a soldier. The soldiers on the bridge are running into the explosion from left to right. They are not only running towards the war but also towards death. In other words, this is an image of sacrifice for communism. With the high contrasted details colored in bright orange and deep blue, GU reveals the illumination of the bombing. The audience can also see the reflection of the explosion in the waves, as the blue is light up by the orange illumination. Although the explosion calls for the viewer's great attention, one cannot neglect the bridge held up by soldiers. Therefore, all communist soldiers together form a human bridge toward death. The lines in the woodcut exaggerate movement, force, and pressure.

The soldiers are in solid color blocks, which hints that their firmness to face death unflinchingly. The surrounding environment is carved in curved lines and fragmented straight lines. Dynamism, constructed by these lines, suggests a dangerous situation that these soldiers face, but they still choose to fight for their camp of communism. The woodcut was produced during the Chinese civil war from 1927 to 1949, specifically near the end of the war in 1948. As warfare propaganda, the woodcut aims at showing the inevitable victory of communism to the ideal audience, such as soldiers, laborers, and peasants. Regarding this particular medium, woodcut is not difficult to make. It is also a practical art of propaganda because of the accessible materials, easy ways of reproduction, and accessible transmission to a large possible audience. These qualities also confirm the communist's idea of a classless society, reflected through the soldiers' equal participation in the war in the image.

GU Yuan, Human Bridge, 1948 [China]

Nikki S. LEE undermines the stereotypical views towards Asian women in The Hispanic Project (1998), dealing with the themes of race, gender, and personal identity in US society. LEE emphasizes that one can be born into one identity that one cannot choose. However, he/she is able to remake the identity in a specific context. To choose oneself is also part of the so-called new American dream that one can be someone in another part of the world, especially coming to the United States. Regarding LEE's nationality as a Korean, she possibly familiarizes herself with the certain Asian standard of wearing a school uniform. However, her project expresses individuality through the various dressing. Therefore, she aims to challenge the collective idea that young women are forced to play specific stereotypical social roles to be accepted into this particular society. In other words, LEE encourages the behaviors to exert and create one's own interpersonal, rather than being confined to a particular role. Her progressive mindset stresses the expression of self individuality, generalizing beyond school to the entire society.

School uniform can be seen as a structured group, whereas choosing to wear what you are eager to dress marks the exhilaration of choice. The choice can be extended to other choices of freedom and liberation in the non-collectivist society, not only for women but also for the entire society. In addition to the new American dream, Lee utilizes the photo to suggest the idea that a nation or city is also broken down into its most granular formations. This photo illustrates the district in LEE's marching with all women she met in East Harlem. Under this circumstance, she suggests America was broken down into many different parts and many different cities that it doesn't necessarily mean one. Moreover, as the medium is a reproducible photo that can easily be distributed in many ways, the work's intended audience is beyond the women struggling with their identity to the entire US society that consists of various races and gender.

Consequently, LEE's photo undermines the presumptions that Asians are thought about and represented in the US society. According to her mindset, the personal identity is not necessarily imposed by the State or by some external authority, but it can also be something that one chooses, as shown in her photograph.

CHEN Chieh-jen's The Factory (2003) is a collection of various categories of difference, including class between urban and rural populations, presumed egalitarianism, and sharpened inequalities. The context was based on a factory that had been shut down, among many factories shut down after the United States withdrew formal political support from Taiwan. This shifting in geopolitics serves as a general background for this production. Attempting at humility, CHEN grasps the scale of what took place when this factory, exemplifying it as a metaphor for all the factories that have been closed after the US withdrew political and economic support from Taiwan, at least getting some specificity. Furthermore, the figures involved in the video are part of the activist group advocating for egalitarianism, the workers who were mistreated when working in this factory. They are protesting on the streets, petitioning for back pay, and waiting to solve the inequalities. As the sound can determine our thoughts advance with immersive qualities, CHEN removes the sound lack and lets the viewers feel the situation based on our perceptions. He creates a separation that makes the viewer think more critically and engage with his work. The silence also redistributes CHEN's authority as the "creator" to those who may not have an opportunity to participate in these kinds of projects. The droplets of rain are also remarkable as each droplet is tiny, but the repetition of such small objects can be given an overpowering and daunting sense, especially for the rain on the chairs with repetition. Last but not least, silence also works as a defensive mechanism: Inability to speak as a form of positive occupation. As is seen, CHEN's disclosure becomes something along the lines of trauma, serving as the edification of a specific class of bourgeois liberal artwork, hinting at inequality and presumed egalitarianism among factory works in a changing geopolitical period in Taiwan.

As is seen, these four artists mentioned above successfully expressed the difference in ethnicity, race, class, and gender within their repressive contexts through their works.

Above. Nikki S. Lee. The Hispanic Project (1), 1998. Colored photograph. 21 1/4 x 28 1/2 inches (53.97 x 72.39 cm).

Still from CHEN Chieh-jen. The Factory, 2003. Single-channel video, 31 minutes, 6 seconds (16 mm transferred to DVD).

ARTWORK IN 2D AND 3D CONCENTRATIONS A Selection of Studio Artwork

LI Yuetong, Two-Value Self Portrait, 2020. Ink on paper.

LI Yuetong, Two-Value Father Portrait, 2020. Ink on paper.

ARTWORK IN 2D AND 3D CONCENTRATIONS A Selection of Studio Artwork

LI Yuetong, Painting Transcription A, 2019. Graphite on paper.

LI Yuetong, Painting Transcription B, 2019. Pencil on paper.

LI Yuetong, Painting Transcription C, 2019. Pencil on paper.

LI Yuetong, Painting Transcription D, 2019. Charcoal on paper.

ARTWORK IN 2D AND 3D CONCENTRATIONS A Selection of Studio Artwork

LI Yuetong, Value Painting, 2020. Oil on canvas.

LI Yuetong, Complementary Still Life, 2020. Oil on canvas.

LI Yuetong, Dynamic Carving, 2019. Plaster.

LI Yuetong, Iterative Relief Casting, 2019. Plaster.