The fluctuating weather in New York City lately has reminded me of home, Hong Kong. Growing up, I am used to the humidity that sticks my pores to a stranger’s sweat, the heat and moisture encapsulated within the concrete jungle, and the haziness of the constantly gray sky. This short photo-roman displays this part of my memory through the sense of touch, also associating this piece of fond memory to New York City, where I consider myself a stranger.

MEMORY storyboard-2fxtx6i

I have chosen touch out of the five senses as an approach to compare and contrast Hong Kong (where I grew up) and NYC. I am focusing on the differences in climate between the two and how I perceive or remember through touch. I am planning to divide the video into two parts, each portraying one city. Both parts begin with shots of the city to establish the setting, and then focusing on the interaction between me and the environment and how I “feel” and “touch” the city with my skin.

This piece visualizes how I remember my father now and as a child with reference to the senses of sight, smell, taste and touch. The white fabric on the left is wrapping gauze previously soaked in salt water. The roughness and salty taste and smell created by the solution portrays the intimacy I had with my dad when I was younger. The salt resembles skin and flesh, representing my fond memories together with the white color that symbolizes purity and light. On the left is a pair of socks that I have dipped into ashes to visualize dirty and smelly socks. These socks depicts my memory of moving away from my father’s house and seeing a pile of dirty laundry before I left. The unpleasant feeling given by the socks utters the change in how I view my father when my parents separated when I was sixteen. The paint in the background symbolizes mold, also the miserable and appalling feeling I have when I think about him today. Since I painted on the colors after the socks and the fabric were glued to the paper, some of the paint bleeds to the white fabric, capturing how the revolting feeling I have now contaminates the happy memories with my father in the past.

Closeups

Brainstorming notes and thumbnails