Integrative studio 1 /Memory 2(Duality Portrait)

 

“When I was young, I really followed what teacher’s said. But, I don’t know why, starting from 5^th grade, I just didn’t want to study… that’s all”. One of the sayings that Elbert mentioned, Elbert’s high school career was whole nightmare. I would like to briefly explain the background of Elbert’s life. Elbert comes from a place called Hang Zhou, China. He is the only child in his family. He enjoys taking photographs and crafting three-dimensional objects. He is now a student studying at Parsons the New School of Design, pursuing his dream to be a professional fashion designer. When viewed from acquaintances, Elbert seems to appear as one without no ups and downs and as someone who has lived a fairly smooth life without particular obstacles. However, I have come to realize that Albert, in fact, had traumatic childhood memories during his elementary and middle school that he can still recall until now.

Elbert’s life back in his elementary and middle school was horrible. There were several factors that contributed to his memory of his negative high school experience. First, he had to overcome restrictions from teachers and textbooks. Elbert was a diligent student who ranked top five in his class during his elementary and middle school, one of the widely known schools for difficulty and competitiveness in China. Although he was a top student in his class, he began to quit studying as he moved up to fifth grade. Elbert mentioned in his interview that at that time everybody assumed that he was going through puberty. He was confused and awkward sometimes, he got upset or mad at his friends and family. Also he was not able to control his mood and did not understand why this was happening to him. Now peeking through his tightly shut childhood memories, he offers a new solution for his spontaneous behavior then. He was ready for a change being so fed up with the suppressing style of education at his school. Elbert talked about his school’s curriculum, which was all about dictating and remembering. Teachers’ pressure made their students lose not only their freedom in thinking and creativity but also their interests and motivation in studying. He also defined his daily routine in China as a “duty” in which he had “to recite all the vocabularies and complete the dictation first thing when he arrived at the school.” Elbert hated the style of class which made him study less and eventually fail his classes. Elbert was surely upset about his grade drop but he was even more depressed for all the different types of punishments that he had to take for illegitimate reasons. Further more, when his teacher was giving a lecture on reading materials, there was a certain part where he had to underline and highlight. He was forced to write down which part was correct and incorrect. It didn’t offer any flexibility to develop his original opinions about subjects. The teaching style and school program was a disastrous and repetitive cycle for him to handle and he perceived the education preventing from comprehending the material and deepening his knowledge in broader perspectives.

Recalling his kindergarten memories, one of his best memories was when he was in his art class, where he was never restricted nor limited. Elbert was more contained and he found himself learning in a certain type of way which made him gain knowledge and even think more broadly than he did in his elementary and middle school. He was able to receive several gold medals in competitions nationally and gain confidence accordingly. As a result, he always believed that it would be most reasonable for him to start paying attention to making art. After his hard life in middle school, pursuing a new change, Elbert applied and got accepted to one of the toughest art high schools in China. The differences were clear and most importantly, the new environment matched Elbert’s philosophy. It was a school of a combination of studying and learning about different art majors.

According to Elbert’s interview, in Asian countries, there is an exam that students are required to take. Depending on the scores, examiners will determine which college students should go to. Even though Albert was enrolled in art school, he studied for the exam as well as taking classes other than art. This overall experience has now enabled him to express his feelings and help him think about his career. Also, he was able to meet a variety of professors through his experience. One specific example that he mentioned was his oil painting professor. The professor was a famous poet who wrote and did his own illustrations. As Elbert visited this professor often, and by observing how the professor presented his expressions through artwork, Elbert found guidance in what he wanted to do in the future. Through introspection and experience, he realized that he was capable of making clothes as well as designing clothing in a trendy style and that overall, he wanted to attend an art school. Following his chains of thoughts and dreams, he has pursued his dream by getting accepted to Parsons the New School of Design in New York City.

According to Elbert, Elbert’s unfavorable memories were indeed harsh. However, those negative incidents laid stepping-stones for a change of direction and a foundation for what he truly was passionate about. Also, through his experiences from childhood, Elbert has come to learn to apply those memories to his future course and use them as advice and stimulus when he wants to give up. Finally, he now appreciates how his background brought him where he is right now in New York City.