| Bridge 2: Interview |
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Studio Project
Video Portrait
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Explanation of Bridge
You will undergo/enjoy 7 days of “Creative Dating” with your partner, which will inspire your written interview for seminar and a video portrait for studio. The 1-3 themes focused on in the seminar interview should inform the video portrait for studio.
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Seminar Writing
“My dogs are my family”
Interview with Serena Wang
Serena Wang is always fashionable with her pink and blonde bobbed hair, and a bright, friendly person with a good sense of humor. Her home city is Shanghai, China. She lived most of her lifetime in her hometown, and she moved to California to study business. Today, she is studying at Parsons School for Design and studies Fashion Design. Her love for animals, especially for dogs is astonishing. Her wish to have a dog when she was small became true when she was fourteen. Now she is enjoying her life with her two poodles.
Hazuki Uno: So I know that you love animals and having them as a pet. How many pets do you have right now? Also why did you decide to have a dog as your pet?
Serena Wang: I have four poodles; two of them are still puppies. I have always wanted to have a dog since I was five. Also, dogs are smart and can understand what you say.
HU: What are the other pets that you had until now?
SW: Umm… I had 2 mice, some ducks, a rabbit, and a guinea pig. I was so sad when my rabbit died. I had to leave the house for a few days, and I checked so many times if he had enough food… but when I came back he was dead already. I cried so much when this happened, because I was small too.
HU: I am so sorry about that. From this experience, are you now more scared of your pets’ death than before?
SW: Yes… definitely. I was really small so I didn’t really know what the death was until this happened.
HU: So is it right that you are having this fear of your dogs’ death now? Could you expand on the more? Are you more scared of their death than other pets you had?
SW: Yes, yes. I think every pet’s person will have this kind of fear on his or her mind. Dogs are not only pets for me; they are more like family members. Since the day I picked them up when they were babies, they became the best thing I’ve got. It is definitely sad when you know the dog that is living with you for ten years will eventually pass away someday…
HU: I can definitely feel your love for your dogs… I wonder what it was like to have your pet for the first time and how did you feel when you first got it?
SW: It was when I was in middle school. After I finished with my finals, the scores weren’t out yet, but I told my dad that my scores would be good. [Laugh] And I begged my dad to get me a dog. He took me to more than ten pet stores; I was only looking for poodles because they are my favorite type of dog. At last, we went to a Japanese pet store. Japanese pet stores are good because they are really clean and they don’t allow people to pet the dogs, unless you buy them. The dogs there were all active which I liked, and when I saw my dogs, I felt some sort of relationship between the dogs and me. My instinct knew that they were going to be my dogs when I saw them for the first time.
I felt very excited when I first got my pets, it was like they knew I would come and take them home.
HU: Nice. What do you love the most about your dogs? And what don’t you like about your dogs? I am sure that they make some trouble. Is there anything you struggle about?
SW: The best thing about having a dog is when you’re feeling down and thinking no one loves you, you always have a partner to make you feel better. My dogs love to put their head on my lap, and they will let me know they love me forever. Even if you’ve been so busy that you haven’t had the time to give your dogs the attention they deserve, they are still madly waiting for you to come home.
The struggle I face with my dogs is that sometimes when you are not in the house, they mess everything up in the house, and they get on the tables, eat papers, and go through the garbage can. They will try their best to make the house messy and dirty.
HU: I see. What are the best memories you shared with your dogs?
SW: One of my dogs called Sugoi got a really bad disease once. Less than one week had passed since I got him. He was always sleepy and didn’t want to eat, and soon I figured out that he had diarrhea. I immediately took him to the pet hospital. He took an exam and they found out that he was having this disease which most of the dogs die when they get it. I was really shocked when I heard it.
Actually another dog, her name is Summer, she also got diarrhea but it wasn’t as bad as Sugoi because she had vaccination before. My dogs were in hospital for about three days, so that time I went to school and after I went to the hospital everyday. But they are all recovered now.
HU: You went through a hard time with your dogs, which I think made stronger relationship with you and your dogs. Do your dogs somehow inspire you in your artwork?
SW: Yes. Whenever I have a project, my dogs are the inspiration. For example, in my studio class I created a collage out of trash bag for dogs.
HU: Since you are studying fashion, have you ever made or designed clothes for your dogs?
SW: Yes. I made dog costume out of pillowcase once and this was when I chose to become a fashion designer. My dogs are really important part of my artistic process.
HU: Lastly, I want to ask what other animals you would like to have in the future.
SW: I think in the future, I will have another dog. [Laugh]
