When I painted 2 walls, my friend Shuyuan came and took some photos of her standing inside the space, she said: “Your previous painting made it like kindergarten, but now it’s more like graffiti, it’s a very nice place for photography.”

Then when I drew the ceiling and hang some strings, Uma came and took some photos too.

I also like being photographed, so each time I made some change of the space, I will ask a friend to help me to take some photos to keep a memory.

Shuyuan’s description “Graffiti” reminded me of street fashion photography in front of the graffiti, to test if it’s a nice place for street art photography, I asked Yihe to be my model.

At this moment, I didn’t know that it would be much more exciting than just a set for fashion photography!

Before shooting Yihe, I got super excited “Finally I have a model! How can I take photos for him ? What kind of effect do I want to achieve? Should I prepare something? ” By searching for photos by Tim Walker, I started to have some ideas like painting on his face, used some tape and ropes to bind him as a puppet.

Then, on one afternoon, I took these photos for Yihe.

By accident, Christina came inside the studio and said: “I love it !” Suddenly, she joined the photography.

I found she changed the atmosphere since her expression is so strong, so I asked her if she wants to be my model for another shooting. And she agreed!

So the next day, I had the chance to take photos of another model. Since her character is totally different from Yihe, so I prepared more warning tapes and some other tools for her photo shooting.

When I posted these photos on Instagram, then Booth and Danyan came to join the photography too!  Well, I didn’t expect that I will have so many models. Each of them has a different personality and style. Will they enjoy my space too? How?

I was a bit confused about how to take photos for Booth, so I decided to paint something on her face first to emphasize the art atmosphere.

When she entered in the space, immediately I found that she is just like a curious child who likes playing with toys, her expression especially her eyes are so clean, which made her like a little prince. So I told Booth “Just continuing playing with these dolls! ” Then I took these photos: 

I was thinking to use fragile tape to make a big doll, but when I saw Danyan coming to my space, I asked her if I can use these tape to wrap her? And she agreed ! So I used the fragile tape to wrap her arms, body, legs, and cover her mouth too.

With the experience to shoot Booth, now I knew that the best way for photography is to let the model be herself/himself, so I asked Danyan what will make her comfortable in this space?  To my surprise, this amazing girl told me “Lying down is the only pose which made me feel comfortable.”

So, I got a chance to shoot a model lying down on the painted ground! How lucky I am 😀

Looking at these photos, what’s their similarity?

ASIAN ARE INTERACTING WITH ARTWORKS AND TAKING PHOTOS IN AN COLORFUL SPACE.

What’s the difference?

EACH PERSON IS PRESENTING THEIR UNIQUE CHARACTER IN THE PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHOOSING DIFFERENT ART PROPERTIES

Yes, Asians like taking photos in front of graffiti or installations. Nowadays, more and more audience go to galleries or museums for experience, so immersive art experiences become more popular, like the Rain Room by Hannes Koch and Florian Ortkrass for Random International, or these Light Installations by James Turrell.

I just remembered that, to create this space, one idea was to provide an interactive experience to the audience , or let’s say “a place to express your emotion, to play and take photos ” That’s why I build a square in the corner and painted the walls, ceilings, and ground, hanging doll and toys on the ceiling, and put big dolls on the ground, walking inside, you would be surrounded by my artworks.

I’m very excited about the result, especially by the responses from my Chinese friends, who came to take photos and post it on Instagram or Wechat.  (Christina, thanks for being listed in the Chinese group for a moment)

Because, now in this experiment, my Chinese friends enjoyed taking photos here, and all of them posted their photos on social media, which means I have the potential to make it popular in the Asian market and spread it through social media.

Then I remember what my another classmate Alastair did in his last project — making his own stickers and gave to classmates — and we do love these stickers and put them everywhere and take photos. — which means, to provide audience art accessories like stickers could make it popular and encourage them to post on social media to spread too. 

Yeah, I knew that I could learn these points from a book, however, it’s different when you test by yourself and found what you are actually good at and interested in, different feeling and commitment.

So what’s next?

• Research on Immersive Art
• Research on user behaviors on social media
• Research on technology for immersive art and how can I use them.
• Decide if I should focus on Shelter for Emotion or more general themes.
• Create a model of Audience Experience in immersive art.
• Test the model of immersive art installation and create my unique style.
• If possible, do market analysis and create an Art Entrepreneurship Model

Something is showing me light in the dark, will follow it till finding the way!

Thanks to Shuyuan, Uma, Yihe, Christina, Booth, and Danyan ❤

Mowen 

Royal College of Art, London
2018.12.10