Autonomously curated exhibition on pain of growing up
2021-07-12
(Report by student journalist) The student team of Thick Data Innovation Laboratory at National Sun Yat-sen University autonomously organized an exhibition – “The Cool Things About Growing Up”, divided into 3 areas: Grown-Ups’ Martial Arts Hall, Grown-Ups’ Music, and Grown-Ups and Alcohol, that display different aspects of the process of becoming an adult. The team hopes that students, living a special stage of their lives, can explore the definition of growing up together with the visitors of the exhibition, as well as reflect on who they want to become.
The student team of Thick Data Innovation Laboratory was led by Assistant Professor Shih-Hsiang Sung of the Program in Interdisciplinary Studies at Si Wan College. The students curated the theme and the content of the exhibition. Chieh-Mien Lin, a sophomore of the Department of Information Management at NSYSU, responsible for the visual design, said she hopes that those who are now adults in the eyes of university students can recall their own process of growing up when visiting the exhibition. She said that being an adult should not be seen as a fixed pattern or state; everyone can become a "cool adult" by exploring the world and getting to know their real self through inner dialogue.
A senior of the Department of Chemistry Yu-Fang Tseng and a senior of the Department of Business Administration Yun-Hsiu Lin, who planned the Grown-Ups’ Martial Arts Hall area, explained that doubts and fears are the pains of growing up; this area tells visitors that "mature adults had faced the same problems like us" and that these experiences are a preparation for a future metamorphosis. As a remedy for the pain of growing up, the students have designed the Clapping Glove Interactive Area, hoping to bring comfort and relaxation to people who have experienced disappointment in love, family, friendships, or other aspects of life, and make it more resonating and fun through the various acupoints of the 18 bronze men.
The curators of the Grown-Ups’ Music area, a senior of the Department of Information Management Hao Yuan and a junior of the Program in Interdisciplinary Studies Yen-Lin Pan prepared a questionnaire and collected over 50 songs that accompanied students through important moments in their lives. The visitors can draw capsules with good wishes and after filling in the blanks of the lyrics, they can scan a QR code to listen to a song. This new way of interaction with the visitor breaks away from the traditional exhibition models and encourages visitors to convey warmth and write down their blessings for next visitors.
The introduction to the Grown-Ups and Alcohol area is handwritten on torn paper that imitates a diary. The area was curated by Chia-Yu Liu, a junior of NSYSU Department of Sociology and a senior of NSYSU Department of Chinese Literature Chia-Yun Liu. Through their simple photographic works and short captions, they hope to convey the message that growing up is like the moment after drinking alcohol and related the “coolness” to the understanding of growing up and drinking.