>>>> Week 01 <<<<
In the Projection 1.0 publication, I interrogated the representation of motherhood in Chinese social media, (the visual language of marketing mothers on Chinese social media.) A hybrid product of an advertisement and a self-help guide.
The collection and analysis of categories reveal a selection of images of the “perfect mother”, especially in terms of body image anxiety and intensive motherhood.
The image of the “perfect mother”: young, beautiful, and fit + “super mom”
*Supermom: a woman who performs the traditional duties of housekeeping and child-rearing while also having a full-time job.
Also, since my previous publication demonstrated lots of images about women’s bodies. I’m quite interested in the transition from womanhood to motherhood.
By interviewing my audience of Chinese mothers, I hope to get feedback on my previous book and get more information about the duo identities of mothers.
I have listed 10 questions as structural interviews.
Self-Reflection:
I feel the text interview was a bit shallow. I can not reach the real feeling and thoughts on personal experience. So I decided to do a voice/video interview.
>>>> Week 02 <<<<
This week I mainly did interviews, dictation and translation.
A total of 4 mothers were interviewed, and they were young mothers aged 27-37.
During the chat, I asked some different questions according to their respective situations. The general result is that they are both physically and mentally. There will be frustration and regret.
What I find interesting is that in the process of chatting with them, I know the details of becoming a mother (a woman turns a mother), which is like a kind of guidance. The experience they describe, the physical image, is also different from what is presented in the advertisement. Advertising imagery beautifies these real problems.
And in the process of becoming a mother, those fragmented moments of regret will instead become the moment when they start to think about themselves, which is an awakening of self-awareness.
Regarding the form of the book, I think that the books of this semester and last semester can be a series, as a gift for young mothers or women who will become mothers.
Because I am a continuation of the project of the last semester, the zine of the last semester is a collection and list of representations, it even simulates the expectations of society for mothers,
And these stories can be a showcase of what’s possible. Or tell women in advance that becoming a mother will have such an experience, so don’t put too much pressure on yourself try to be perfect.
Feedback:
- The dialogue is so personal if you publish the entity it’ll be intrusive into someone’s life. You can preserve the underlimity and you could show it as entity or pick certain excerts. You’ve got large blocks of text like make the statment. You explore that through collage or other. If I use some excerts from here. Maybe remove from the context of the real person who it is. Anonymous or excert the story.
- The refernce which have scientific aspect to it with super personal content. How each image behave the smaller primacy technical an ontological （what things use to be) question sometime in the same shot. Instructional photography is a treaters and photographic catalization its also form and compassion. We understand our body and condition our all best than anybody later back to us.
- Body lasisity the way is the doctor taught to you. How you navigate the scientific-personal usually mother. it could be more scientific I find more comforting in a way, I found scientific it’s blunt. it’s objective.
>>>> Week 03 <<<<
Structure my book and organise the content. I divided the dialogue into 5 chapters. And reorganised those dialogues into round table talks.
Reference
My Birth by Carmen Winant
https://carmenwinant.com/exhibitions/my-birth
Try to use the clay to express the virgina / inner part of the body.
>>>> Week 04 <<<<
This week I adjusted the grid and the layout of the book.
I found a Chinese printmaking artist who posted her postpartum body on social media. Especially her stretch mark.
Then I interviewed her and asked whether I can use her photographs in my book then she said ok!
I also talked with Baby change-making curators Ruby and Jasmin
the first time I was asked to take a photograph of Ruby’s body.
But she suggested my project is about to show the diversity of motherhood. So it can also be other forms of representations.
This year’s Mother’s Day is on 14th May in Chinese. I create a campaign / open call to share the stories I got at the same time on social media to spread these and collect more stories.
>>>> Week 05 <<<<
Printing
Final Outcome