A personal book project, “My Youth Holds Me Tight”.
The core concept of this book is junction. “Me” and my youth holding together, the fake “me” and the real “me” holding together, “me” and my electric lover holding together…Such junction is not only a physical connection, but also a merge between two identities that fuse into one.
Formally, this book consists of two parts. The first about the fake “me” reads from left to right, and the second part about the real “me” reads from right to left. The two different “me”s are separated yet connected at the same time.
The first part is a visual, emotional, yet fragmented illustration of the memories of the fake “me”. The fake “me” is in love with an imaginary android, and went for a long journey with it, looking for destroy of its own human body, so they could finally be parts of a bigger universe.
On the other hand, memories of the real “me” are more like a constantly updating collection of knowledge. A wide range of topics in philosophy can be seen in its written journals and reflections, excluding romantic emotions. It seems that this persona portrays less about itself, but all those knowledge, which is in fact crucial to its growth as an intelligent.
This project is very much inspired and influenced by Hegel’s discussion on doubleness of human beings and Geist, namely how we live within nature, but also represent ourselves to ourselves. We embrace this doubleness within each individual, and create monuments for so, struggling from, and celebrating the same thing.