Standing Still

Author

Young Tseng Wong, Claremont Graduate UniversityFollow

Date of Award

Spring 5-2015

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Fine Arts (MFA)

Department

Art

First Advisor

Rachel Lachowicz

Second Advisor

Anne Bray

Third Advisor

Carmine Iannaccone

Terms of Use & License Information

Terms of Use for work posted in Scholarship@Claremont.

Rights Information

© 2015 Young Tseng Wong

Abstract

I am drawn to the in-between — to movement at the corners of the eyes, to the moments between one breath and the next. When we want to catch such moments we stand still, we pause, we wait, "with bated breath." At such moments, I believe, the potential exists for taking on different perspectives and for finding other points of view.

Standing still, in a state of stillness, is an action that encapsulates many of my concerns. My work takes form in objects and architecture that collaborate with bodies moving inside them. The space is structured, not as a system, but as a collection of unstable parts, like a kind of precarious machine or puzzle. Standing or moving bodies become part of the spatial and sculptural conversation, as the space responds to their presence, creating a shifting network of small movements and adjustments.

I believe that opportunities for change and exchange exist in the accumulation of small displacements and shifts of attention. Through mindful attention and the kind of listening that involves the entire body and all the senses at once, the apparent solidity of the world falls away and we have to find out what things mean again.

Link To Artist's Gallery

Images from gallery installation of Standing Still at Peggy Phelps Gallery, Claremont Graduate University, April 2015. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/ytwong_mfate/

Recommended Citation

Wong, Young Tseng, "Standing Still" (2015). CGU MFA Theses. 101.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_mfatheses/101