Mingcheng Song

Although it seemed like an impossible task in the couple of days leading up to the final critique, I managed to tie up the loose ends (as I always did). I declared that I wasn't going to make any new decisions. And very quickly, the holes were patched up using what was in store. The process itself felt very similar to how I fixed the gaps between the prints that gave away the wood panel underneath, just take an extra piece of that same print and fill in the blanks. It's somewhat astounding seeing how visual discontinuities were so easily dissolved by the overall homogeneity. Almost as if it doesn't take that much for something to cross the threshold of being "enough". Relying on this method of patching, each object progressed efficiently into their resolutions, resulting in "determined objects", halted in time. It's satisfying to witness that state of determination and overlook, at least initially, different degrees of resolution that are probable within that state. Also the efforts to be "just enough" (somehow related to being "just right"), which was satisfying in another way (perhaps it felt like cheating, or working smarter), factored into a lot of the formal decisions.

I should give myself enough credits for laying the groundwork, and acknowledge that there is enough materials to start with. However, I couldn't help but feel a sense of poverty, or a lack of depth, in those semi-resolved ideas. The project felt a lot more expansive before I decided to turn around and use it to solve its own problems. I'm aware that the feeling of open-endedness might well be an alluring trap, especially since many of such "ideas" hardly ever materialize and therefore impossible to be operated on. Regardless, it's a huge relief to part ways with this semester-long endeavor, for now.