Clementine

   This multimedia project, “Clementine,” combines moving images, printing, and poetry, which tells my personal story with clementines as a cultural symbol in my childhood memory. Juicy and sweet Clementines are classic new-year fruits representing fortune to Chinese people. I spent half of my childhood with my laolao (my grandma). In my four-year-old mind, having clementines means the new year is coming, and the family will soon gather at her place for the new year. Laolao passed away three years ago, and I never had clementines after that, just like how my family never gathered again. 
   I came back to my hometown this year and revisited my grandma’s house, which has been old and dusty. In the 20-min video, I filmed myself eating all the clementines on the table while watching XinWenLianBo (live news)--another childhood scene with laolao. I added a cooking soundtrack to picture a New Year family gathering scene. 
   I saved the peels from the video and pinned them on the wall beside the projection. The texts on the peels tell vague memories and changes in my life while growing up: “I wanted more clementines, but laolao said no:-(” “I’m moving to Beijing, how is it going to be?” “I learned Majiang this year. Now I can play with laolao.” 
   The postcards are short poems and writings I wrote to my family and myself when I was out of my hometown. I scanned some California mandarin peels in the US and printed them out after flying back to China.
   Like how the peels from two continents are isolated and facing each other on the wall, my childhood memory has also been isolated from my current and future life path.