“Ten Minute Break”(2021-2022) is a photography installation recreating my high school classroom environment. The installation features a desk with personal items such as a pencil case, water bottle and basketball with photographs of my high school life printed on the surface. The photographs were taken during my last trip to the school. The installation stimulate some of the physical reminders that take me - and hopefully the audience - back to the banality of school life: the gritty feel of the basketball; the steaming smell emanating from the metal lunch box; the sound of paper rustling in the library. When I encounter these sounds and sites in my life as an adult, they trigger memories of my school life that are both positive and negative.

Besides exploring the relationship between photography, objects and memories, the installation intends to comment on the enormous pressure faced by students under the current Taiwan examination system. I wish to raise awareness of students’ mental health by inviting viewers into my lived experience in a high-stress Taiwanese school.

“Ten Minute Break”is featured in group show “VARIATIONS” (2022) curated by Vera Hadzhiyska.