No.38, Pingshi Street
Book Project
YEAR 2022
FORMAT Digital Sketch
In 1348, during the plague in Florence, ten young men and women sought refuge in a villa at the foot of a mountain on the outskirts of the city. They sang, danced, feasted, and agreed to tell a story every day to distract themselves from the heat. Over the course of ten days, they shared a total of 100 stories. This setting serves as the backdrop for "The Decameron," a collection of novellas by Italian Renaissance writer Giovanni Boccaccio.
The wheel of history has turned to our current era. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, we also bear the responsibility to stay home and tell stories. Many memories resurface during these days.
Over the past few decades, China has experienced significant changes. Cities are changing rapidly, and with these changes, I feel like many things in my memory are gradually disappearing.Over the past few decades, China has experienced significant changes. Cities are changing rapidly, and with these changes, I feel like many things in my memory are gradually disappearing. It seems as if the place I once knew never truly existed.
Pingshi Street is a well-known street with history dating back to thousands of years in Nanjing, China. I was born here at No.38, Pingshi Street in 1989.
The memories of my childhood at Pingshi Street are lovely and dreamy. My family still lives in the same neighborhood, however, life has changed drastically. With the rapid development and modernization of Nanjing city, old buildings are replaced by new high-rises, and small alleys are turned into big roads. People in the building hardly know each other. As time goes by, the memories that I try to keep and preserve are gradually fading away.
During my childhood, I was constantly surrounded by cartoons, dolls, toys, mythology, and animated films. Many of the characters were human personalities in animal bodies.
With four interactive illustrations, I’d like to tell the stories from No. 38, Pingshi Street when I was a kid, which also reflect specific political realities, such as the social after the Cultural Revolution, the relations between Mainland China and Taiwan, and school bullying.
My mother and I remained in human form in the first-person perspective in our respective stories. I turned the drawings into negatives, which brought me closer to my childhood memories in a dreamlike way. As the narrative progresses, the memories become more detailed and vivid. Consequently, the illustrations become more colorful.
In that June, when you were just born, I stood by the window on the 6th floor and held you tightly in my arms.
When I forgot my key, I once fearlessly jumped from our neighbor’s railing to reach our balcony.
Grandfather Zhai was a tall, dignified, and kind man who spoke with a mixed accent from Henan and Xuzhou. He enjoyed smoking and drinking. In front of strangers, he seldom spoke — only the cigarette burning between his fingers quietly marked the passage of time.
To supplement his family’s income, Uncle Yin opened a bicycle repair shop on the ground floor of his home.
I happened to walk into the school bathroom and caught the scene. Yang Teng suddenly cursed at me, “What the hell are you staring at?!” Then he pointed at me and shouted, “He’s got money!”
On the day of arrival, the five siblings each drove separately to the airport, hoping to win the favor of their guest from Taiwan.
©2024 Ailun Jiang