My collection focuses on changing the perception of the audience. It is expressed through the lenses of a fish. Everything is distorted and exaggerated through fish eyes. The essay is composed of an imaginary conversation between my pet fish, Big Ben, who passed away, and my cat,

Ferrari, who currently lives with me. The fish will mostly talk in a more philosophical way,
explaining my thoughts like my other voice. The cat will confront and question him with a more realistic point of view. The idea of my collection will be unfolded while they talk.

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Ferrari is looking through the window, like what he always does, staring at some random annoying bird he can never catch. Instead of hovering on this cloudy sky, this bird decides to stand on the tree right in front of Ferrari's window. Then he has a feeling that someone's coming.

He jumped off and stood on a plastic chair to welcome this uninvited guest.

"Good afternoon fuzzy buddy." it is the same sound, the silent sound. Nobody can actually hear it other than Ferrari. The sound of a ghost fish, Big Ben. The only noise he makes is bubbling the invisible water.

"Good afternoon gentleman. What brings you here again? I wonder when you can go straight to hell. " Ferrari sits down, licking on his right paw. a few hairs come off, sticking on his tongue.

“Yikes"

"Chill. Your temper will kill you.” The ghost fish slowly turns around, observing what is happening in this room, looking for things that are replaced.

“It’s a cat thing. But maybe you can understand me. I don’t think Ben understand a damn about me. Indeed, I have nothing that makes her curious. She shows less than a cat. I wonder does she
even understand herself or anything at all. ” The cat sees the fish turning around. What a
beautiful fish. Flamboyant color, red to silver, silver to blue, reflection changes underneath the light, delicate skin texture, soft tiny body. The only thing the cat and the fish share the same is their round eyes.

Fish: “Maybe she understands herself too well. Maybe she understands you too well. Maybe nobody really understands anybody. Curiosity kills the cat, sir. You better stop wondering. Get a life.”

Cat: “Excuse me? I can’t just jump out of the window. I am an indoor cat. I will live my life with her and die like the way you die. At least I am not going to sink myself in a cold blue tank. I will die because of human’s carelessness, but at least I will be in a warm room like this. I wonder where she will bury me. Where did she bury you?”

F: “She put me in a small bottle full of water. Then flowed me into a lake in the north. The water

was even colder there because it was winter. It was not that dead, still had waves along with the

wind. The sky painted it white, but the water was black — yellow bush, brown trees without a

leaf. With a bump on her foot, she walked a long way to find the lake. There were few stones she

could step on to help me go further. ” the fish suddenly stops swinging, as if he is watching a

movie in front of him.

C: “And now you come back. A ghost fish. She cannot even see you! What is the point! ”

F: “Everything comes back to you in other forms, cat. I am here because I am willing to be here. I am here because I have no choice. ”

C: “It is very different to look from your point of view. I guess, through fish eyes, maybeeverything is distorted and exaggerated. I heard you guys cannot see things right in front of you.”

F: “When you see me, you think you find things clearer. Sometimes, the bystanders indeed see the game clearer than the players. But who is not in the game?”

C: “Interesting. Why don’t you tell me a little about Ben from your point of view? Since she is just so quiet at her house. She doesn’t even talk to her pet. How can a person not try to talk to a cat? She is a bystander, or she does not love? ”

F: “Nobody knows what love is. Nobody has a position to talk about love. Only one thing is clear —— she tries to be a bystander in her own game. She thinks that once someone has a fixed world view, or focuses on something too much, that person will loose full intelligence. When you focus too much on detail, you lose track of time and space. Both hope and disease can be
dangerous.”

C: “Hm. So what is she working on right now? She always rushes out of the home. I’ve never known where she had gone?”

F: “Well she is a senior student who majors in Apparel design, so just making garments in general. She could be very greedy and selfish, just like everyone else. She is still young after all. Her will of living is too strong that she wishes every work should be like her creation. It is like a motherhood complex —— taking care of her children since they were in her tummy... and sees
them growing… something originated from me, a human, and becomes something surpasses me, a human. Thus, in the end, they shall become a transcendent body. The relationship between the garment and the human body remains in the past tense. ”

C: “That is funny. I can tell she hates the human body. This is too sarcastic. The body generates desire. Desire generates strong motivation and the rest of endless irritation. Her brain only cares about reason, but her heart or you can say her body has a strong desire. It is hard to balance. It is explainable now why she chooses to make clothes. She is trying to control the uncontrollable, the
body at least. What does she look up usually? Who are her inspirations?”


C: “Ideological and political.”

F: “Nothing can escape from politics. Some people might not read the news at all, but politics deeply influence their work. A Chinese philosopher and politician, Wang Yangming’s theory says that “politics is just about relationships.” For example, the most popular topics in fashion design, such as identity, sexuality, seduction, confidence, etc., are all in a political context. Some might not want to be included by any of the groups, or they think they are making things for themselves, but they are representing the society. They say what most people wish to speak. In terms of Ben’s work, she understands that even though she is not talking about any of the topics I mentioned above, she is expressing it naturally through her work. Where she from, Who she is, How she deals with situations and relationships, what is her attitude towards specific political values, what is her resolution, and how much she can do for it. ”

C: “So has anyone done similar things as she does? I haven’t met that many humans yet. Maybe they are all different, or all the same. ”

F: “Her work is original, but she is not. There are a lot of people who have similar thought and might have work in a similar way. Even though she is growing up, and have more considerate and sophisticated ideas, she still cannot find her concept that original. It is like climbing a mountain, and she meets different people when she goes higher. So there has to be a historical precedent of
the work. Some involved in philosophy, literature, painting, videos, etc. After all, breaking the boundaries and trying to be free have always been a human’s dream. More spiritually, maybe she is not the one who creates my work. Her work, the concept, the elements, is already there like
molecules in the air, just waiting for a person to grab it. The true freedom of creation...... comes from the disappearance of self. It is like a fish in water. You do not control because you cannot control. It just flows. If you are smart enough, you can let the flow lead you to other places.
However, the flow, the water, is already there. Nobody creates it. ”

C: “I cannot understand, because I am not you. Does she like to share similarities with other people? She is very alienated. I cannot see she is that similar to anyone.”

F: “She does not consider herself as anyone different. If there is anyone she likes more, maybe people who have self-discipline. Young people these days still believe that things such as beauty and wealth are power. Self-control is the most reliable power. Prominent designers, great artists,
of course, no need to mention their names. Politicians, Abraham Lincoln. People around her too.

Mostly teachers. It requires a lot of wisdom to teach those who are less mature without being condescending. She respects that: people who clean our streets, people who have the most basic jobs in the world. She sees them as craftsmen in society. The schedule they live requires a lot of patience and persistence. Everyone actually. Everyone has something to teach her. So many people do not have food to eat, why indulge yourself in your comfortable misery? ”

C: "Interesting. In the end, she wants to surpass the old self any minute. And she tries to achieve that through her work and shares her experience to people. And I want to wait for her come home tonight, and see what else can I find on her."

F: "Curiosity kills cats, but I guess cats never learn. Have a wonderful evening."