Wenjie Dong is a grad student majors in philosophy and politics, also a freelance fine art photographer. Her work mostly focus on feminism and people’s living environment in modern time. The work she’s just done is about how, and why young Chinese woman want to show the perfect side in front of the public, seducing the male or pleasing themselves.

Nan Zhong: Thanks for accepting the invitation of my artist book project “Personal Narrative”. It’s really fantastic working with you!

Wenjie Dong: You are welcome.

NZ: So what’s the story of you to shoot this serial of work?

WD: You probably know, there are many young girls in China, want to ask some professional photographer shoot photo for them. The requirement is easy, just make them look beautiful. The difficult part is define “beautiful”. Some of them like large aperture, strong light, vague image, which can make them look innocent. Others may more concentrate on makeup and dress. I also did some of those kind of work. It’s easy to know what photo style they want, but I in my perspective, I would rather say they want their photo to be appealing than wanting them “beautiful”. There are two reason that people need an appealing photo, seducing others, or pleasing themselves.

NZ: So which reason do you think your client want to do.

WD: Maybe half half. It’s hard to say the exact reason. But for me, I kind of don’t like the idea that being appealing just for others.

NZ: So you shot these work to satire?

WD: It’s pretty much like that. There is another girl ask me for helping her shooting “beautiful photos”. I don’t know exactly the reason she want to shoot the pictures, but I did a sarcastic experiment this time.

NZ: Was the girl ask you to shoot the photos for her mad at you, when she saw these pictures?

WD: Not so much actually. I think these are still beautiful photos, but just not the kind of “beautiful” we meant in everyday life. I assumed the girl wanted to use these photos to seduce males, so I just made the recessive requirement overt.

And I also give these to some of my male friends, ask them if they like it. A little bit to my surprised, they did. And I think my experiment is a kind of successes.

NZ: Yes, I like this serial of works too. Besides portrait, you have also shot some landscape and still life, the images are beautiful. And I like the one which the girl camouflaged by the red flowers’ image, I love this metaphor and the implicit way it present.

WD: Thank you.

Yizhu Yang is a professional fiction writer and pad-book designing artist based on Kunming, Yunnan Province, Where Chinese people call it “the garden of China”. She was the college mate and good friend of mine. She have a relatively harsh but insistently time when she applied for the grad school after the college. Her perspective of the university campus might also be slightly different than anyone else.

Nan Zhong: What’s your photos basically talking about? What’s your strory?

Yizhu Yang: I would rather call it “A day of a Chinese college student.” (Laugh)

NZ: Fair enough! But since I know you have a relatively rough time when you applied for a grad school in China, I think you must have a different perspective than anyone else to the topic of “school life.”

YY: Ennnn, yes you can say that. But my work is still based on a general sight of the school life, I think. You mentioned that my applying journey may different from anyone else, which I cannot agree with. I think applying from a grad school is hard for every student. They probably have different difficulties, but still difficult generally speaking.

NZ: Ok, so let’s talk about your work. There are two photos I’m really interested in. One is the banner which hanging with a lot of flyers about Government Choosing Examination training, why you shot this one as a part of your “school life”?

YY: That’s because I was a little angry (laughed), I was confused why Chinese students are so enthusiastic about being a government officer. Is it because of the job more stable and has a higher social class. At least I don’t think so. I believe people have to have a job which they like, interest should always be the only reason of choosing a career. Do you remember we have a classmate who committed suicide just because of he failed in that stupid government choosing examination?

NZ: Yes, I did. He took such heavy pressure of his parents expecting him being a government officer…

YY: Right, I think such expectation is morbid. And in China, grand of young students are willing to be a government officer just because of their parents want them to. They don’t even like it. And it’s not only their parents’ fault, the students should know their life expectation of themselves sooner.

NZ: Ok, let’s talk something more breezily. I noticed that you took a pic of your school mess hall. I was surprised that you didn’t take the photo of the food. You always post food pictures on social media!

YY: Hahah, that’s because I didn’t get into it that day! I was passing by the mess hall, and think about “why our mess hall is so ratty lake this!” then I took this photo.

NZ: I know we had the best school mess hall in our college once.

YY: Yes, so there always be shitty thing in our lives that we have to deal with.

NZ: Indeed. So how’s your school life now? Generally speaking.

YY: Pretty good I have to say. Now I went to school only when I have class or thesis have to write. Other time I would like to stay at home, with my boyfriend. That’s the reason I can see school in a more objective perspective now. And I think I also learned a lot in grad school, now I was a little bit shamed of I didn’t work hard when the undergraduate time.

NZ: Sure we all did.

The Interview of Two Female Photographer was originally published in NAJ 5220–001: Wired Writing: Culture and Community on the WWW on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Early morning, Randolph

Clink clink, coffee cups

The L clunks

down the block

Men in suits, briefcases

Students with bags for eyes

The 7 a.m. regulars

A coffee to-go

Croissant flakes over an empty stomach

breakfast at tiffany’s type

Crowd

in the Loop

but out of body

until the caffeine pulls

you down

punches you up

and spits you

back out

the revolving door

You push back in

swinging in full circle

for 3pm

pick-me-up

with weary legs

Eyes searching,

empty seats,

caught by

popping colors

— mugs and hats,

logos and charms

And new art on

display

LOVE &

“B” LOVED

waiting in line,

waiting,

waiting…

Love &

waiting

“B” LOVED

waiting

Love & “B” LOVED

waiting &

a coffee to-stay

Intelligentsia Coffee Millennium Park Coffeebar

53 East Randolph Street

http://www.intelligentsiacoffee.com/location/millennium-park-coffeebar

*This was originally posted in PROJECT chicaGO’s online publication.

PROJECT chicaGO: Intelligentsia Coffee Millennium Park Coffeebar was originally published in NAJ 5220–001: Wired Writing: Culture and Community on the WWW on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

A Classic Sedaris Piece: "Big Boy"

Wonderful Things From Me To You. was originally published in NAJ 5220–001: Wired Writing: Culture and Community on the WWW on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Ritika Gupta: What exactly is the goal of Sex Signals?

Anne Dufault: To teach people to be good bystanders and to create an environment that supports survivors of sexual assault through humor. Our actual, biggest goal is to become obsolete!

RG: How do you use comedy to tackle sensitive issues like rape?

AD: Imagine this. I am here to educate you about sexual assault. And I start off with, “Alright guys, I’m going to lecture you about rape; rape is awful.” It won’t work, right? So we use comedy through theater to instigate talking. We first make people laugh and comfortable and eventually segue into having a serious conversation while still being our funny selves as sexual assault is a universally difficult topic to talk about. And we don’t make jokes at the survivors’ expense, but rather about our culture instead.

An example of such a joke?

RG: Who is your typical audience?

AD: We work with the Army, and with high schools and colleges.

RG: How do students react differently from military personnel?

AD: Unlike the military personnel, high school kids are not bothered by what their peers think of their opinions. They are candid bombs.

RG: What is your biggest challenge?

AD: Sometimes people say very offensive things that might be hurtful to another audience member. But I’ve figured that they very rarely say it to be cynical. They say things because they genuinely mean it. So one of the biggest challenges is to figure out what their questions are and how to be able to answer them.

RG: Can you give an example?

AD: The most common scenario is victim blaming. Men are afraid that they will be falsely accused of something, so they resort to victim blaming.

RG: So the victim is always a female in your show?

AD: No. Since I work with the army (sometimes an all-male audience), we do cater to other issues like hazing.

RG: How do you tackle victim blaming?

AD: There are different ways. Depending upon the situation, we either state facts and stats to prove them or we break down victim blaming and point out that even if she had done everything she had differently, it would still be the offender’s fault.

RG: How effective is this method of using humor?

AD: Extremely. We have seen changes from when we started to where we are right now. After 3500 shows viewed by a million people, we can actually see that people now know what to say to a creepy person at a bar.

We don’t jump into the sensitive subjects. We start off on a light note, and end with a scene where the offender defends his actions and says it was not rape. We then start to discuss whose fault it really was.[SAS6]

We are planting seeds and will soon see trees[SAS7] .

A really fascinating subject. You have a good line of questioning that is well focused. However, some aspects of her responses could use some clarifying or expanding. A bit more either in the intro or within the interview about how the company goes into schools and workshops with the military. I would also try to get some of the humor into the interview.

TALKING TABOO THROUGH COMEDY was originally published in NAJ 5220–001: Wired Writing: Culture and Community on the WWW on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

We chose ten pieces of art work in the Institute of Chicago (AIC), took picture of them, wrote a word (or a phrase) of each one of them. The art piece we chose must includes both Eastern and Western elements, so is the poem.

We got a really fanciful poem in the end, hope you like it as we do.

Enjoy!

East Meet West was originally published in NAJ 5220–001: Wired Writing: Culture and Community on the WWW on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

In order to capture where East meets West, we chose art objects from AIC where two traditions converge: blue and white porcelain executed by a Dutch master, European dress painted on a bookbinding in Iran, or Monet’s water lilies at Japanese inspired garden.

East Meets West was originally published in NAJ 5220–001: Wired Writing: Culture and Community on the WWW on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

001.
Mixed Success Among the Silos
Luscious Chicanery
Against Incessant Humming…
Overcome with Nerves
Statis
Inertia
Status Quo
Goddamned Reprieve
For the Love Of God.

Our silos,
They launch,
And leave us alone,
We have lost ourselves,
I long for you in our winter,
And rape your holocaust away,
Our codes,
Like splinters
Our children,
With new found disgust in us,
With dread and a strange hum,
A noise that echoes like a cancer.
 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
001.a
Serpents/ I touch you/ violence/ I saw you die/ fingers/ heart/ resurrection/ seed/ battlefield/ orchard/ monster/ I breathe/ stop laughing at me/ infect me/ sleep/ your skin is soft/ virus/ are you strong

Whale/ the World/ she is so beautiful/ destroy/ immune/ the beast within/ I don’t understand you/

Essence/ unfamiliar sweetness/wrapping like rice paper/ exposed/ solace and remedy/ sparkling orbs/ learning again/ your wonderment in perpetuity/
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Good God, I’m Writing Poetry was originally published in NAJ 5220–001: Wired Writing: Culture and Community on the WWW on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The bright red and yellow signage and bar tables are there to warn you early on about your upcoming addiction and withdrawal symptoms. I guarantee you — your late-night cravings will kick in soon after trying The Halal Guys for the first time.

Halal food refers to food acceptable according to Muslim law. Meat must be prepared under specific instructions, making sure all blood is drained from the carcass. Countless of Chicagoans, muslims and non-muslims, have become regular customers at The Halal Guys since its opening last August.

I met with Steve Chong — one of the co-owners of The Halal Guys Chicago, a foodie, and a fun friend — for a quick conversation about the restaurant, his inside tips on how to order, and the difference between the stores in NYC and Chicago. Steve is keeping himself busy these days, getting ready to open the second location this summer in the loop (180 N Wabash Ave).

Joanne Kim: How would you introduce your restaurant to a stranger who has never tried The Halal Guys before?

Steve Chong: The Halal Guys is one of the most well-known food trucks from New York. The store in Chicago is the first storefront of the original food truck. There’s always a line of people waiting to try it throughout the year. The greatest thing about this line is that it’s not just Muslims, Asians, White, or students — it’s a mix of everyone, including businessmen in suits. It’s crazy! For everyone to come in line is in itself a cultural experience.

JK: What’s your signature menu?

SC: Our signature menu is the platter with lettuce, tomatoes, rice, with chicken and gyro on it. You can get falafels too if you want. Then we have our famous “white sauce” that everyone talks about. I can’t tell you what’s in it, but it’s our “cherry-on-top.” A lot of people tried coming up with a copied recipe to recreate the sauce, but no one’s been successful. There are number of fake Halal Guys food-trucks because of the popularity.

JK: Is The Halal Guys in Chicago any different from the one in New York City?

SC: We cut the chicken a little thicker here — that way the meat stays juicier. The original owners in New York initially cut it in thicker chucks but now they serve the chicken more shredded at the carts instead because it cooks faster so people can go through the line quicker.

JK: Any tips on ordering?

SC: Order half chicken, half gyro. Put as much white sauce on as you can, as in order an extra white sauce. Get the hot sauce on the side so you can try very little first to see if you can handle the spice. If you can, then add more. Plus, get the BBQ sauce.

JK: BBQ sauce?? You have that?

SC: Not a lot of people know about this, but we have it. It gives the platter a little tangy taste. It’s my favorite. I can’t eat without it.

Steve was on point. I can’t go back to enjoying my platter without the BBQ sauce anymore.

The Halal Guys

49 West Division Street

http://thehalalguys.com/

https://www.instagram.com/thehalalguyschicago/

*This was originally posted in PROJECT chicaGO’s online publication.

PROJECT chicaGO: The Halal Guys was originally published in NAJ 5220–001: Wired Writing: Culture and Community on the WWW on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Two weeks ago I opened Glamour magazine on page 153 and read this — half idle, half serious questionnaire/q&a with Justin Bieber, no shame. Written down by Kate Branch, author on glamour.com, the interview touched Bieber’s recent album Purpose, its gem Sorry and his tattoos. I went down the list and got a familiar feeling of reading a teen custom-made of a notebook quiz for friends with questions like eye color/favorite movie/biggest dream.

Simplicity and naivety of these questions prove true if the subject is a Canadian pop star or the person you know since preschool. I went somewhere in the middle and decided to ask the same things a person who is a writer on Medium as well, my college mate and journalist Anna Savina. She is an editor in a digital publication about business, creative economics and tech industries SecretMag.ru. She writes in both Russian and English and has recently launched her own weekly newsletter featuring best longreads. In real life and normal environment it is unlikely I would ask her about singing in the shower.

What’s your most underrated characteristic? Patience and empathy.

Your favorite iPhone app? Pocket.

Most used emoji on your phone?

What’s the last song you sang in the shower? I don’t sing in the shower.

Somewhere in the world you haven’t been that you’d like to go? South America.

What would you want as your last meal on earth? Tabbouleh with grilled vegetables or something like this.

What is your greatest fear? Being alone.

First splurge? iPod.

The TV show you’re binge-watching now? Broad City.

Last person you kissed? My ex-boyfriend.

Which living person do you most admire? Hans Ulrich Obrist/Elon Musk.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? I’d get rid of procrastination.

What do you look for in men? Intelligence, sense of humor and pro-feminist perspectives.

What trait do you most value in your friends? Their kindness and sense of purpose.

Three words that best describe you? Hard-working, chaotic, curious.

What’s the craziest thing someone’s said to you on social media? That I’m a well known internet personality.

What’s your biggest dream? I don’t share my biggest dreams.

Artist you’d love to work with? Amalia Ulman, Ryan Trecartin, Ed Fornieles, Camille Henrot, Olia Lialina, Jon Rafman.

Last time you said sorry? Yesterday.

Who are you listening to on YouTube right now? I mostly watch make up tutorials.

What’s your most Russian quality? Emotional dependency on others.

How would you describe to not-journalists what your work is about?Telling stories, explaining complex things that make sense.

Join me and Anna and ask your serious friend what is most used emoji on their phone. #branchbieberquestionnaire

Most used emoji on your phone? was originally published in NAJ 5220–001: Wired Writing: Culture and Community on the WWW on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The short fiction is inspired by Yizhu Yang’s work “One Day at School”

Yizhu Yang is a profetional fiction writer and padbook designing artist based on Kunming, Yunnan Province, Where Chinese people call it “the garden of China”.

Enjoy!

A Lovely Story I’ll Never Tell

By Nan Zhong

Photoed by Yizhu Yang

M likes two things, old guy and school. She doesn’t feel uncomfortable dressing like a school girl and taking a guy who is twenty years older than her to a party which is full of twenty something old young people, just like her. Even her friend are all afraid of drinking crazily or smoking pot in front of a parents-ish man.

“You really need money that bad, hum?” M’s friends always tease her like this.

“I can pay the bill myself, sugar-daddy is always out of discussion. I just feel peacefully being with them, they are so mature.”

“Take a meditation class then, if you just want peace.”

No one can be more perfect than L for M. L will be 45 in the end of November, and he teaches in a well-known university in town. When they go out for a dinner, M would wear a knee-length skirt and white blouse, L likes sweater with a bow-tie. M always laughs at L’s bow-tie, because they do look hilarious. Mistletoe or red-nose reindeer for Christmas, cartoonish red heart in Valentin. Although M likes to make fun of L’s bow-tie, she still keeps buying more wired ones for him.

“You look really funny with that bow-tie!”

“I think you are right. I have stayed in school for all of my life, I must be really stupid.”

M doesn’t think L is stupid at all. On the opposite, she regard him as the smartest man she’s ever known, including her own father. Every time L takes M to see a gallery or a museum, M feels like she takes an art history class, but the interesting one. M’s specialty was falling asleep in each history class in high school. To M, L is a kind of history.

History is always peaceful to read, just like L’s snoring. After they make love, L would fall asleep directly, as M get out of the bed, sit in front of the desk, writing. L’s rhythmed snoring is the best background music when she’s working. And the other day, M will be risen up by a long depth kiss of L, when he has already suited up, about leaving for work.

“I made you some breakfast, my nocturnal girl, stay up late then get up late, like a teenager.”

L makes scramble egg with sausage every morning. M would love to eat them up. She just forgot how she hated eggs when she was young. Her mom always forced her eating eggs, and she always feed them to the family dog, Whity. After the breakfast, M will text L.

“Your nocturnal girl eat up breakfast.”

“Your grumpy old bear glade to hear that.”

No, L isn’t grumpy, he only behaved grumpily once. Once, M want to try a new position, which is heard from her girlfriend, that L should lift her up. And then L twisted his waste.

“I think you should go back to your own place. Go, I don’t need you taking care of me.”

And M did, in the middle of the night.

“Yes, he may need sometime being alone.” L thought.

That night, L slept at her own place. She keep the lease of her own apartment, just in case, like that night.

Although, L is over 40 years old, he never married. A classic story that M has heard for hundred times is

“All my friends have divorced!”

Then L would started to tell how “All his friends” got divorced.

“Why don’t you apply for a grad school? Then we can be together forever!”

Sometimes M really think it’s a great idea.

Personal Narrative was originally published in NAJ 5220–001: Wired Writing: Culture and Community on the WWW on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.