1) The author accepted an art residency in a small, conservative county in South Carolina and was warned about the "rednecks" living there. 2) As one of the few foreigners in the county, the author had to take rides to the local flea market for groceries and supplies. 3) At the flea market, the author met interesting people like an environmentalist running a public garden and an architect building small houses, and found that residents valued different perspectives.

1. A N A D V E N T U R E I N R E N S I N G

2. When I was living in New England, the U.S., I was accepted into
the art residency program of Rensing Center located at a
small county in South Carolina. At that time, almost
everyone told me that South Carolina was one of the most
conservative states with many crude “rednecks”.
However, I decided to take the chance to continue my art creation.

3. As imagined, the
county barely had
foreigners. Also,
since there is no
public
transportation and
no stores within
walking distance, I
had to take a ride
with other people
to a local flee
market every
Wednesday for
grocery shopping.
For the first time
in the market,

4. Yet, to complete
my grocery
shopping, I
carefully went
for a stand
selling fresh
goat milk,
organic vegetable
and several
grenades. My
curiosity also
drove me to try
bargaining for
antique gadgets,
such as a 1800s
tin type photo.

5. In the residency program, I met the artists who had multiple
identities such as sound artist, textile maker, poet, film professor,
environmentalist and gay rights activist. As the only person from
China, I was always the one to be friendly asked questions.

6. The Movie Night was the first gathering I joined in Rensing.
The residency director invited her old friends to watch the
film Good Morning Vietnam, which truly brought them back to
youth, and stirred their complex emotions. As a veteran and
film professor, Bill was curious about my opinion. However, I
could not be a representative of Asian or Chinese as he
expected. Also, I regretted that I had lacked serious thought

7. As I got used to
responding to
numerous questions, I
also became a active
questioner. The
collision of ideas
from different
disciplines and
cultures pushed me to
think of issues that
I had used to ignore.

8. In Rensing Center, I met
a lot of interesting
people: an
environmentalist who
managed a public organic
garden, an architect who
tried to build the
smallest house with full
functions, a paper-making
artist who was doing
mind-cure for veterans by
engaging them with his
papermaking, and so forth.
Meanwhile, they valued my
experiences and
perspectives from my

9. For the time in Rensing, what I most appreciate
is not overcoming culture shock and
inconvenience of country life, but finding out
that people care each side of the society and

10. This four-month residency program was such a gift that
I could have an opportunity to slow down my life,
communicate by heart and think on my social value.
Right before the Christmas in 2014,