I was assigned to review Wenchang Jia’s blog. When I first visited his blog, I was immediately drawn to its visually appealing cover. The overall layout uses a single main image as the cover, accompanied by text with captions. His blog content effectively combines lecture materials, reading resources, and his own experience visiting exhibitions to shape his SICP. Some of the unique personal reflections and vivid descriptions of how a particular artwork sparked a shift in thinking are the distinctive strengths of his blog. However, a weakness is that some of the language is overly brief, making it difficult for readers to grasp the content clearly. I suggest using short but clear sentences to provide further explanation for these sections. Additionally, I believe the oversimplified statements in the Week 13 blog post require further development; the blog should not be written hastily simply because the semester is coming to an end.
I really appreciate the personal style he demonstrated in the first week when he reflected on his background in broadcasting and named the blog “A New Beginning.” He combined his experience visiting the Picasso Museum with Ana Bilbao’s theory that “large-scale exhibitions sacrifice the quality of interaction[1].” However, I believe his connection between the Matthew Arthur Williams exhibition and SVAO’s “engage with specific communities” is not particularly strong.
From week 2, he began selecting artworks and connecting them to both coursework and the insights gained from visiting exhibitions. For example, he reflected on artwork Linwood Battery Plant Fire in relation to his SICP Scars of Progress and the concept of “curating as midwifery” from Curating as Ethics[2]. However, his statement regarding the 60-minute rapid exhibition challenge in Week 3—“turning rapid practice into a method for my project”—was unclear, leaving me unable to grasp how this practice was applied to his SICP project.
I highly appreciate his decision in Week 5 to incorporate real materials as “evidence” into his exhibition selection based on a CAP student’s work. I believe this was an attempt to lend greater depth and persuasiveness to the exhibition’s theme. He also designed the walls and lighting for his exhibition based on the content of the article[3]. In my view, this represents very practical preparatory work for the exhibition.
Week 6 marks progress in his SICP text design, selection of artwork dimensions, exhibition safety, and the design of exhibition walls and lighting. However, the format presented in his Curatorial Pitch this week did not meet the requirements for a blog with text and images. Instead, it consisted of screenshots from his presentation slides. I believe this aspect could be improved by carefully reviewing the instructions.
From Week 7 to Week 9, he focused on collective’s practice at Summerhall and the exhibition labels. Through reading and gallery visits[4], he began designing accessibility facilities, including text and background colors, sunglasses and chairs.
In Week 10, through visiting exhibitions of installation, he further solidified the idea that had emerged in Week 5: “to place real physical objects beneath the photographic content” I also saw his detailed description of this aspect in his SICP: “a sample of wastewater, beneath the images bridges the gap between two-dimensional artworks and tangible reality.” However, during Week 13, when he mentioned “practical curatorial skills for my future artistic career”, I suggested he elaborate on the specific skills he had learned, as the blog was shorter and of lower quality than before.
[1] Bilbao, A. (2018) ‘Micro-Curating: The Role of SVAOS (Small Visual Arts Organisations) in the History of Exhibition-Making’, Notebook for Art, Theory and Related Zones, 25, pp. 118-138. [2] Martinon, J.-P. (2020) Curating as Ethics. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. [3] Wang, X., Wang, Z., Qian, X. and Qiao, H. (2026) ‘Impact of Luminous Environment on Visual Attention and Emotional Response in Screen-Based Immersive Narrative Spaces: An Experimental Study’, Buildings, 16(4), p. 696. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings16040696 (Accessed: 12 February 2026). [4] Hutson, P. and Hutson, J. (2024) ‘Expanding Sensory Kit Utilization Across Age and Contexts: Bridging Gaps for Inclusive Accessibility’, Novel Trends in Mental Health. Available at: https://digitalcommons.lindenwood.edu/faculty-research-papers/699/ (Accessed: 8 March 2026).
