Chun-Fang brings time zones to life in an interactive installation
Chun-Fang Tsay moved from Taiwan to Arnhem to study Graphic Design at ArtEZ Academy for Art & Design Arnhem. For her graduation project, she created an installation about time zones, daylight saving time and long-haul flights. It’s a deeply personal work that invites people to experience what it feels like to exist between different places, different times and different worlds.
Graphic Design is about more than paper and typography
During her studies, Chung Fang embraced the diversity and versatility of Graphic Design as a discipline. Her practice spans editorial design, photography, print, video, coding and installation art. “Friends told me the programme was incredibly open. You’re not limited to paper or typography. The tutors come from different disciplines, so the encourage you to explore the same subject in completely different ways.” That creative freedom is exactly what drew her to ArtEZ in Arnhem.
That approach also changed the way Chun-Fang works. “Photography was one of the ways I started making work. During my studies, I realised the medium doesn’t have to come first. I always begin with a subject that fascinates me, and then I discover which form fits it best.”
An installation where the hour repeats itself
Her graduation project, Daylight Saving Time, revolves around a strange moment everyone has experienced: the hour between one and two o’clock when the clocks change in spring and autumn. Instead of focusing on the hour that disappears, Chun-Fang became interested in the moment when it repeats itself. That became the starting point for an interactive installation. “I’m fascinated by the exceptions. We’ve divided the world into 24 time zones, but there are always moments when that system breaks down. I wanted to make that grey area visible.”
During her graduation exhibition, visitors walked through the installation themselves. They encountered a digital clock permanently suspended between one and two, while live airport footage from different time zones played beneath it. Chun-Fang deliberately left the work open to interpretation. “I barely explained anything. I simply showed how the system works. That leaves space for people to make their own connections and brings their own reflections and feelings into the work. I’m happy to see it evokes different associations from spectators.”
Learning to think through making
At ArtEZ, Chun-Fang discovered that design doesn’t start with the perfect idea. Making is what helps her think. “I trust myself much more now than I used to. There isn’t one right answer. At the start of every project, I build my own system, but I also know it can change along the way.”
That mindset is reflected throughout her work. In one class, she created an artist’s book using nothing but NASA data about planets that could potentially support human life. Every page contains only numbers. “It’s not a book you read like an information book. I wanted to transform all that data into a physical object. By printing it, binding it and turning it into a book, you start looking at the data in a completely different way. That process of translation is what interests me.”
Follow what genuinely fascinates you
For Chun-Fang, the strength of Graphic Design at ArtEZ isn’t a particular style, it’s the diversity of its makers. “In the studio, I see students with completely different fascinations inspiring each other every day. You walk through the Department and every project feels different. Everyone has their own way of seeing and making. That creates a strong creative energy.”
Her advice to future students: don’t let other people define what a graphic designer should be. “Trust what you love. There’s no single right way to make work. What matters is finding something you’re genuinely curious about. Something you’ll want to keep exploring for years
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