More confusing still was the fact that I didn't understand a word of what the hat, or the letter accompanying it, said. I was interested in my reaction, I was actually a bit frightened and annoyed at that not knowing.
But luckily the mystery is solved here.
Kota Ezawa’s Thing is all about translation. As the letter - addressed to me in Mandarin but translated on site - says about the artist:
"He focuses in on something and through a process of translation into different visual languages he shows the viewer something new in something that he or she has most likely seen many times before."
And, apparently, rather than worrying about whether people will be pointing and laughing at the rude slogan on my hat, I will be wearing instead the proud message 'The Thing Three' which I'm sure explains everything to everyone really, doesn't it? Hmmm... I need to think more about why I found this so disturbing at first. My mother always used to say I was the model Fen Girl and apparently we're notoriously bad at anything different and new, but even so.
Anyway, now I've sorted it all out, I never thought I'd be someone who wears a baseball hat, but it's on my head as I type and I don't intend to take it off for the rest of the day.
