A Moment of Pleasure

2023/01-02
Antique case,led lights, backlight film
variable size

Pink light is usually associated with two images:  "sex industry" and "plant growth". Plants need artificial light to stimulate photosynthesis when there is not enough light, such as in winter or during the rainy season. Most of the plant lights on the market are white or pink. In China, people use the term "红灯区" (from the English "red light district") to refer to areas where the sex industry is concentrated. To me, the intertwining of these two images is a marvelous metaphor.
Plants were collected and cultivated,

plants were dried, flattened and examined under a microscope,

plants were documented and incorporated into the classification system

as the "curiosities" of the empire.
Women in the sex industry are also priced and selected.
The matter of them as objects of selection and gaze is strikingly similar.
In a patriarchal society, I, as a woman, was an object of gaze. But between human and plant, I became the subject of gaze. The aggregation of the subject-object relationship of the gaze in me alone gives me an unprecedented perspective. While I am consumed by patriarchal society, I also enjoy the momentary pleasure that the plant gives me.