Sleeping in the gallery

2018

I made a kinetic sculpture piece for a group show. It’s a dummy in a sleeping bag, designed with a calm and subtle breathing movement pattern that’s hard to notice unless you observe it closely.

Part of the piece's inspiration came from watching my mom on her deathbed for years and the fear that her breathing might stop at any moment. But another part of the inspiration came from the humor in the common "no sleeping overnight" policy in artist studios. I had fun secretly sleeping in my sleeping bag in my studio while late-night security guard flashed their light on my face.

A 2018 Pre-Show Critique with
Arnold J. Kemp, Rebecca Walz, Doug Stapleton, Susan Kraut, and Tyson Reeder

The reason I felt the need to create a subtly moving sculpture might have something to do with spending hours looking at my mom on her death bed. Maybe it was way before that, having a family member with severe sickness for a decade, and not knowing which moment he/she/they/it might stop breathing, has been a constant thought in my head.

Somehow in this constant stage of fear, I started finding this idea funny, and so I thought to make a sculpture mimicking that expereince. When visitors see this sculpture in a group show setting inside a gallery, they might think “oh, it’s just a boring ‘art’ piece of a dummy inside a sleeping bag.” But if by chance an audeince notices the sculpture is actually moving, and start staring at it to double check whether it’s really moving or not. I guess I find joy in creating that experience.

cut 1 (testing)

cut 2, adjusting for gallery setting