Guilty Pleasure
2023
Installation / Web-based Interaction
Guilty Pleasure serves as a visual representation of the internal conflict I grapple with every time I engage in the act of shopping. The project is set in a space divided into 'outside' and 'inside.' An attractive window display, featuring a mannequin in a shiny pink costume and phrases like '99% Off,' along with a sticker saying 'Limited Time' and 'Today Only,' invites people to step inside the store.
Once inside, with a store manager’s promises of big discounts, shoppers start shopping for items enthusiastically by clicking the ‘shop’ button on the screen. With each click, many fashion items appear on the screen, similar to what the mannequin is wearing. But as people zoom in the products, they discover pollution images hidden in the clothes. The mix of splendid, vibrant fabric representations and dirty images symbolizes the chaos in my own mind whenever I shop; I feel happy, yet guilty. Zooming out, all the products together form a sphere, resembling the Earth turned into a trash ball—a strong symbol of the environmental consequences of excessive shopping.
