Gold Cannot Buy (金不換)

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Materials : metallic thread, ink stick, rice paper, helium balloon, and glass container

 

This work was inspired by 'Mothy'.

To Mothy :"No matter where you are, I wish that you will have a fulfilling life".

“Gold Cannot Buy” opens an exuvial journey underpinned by an irrational necessity and an investment of speculative, unquantifiable impulse towards perpetual making. Conflating lived and constructed temporalities, the work exists between precarity, gravity, and pure joy. 

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Context: I found a little pupae on the cold, dusty garage floor one day. Not knowing what I was supposed to do upon such find, I decided to investigate further. I placed it on the table, waiting for some signs of life. It didn't move a jot. What a pity, I thought to myself. I looked at its intricate design that haven't  got a chance to refine itself, the seemingly embossed outlines of its wings and antennae, which looked like they were literally stuck to its dark brown case. As I was looking it up on the internet, I chanced a upon a video showing how the pupae can actually wiggle upon touch. It worked! Very gently it moved its butt in circular motion. It was creepy and adorable at the same time. Anyway, it was alive! Gradually over weeks, I changed its bedding that were made of soft leaves and grass, and wet its surrounding with a few drops of water regularly. When in doubt, I will pick it up gently to make sure it was not dead. Then one day, I found an empty case, something had escaped from it. Only a translucent oval husk remains, and for the first time, I realised how tight its interior was, and stood in disbelief that anything can even live in it. So, the drama was over, and Mothy was nowhere to be found. No wings flapping as I had imagined many times, no frantic knocks like what cockchafters do, often crashing noisily and clumsily into things. Nothing! I stood there in awe, staring at the empty husk, and thought, "Such a beautiful existence!" It had to do its thing, regardless of the excitement and attention it created since the very first day it showed up on the cold hard garage floor. It came, it stayed, and it went. So until today, I have no idea what Mothy looked like, or where it went. Has it got big beautiful wings, big eyes and long antennae? Has it found a family to live with, or a partner, or does it sometimes hang around in the garden in the evenings, or has it gone far? While the theatre of Mothy's life played on, I was reflecting on my own practice. I thought about various things, of developing, deepening and sustaining my practice, and the importance of nurturing a healthy internal gravitas. Perhaps "Gold Cannot Buy" heralds a desire, a hope, a commitment that only Mothy might understand. 

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The choice of using a helium balloon is deliberate. It is a finite resource that is used to operate MRI machines. Many apologies and thank you to helium. I promise to keep it with me for as long as I can.

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Performed at the hARTslane Gallery, 120 mins, London, UK​

Photos : Kelvin Atmadibrata , Jennifer Ng

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