“Why is art beautiful? Because it’s useless. Why is life ugly? Because it’s all aims, objectives and intentions.”
Fernando Pessoa
“The struggle itself towards the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.”
Albert Camus
“Why is art beautiful? Because it’s useless. Why is life ugly? Because it’s all aims, objectives and intentions.”
Fernando Pessoa
“The struggle itself towards the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.”
Albert Camus
Contingent Destiny
Contingent Destiny
Destiny as a contingency, not a goal.
Journeys with pre-determined destinations are engulfed in the ideology (not objective truth) that all actions are investments for a future payoff. Say, an artwork that is aimed to sell, a film that is targeted at winning awards, a social media account that ought to be followed by millions, or an affection that has to deepen from meeting to defining to a familial future… Over+Time+Con-tingency (OTC) is an alternate liminal space where the state or process itself becomes the subject — there’s no direction, no completion, and no ETA.
Destiny as a contingency, not a goal.
Journeys with pre-determined destinations are engulfed in the ideology (not objective truth) that all actions are investments for a future payoff. Say, an artwork that is aimed to sell, a film that is targeted at winning awards, a social media account that ought to be followed by millions, or an affection that has to deepen from meeting to defining to a familial future… Over+Time+Con-tingency (OTC) is an alternate liminal space where the state or process itself becomes the subject — there’s no direction, no completion, and no ETA.
Lunar Eclipse
Clear Stream
Sage, Sepia, Shower
Moon
Bunny Language
Hot Tea
Lost Monday
LA on a
Saturday Night
Traffic Lights
Lunar Eclipse
Clear Stream
Sage, Sepia, Shower
Moon
Bunny Language
Hot Tea
Lost Monday
LA on a
Saturday Night
Traffic Lights
Origin of Colors
Origin of Colors
Physical absence created a saturation of memories. Every time I recall a fragment, two contradictory yet coherent things happened: the memory bled into the present, while also getting tinted by the present — by surroundings, temperature, somatic sensations, smell, mood, and so on.
Each spirit-summoning became an re-event, rather than a re-play. One prominent spirit arrived with some blurred colors: green from the grass outside my studio and light brown from the streets.
Every time I summoned part of her spirit, that spirit lived alongside me for a moment, and my new memory being formed was partially shaped by that spirit too. I began seeing more colors, and started jointing these abstract visions down with watercolor as memory fragments.
Physical absence created a saturation of memories. Every time I recall a fragment, two contradictory yet coherent things happened: the memory bled into the present, while also getting tinted by the present — by surroundings, temperature, somatic sensations, smell, mood, and so on.
Each spirit-summoning became an re-event, rather than a re-play. One prominent spirit arrived with some blurred colors: green from the grass outside my studio and light brown from the streets.
Every time I summoned part of her spirit, that spirit lived alongside me for a moment, and my new memory being formed was partially shaped by that spirit too. I began seeing more colors, and started jointing these abstract visions down with watercolor as memory fragments.
Here, colors are affective indexes to abstract thoughts,
emerging from flows of bodily and emotional conditions in the “present” time. They are traces back to the state(s) that produced them. Since these states are tinted by the present time, they become indexes as well, pointing to the moment when the original memories were brought to the present and re-tinted.
Here, colors are affective indexes to abstract thoughts,
emerging from flows of bodily and emotional conditions in the “present” time. They are traces back to the state(s) that produced them. Since these states are tinted by the present time, they become indexes as well, pointing to the moment when the original memories were brought to the present and re-tinted.
This experiment made reunion interesting and a little confusing.
Presence didn’t replace the previous absence. Like the tethered balloons, versions of her created during absence lived on, still linked to the present image of her.
This experiment made reunion interesting and a little confusing.
Presence didn’t replace the previous absence. Like the tethered balloons, versions of her created during absence lived on, still linked to the present image of her.
Body of Works
Body of Works
9*9 Delight Balloons is designed to be surprising and tender:
when was the last time you saw 81 pearl-white balloons floating above campus? 9*9 Delight Balloons allows personal memories to take off into a shared atmosphere. The balloons turn the memories into objects with affordances: each memory you carry around is like a delight (or de-heavy) balloon that floats above your mind that you can grab. No one is leaving if you still remember them, and this work becomes an invite for a quiet form of care — holding onto those we care about closer.
9*9 Delight Balloons is designed to be surprising and tender:
when was the last time you saw 81 pearl-white balloons floating above campus? 9*9 Delight Balloons allows personal memories to take off into a shared atmosphere. The balloons turn the memories into objects with affordances: each memory you carry around is like a delight (or de-heavy) balloon that floats above your mind that you can grab. No one is leaving if you still remember them, and this work becomes an invite for a quiet form of care — holding onto those we care about closer.
9*9 Delight Balloons gradually develops into an expanded body of works that includes cards, artist books, and peripherals like folders.
9*9 Delight Balloons gradually develops into an expanded body of works that includes cards, artist books, and peripherals like folders.
Appearances
Appearances
Cover Image
StripMall Magazine Issue 5 (Spring 2026)
Cover Image
StripMall Magazine Issue 5 (Spring 2026)
Online Collection
StripMall Magazine (Spring 2026)
Online Collection
StripMall Magazine (Spring 2026)
Visit Collection
Adopted Version
CalArts Expo 2026
Adopted Version
CalArts Expo 2026
Info
Info
Year
2026
Artistic Era
Waxing Gibbous Moon
Production Timeframe
Nov 2025 - May 2026
Medium
Multimedia environment, Arduino, jumper wires, bread board, LEDs, folding table, wood boards, plastic trays, metal sheets, arcade buttons, MacBook Pro, short-throw projector, voile cloth, drop cloth, black velvet cloth
Dimensions
40 x 78.7 x 23.6 in. (installation)
Variable (projection + environment)
Special Thanks to
Touchdesigner Technical support**
JJ
Installation Support**
Nellie Xie
Jiayi Liu
Documentation Support**
Ege Atila
Jaime
Nellie Xie
©Copyright 2025-26 Sierra Zhang and Lonely Corridor Studio.
Year
2026
Artistic Era
Waxing Gibbous Moon
Production Timeframe
Nov 2025 - May 2026
Medium
Multimedia environment, Arduino, jumper wires, bread board, LEDs, folding table, wood boards, plastic trays, metal sheets, arcade buttons, MacBook Pro, short-throw projector, voile cloth, drop cloth, black velvet cloth
Dimensions
40 x 78.7 x 23.6 in. (installation)
Variable (projection + environment)
Special Thanks to
Touchdesigner Technical support**
JJ
Installation Support**
Nellie Xie
Jiayi Liu
Documentation Support**
Ege Atila
Jaime
Nellie Xie
©Copyright 2025-26 Sierra Zhang and Lonely Corridor Studio.