Artificial Moon

The order of the lights The shape of the moon The cold white light An imaginary moon has been created by ten thousand energy-saving bulbs and a high voltage electricity supply, allowing people to enjoy a natural phenomenon in modern cultural emporiums, replacing the moon cited in ancient poems. (Artificial Moon is a sphere with a diameter of four meters, made up of ten thousand fluorescent light bulbs of various shapes and sizes and a high voltage electricity supply. With this work, I’m not trying to mimic the natural phenomenon of the moon, I want to highlight human creation and artificiality. Humans have already imitated the moon and its light-giving qualities by inventing light bulbs. Often this artificial lighting we have created even exceeds nature and after the initial fascination, through light pollution we begin to feel shame. What I want to do with this work is replace the romanticised natural moon referenced within culture, with the artificial moon, which is symbolic of the excess of human creation.

When exhibiting this work, the audience first react in awe at the aesthetic beauty of the glowing sphere – it is an unbelievably huge light. But then their reaction shifts to one of worry as they think about how many light bulbs and how much energy is being used.)