Pre-installation Advertising

In order to advertise for my installation art project Carpool, I decided to create a photo series (for the Facebook event page that invites the public to experience the piece) that is not only attention-grabbing, but also teases the viewers of the central theme — capitalism and privilege.

Coincidentally, Chapman University’s glamorous new Musco Center for the Arts just finished construction and only allowed select individuals to visit. I was more than thrilled to direct one of the first photoshoots on this bougie lawn.

To push the visuals to an extreme, almost in a comedic and satirical way, I decided to pose in a pile of designer shopping bags in front of the building — empty bags — which further pushes the conversation about symbolism, consumerism, and public perceptions. Just a teaser of the limo installation, nothing too complex.

But where do I get the bags? My friend Amber and I got all dressed up and went to South Coast Plaza. We went to almost every single designer store I could think of and told them that we wanted a shopping bag for our installation art piece. Most of them were supportive — a couple of the sales professionals even told us that they were aspiring artists too and that they couldn’t wait to see the finished product. We were also dissed and waved off by some store associates and were told that their shopping bags were too expensive to be given away and that they only came in limited quantities. Overall, it was a success, and we did way better than I expected. I didn’t have the guts to ask Hermes — I am sorry.

Carrying 10+ huge designer bags at South Coast Plaza was a surreal experience on its own. At every corner of the mall, people were starring at us, likely amazed by how “affluent” we appeared to be and that they were witnessing the filming of a “Real OC Housewives” episode — little did they know that those were only empty bags.

Another thing I learned from this photoshoot was: it was pretty gnarly to pose in my underwear in the middle of the day in public! Sure, it wasn’t like I was nude, but that for sure got me very nervous (though my long hair helped hide my insecurities).

Photographed by Garret Hill.

Installation

Installation Art allows artists to create an immersive scenario in which the viewers can enter and reflect on their roles within a specific cultural and spatial context. Installation art is a powerful tool to provoke conversations and explore abstract matters.

These images show the day when I finally got a stretch Hammer limousine (longest at the time) onto Chapman University’s campus in the middle of the day, after 4 months of bouncing between various departments to get permits.

As an elite private school, Chapman University is often seen as distant or even intimating by the local residents, despite its years of effort to integrate into the community. I had decided to introduce a “capitalistic space,” such as an ostentatious stretch limo, onto an already glamorized soil to highlight the notion and concept of privileged spaces. A Facebook event was created to welcome anybody from the public to come inside of the limo and experience how spaces are often constructed with various abstract/arbitrarily social connotations.

In a capitalistic society, both physical products and spaces are branded. Many elite Universities brag about how low their acceptance rates are, as well as events that create special entrances and areas for their VIPs. The overarching message is loud and clear: if we don’t deem you as “worthy,” you cannot enter the space we have blocked off and therefore branded.

This installation art piece urges the viewers to contemplate about a few complex topics within our particular social context, such as “what does it mean to sit in a limo and look out the window,” “how does the presence of a limo change the physical space in the surrounding area,” “if the limo were to be parked at a less well-off University or area, how would the whole dynamic change,” etc.

Photographed by Garret Hill.