Stealing Light
Three-channel video installation
4 minutes 44 seconds
2022
When I just arrived in New York City, I felt both amazed and lost, especially when I looked into others’ windows at night. They are so bright, so warm, and so organized that I believed I could peek into their lives, which made me see how empty mine was, and how I long for going inside. With this desire for connection, I took photos and videos of the windows and projected them onto the mosquito net on my bed, so that I could be bathed in the warm light that I stole, and could appropriate the sense of home from others to my own.
Mosquito net is an unnecessary item to live with in New York, but a very important one where I grew up. There I slept with one all seasons to prevent being woken in the middle of the night by unwanted bugs. There is no shelter more light yet more capable of bearing the weight of home than it. Painting the mosquito net with the window light I stole, I am blending my past with present, reality with fiction, so that I can create an enriched space for me to feel belonged.
The title “Stealing Light” is referencing an ancient Chinese story “Zao Bi Tou Guang,” in which the boy bore a hole on a wall so that he could use the light from his neighbor to read at night. He later earned great worldly success: his name became a legend and this story is told to encourage children to study. Though I wonder if he had ever peeked through the hole to take a glimpse of his neighbor’s life. Perhaps his next-door scene had been pin-holed down on the pages of his books.
Three-channel video installation
4 minutes 44 seconds
2022
When I just arrived in New York City, I felt both amazed and lost, especially when I looked into others’ windows at night. They are so bright, so warm, and so organized that I believed I could peek into their lives, which made me see how empty mine was, and how I long for going inside. With this desire for connection, I took photos and videos of the windows and projected them onto the mosquito net on my bed, so that I could be bathed in the warm light that I stole, and could appropriate the sense of home from others to my own.
Mosquito net is an unnecessary item to live with in New York, but a very important one where I grew up. There I slept with one all seasons to prevent being woken in the middle of the night by unwanted bugs. There is no shelter more light yet more capable of bearing the weight of home than it. Painting the mosquito net with the window light I stole, I am blending my past with present, reality with fiction, so that I can create an enriched space for me to feel belonged.
The title “Stealing Light” is referencing an ancient Chinese story “Zao Bi Tou Guang,” in which the boy bore a hole on a wall so that he could use the light from his neighbor to read at night. He later earned great worldly success: his name became a legend and this story is told to encourage children to study. Though I wonder if he had ever peeked through the hole to take a glimpse of his neighbor’s life. Perhaps his next-door scene had been pin-holed down on the pages of his books.
偷光
三频道视频装置
4’44’’
2022
我刚到纽约的时候，常在夜幕降临后站在街上看别人家的窗。那些窗子又大又亮，透出温暖的光。我目不转睛地看了一扇又一扇，看到每个家独特的秩序、丰富的生活，也看到了自己光秃秃的窗户、荒芜的生活。于是我拍下了许多窗户，把他们投影在我房间的蚊帐上。只要我坐在床上，就能沐浴在偷来的万家灯火中。
蚊帐在纽约并不是件必需品，但在我的家乡，我必需一年四季都挂着蚊帐睡觉，否则半夜必定被蚊虫吵醒。蚊帐就是梦的庇护所，薄如蝉翼，又承载着家的重量。蚊帐上偷来的光里，虚与实、过去与现在互相交错，融铸成我的容身之处。
“偷光”一名来自《凿壁偷光》的故事：勤奋贫朴的小孩在墙上凿出一个洞，偷着邻居家里的灯火看书。尽管这是个以世俗功名激励后世小孩用功读书的故事，我还是忍不住想：不知道故事里的匡衡是否曾透过这个小洞偷窥邻居的生活？隔壁的光景是否曾透过这个小孔，成像在匡衡的书页上？
三频道视频装置
4’44’’
2022
我刚到纽约的时候，常在夜幕降临后站在街上看别人家的窗。那些窗子又大又亮，透出温暖的光。我目不转睛地看了一扇又一扇，看到每个家独特的秩序、丰富的生活，也看到了自己光秃秃的窗户、荒芜的生活。于是我拍下了许多窗户，把他们投影在我房间的蚊帐上。只要我坐在床上，就能沐浴在偷来的万家灯火中。
蚊帐在纽约并不是件必需品，但在我的家乡，我必需一年四季都挂着蚊帐睡觉，否则半夜必定被蚊虫吵醒。蚊帐就是梦的庇护所，薄如蝉翼，又承载着家的重量。蚊帐上偷来的光里，虚与实、过去与现在互相交错，融铸成我的容身之处。
“偷光”一名来自《凿壁偷光》的故事：勤奋贫朴的小孩在墙上凿出一个洞，偷着邻居家里的灯火看书。尽管这是个以世俗功名激励后世小孩用功读书的故事，我还是忍不住想：不知道故事里的匡衡是否曾透过这个小洞偷窥邻居的生活？隔壁的光景是否曾透过这个小孔，成像在匡衡的书页上？
Special Thanks to Enersto Klar
Installation Photos taken by Dong Lin,
from Doll House: Sidian Liu’s Solo Exhibition, Banshan Lin Gallery, Chengdu, China, 2022