Stealing Light
2022
Three-channel video installation
Installation dimension: A room’s size
Video duration: 4 minutes 43 seconds
The central panel is Sidian’s performance interacting with these windows she collected. The side panels are the window images synchronized with the projection in the central panel.
When Sidian just arrived in New York City, she felt both amazed and lost, especially when she looked into others’ windows at night. They are so bright, so warm, and so organized that she believed she could peek into their lives, which made me see how empty mine was, and how she long for going inside. With this desire for connection, Sidian took photos and videos of the windows and projected them onto the mosquito net on her bed, so that she could be bathed in the warm light that she stole, and could appropriate the sense of home from others to her own.
Mosquito net is an unnecessary item to live with in New York, but a very important one where Sidian grew up. There she 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, she is blending her past with present, reality with fiction, so that she can create an enriched space for her 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 Sidian wonders 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.
2022
Three-channel video installation
Installation dimension: A room’s size
Video duration: 4 minutes 43 seconds
The central panel is Sidian’s performance interacting with these windows she collected. The side panels are the window images synchronized with the projection in the central panel.
When Sidian just arrived in New York City, she felt both amazed and lost, especially when she looked into others’ windows at night. They are so bright, so warm, and so organized that she believed she could peek into their lives, which made me see how empty mine was, and how she long for going inside. With this desire for connection, Sidian took photos and videos of the windows and projected them onto the mosquito net on her bed, so that she could be bathed in the warm light that she stole, and could appropriate the sense of home from others to her own.
Mosquito net is an unnecessary item to live with in New York, but a very important one where Sidian grew up. There she 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, she is blending her past with present, reality with fiction, so that she can create an enriched space for her 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 Sidian wonders 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
2022
三频道有声视频装置
装置尺寸：一个房间的大小
视频长度：4分43秒
思典刚到纽约的时候，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。她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。于是她拍下了许多窗户，把他们投影在她房间的蚊帐上。只要她坐在床上，就能沐浴在偷来的万家灯火中。
在这个三频道视频装置中，居中的频道是思典在蚊帐里与窗户影像的互动，左右两侧的频道则同步播放着这些窗户的影像。
蚊帐在纽约并不是件必需品，但在她的家乡，她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，融铸成她的容身之处。
“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，她还是忍不住想：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？
2022
三频道有声视频装置
装置尺寸：一个房间的大小
视频长度：4分43秒
思典刚到纽约的时候，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。她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。于是她拍下了许多窗户，把他们投影在她房间的蚊帐上。只要她坐在床上，就能沐浴在偷来的万家灯火中。
在这个三频道视频装置中，居中的频道是思典在蚊帐里与窗户影像的互动，左右两侧的频道则同步播放着这些窗户的影像。
蚊帐在纽约并不是件必需品，但在她的家乡，她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，融铸成她的容身之处。
“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，她还是忍不住想：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？
Technical support: Enersto Klar
Special Thanks: Dexter Lopez, Ben Rybisky, Tommy Iacobucci, Daniel Marmolejos, Habib Fall, Nnandi Cason