CAPTURING QI, 2023
(DAE Graduation Show, DDW 2023)
Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Capturing Qi is a satirical project highlighting the shifting traditional customs of post-modern feng shui and challenging the attitude toward the practice, where consumption replaces the core essence of creating harmony and balance with the flow of qi.Based on the dynamics of the vital flow of energy - qi - Feng shui is a practice deeply rooted in Eastern philosophy and cosmology. It is the belief that arranging certain objects or furniture allows positive qi to flow throughout the home, promoting well-being, prosperity and good fortune.
Feng shui has gained global popularity increasingly over the years, especially advocating the idea of a quick fix, a solution that can be easily and physically acted upon, as our desire for constant self-optimisation and self-improvement as achievement subjects grow in our modern society. The commodification of feng shui in the marketplace - is the most obvious embodiment of this newly globalised hyperobject. By consuming Feng Shui objects; the intangible qi becomes tangible; the invisible becomes visible.
The installation consists of feng shui smarthome devices inspired by existing commodified objects: the crystal ball, wind chime and fountain. They become physical, vision-oriented devices derived from scientific apparatus, to control the success in your life with the invisible ‘substance’. With the press of a button, capture and diffuse all the qi to your heart’s content!