Keeping the lights on Series
「當開燈也成了一道風/瘋/鋒景」系列
2024
Digital images and videos
While many have noticed fewer people roam the streets at night, I notice people from my neighbourhood are staying home after dark more often because I do the same and look at the residential apartments facing my windows.
The number of lights that are on from early evening to around midnight seemed to be much more than that before.
Out of curiosity, I started to take photos of residential apartments outside my windows during Nov 2023-Mar 2024. There were 142 photos that I took on 142 different days during that period.
It seems people have been so used to staying home since the pandemic a few years ago. What’s so fun out there at night that I must leave home?— I guess that’s what people wondered. And they have discovered that it’s okay and even enjoyable to stay home during the night, in addition to the practical need to cut expenses due to the economic situation in recent years and perhaps the need of self-care that requires more me-time or time spent with closed ones at home.
They no longer miss the previous hustle and bustle, never bothering to immerse themselves in nightlife again.
What they are doing instead is to create their own vibe at home. I name this vibe “keeping the lights on”—and thus the title of this project.
The distance between me and those lights from homes allows me to imagine what they are doing and how they are feeling in the current context of this city we dwell.
While lights from homes could reflect part of the reality facing us, I imagine the lights I captured is like a consciousness manifesting itself and the context around it subtly. This consciousness—alive though facing uncertainty—is traversing dimensions known and unknown, continuing to change in shape and form during its journey.
Along this journey, the lights from different homes create their own different vibe, as shown in the videos.
Creative process
The series was made when I began to take a photo of the view outside my living room windows almost every night from November 2023 to March 2024 to see if people were home and switched on their lights or they were outside enjoying some fake vibe.
I layered the photos weekly and monthly as well as creating an aggregate photo that layered the monthly photos.
The above are a few of all the digital images taken in the duration of 5 months. If you'd like to see more, please contact me via the contact form.
Image 1: Nov 2023
Image 2: Dec 2023
Image 3: Jan 2024
Image 4: Feb 2024
Image 5: Mar 2024
Image 6: Aggregate of monthly photos
Videos in the series to date:
Keeping the lights on: Episode 1
Keeping the lights on: Episode 2
Keeping the lights on: Episode 3
Keeping the lights on: Episode 4
Keeping the lights on: Episode 5
Keeping the lights on: Episode 6
Keeping the lights on: Episode 7
數碼影像與錄像
這座城市並沒有消亡。 它的意識正在穿越所有維度。 地球與這座城市需要光去看守。
以上是此系列中其中幾幅數碼影像。 如你想觀看更多，請透過聯絡表格與我聯絡。
系列中錄像作品：