Miss Melissa and Mr Fish at 2:31 pm
Peng Yun
彭韫
Production date
2013
Object Detail
Media
video (colour, sound)
Measurements
7 min 49 sec
Notes
At first sight, the opening frames of Miss Melissa and Mr Fish at 2.31pm suggest a still life painting – perhaps a 17th century Vanitas. Lilies, which signify both sexuality and mortality, and the white feminine hand resting on the silvery, glistening scales of the dead fish function, like a memento mori, as reminders of mortality and the ephemeral nature of earthly pleasures of the flesh. Soon, however, the video becomes both erotic and disturbing. Referencing female sexuality and masturbation, it transitions quickly into memorably violent imagery as the woman’s hand with its red-painted nails delves deeply into the mouth of the fish and ultimately into its obviously rotting flesh. One imagines the overpowering scent of lilies and the odour of the fish. It has been suggested by some that the shift from first tentative caresses to vigorous, violent movements that penetrate and then rupture the body of the fish, relates to an exploration of developing female sexual empowerment.
Accession number
2016.132