Tentacles 2
Hu Weiyi
胡为一
Production date
2018
Object Detail
Media
inkjet prints
Measurements
installed 269 x 477 cm
Notes
Flashes of lightning appear to arc through and between each separate bloom in Hu Weiyi’s installation of close-up photographs, connecting them as if undergoing a dramatic electric shock. This echoes what was actually happening in the artist’s studio: to produce the images, Hu used high-voltage capacitors to create electrical currents that run through the flowers, like a modern-day vanitas emphasising beauty, the allure of danger and ultimately, death. The art historical allusion is emphasised by the dark backgrounds from which the flowers emerge in chiaroscuro, recalling Flemish still life paintings. Hu described the smell of rotting roses and other flowers in his studio as ‘like a morgue’.
Accession number
2018.119