Yichen Pan – “Double Eleven”

Nov.11th shifts from single’s day to a grand online shopping festival in China, undergoing a complete metamorphosis driven by rapidly rising consumerism. This work is based on my observations and reflections upon the phenomenon of the e-commerce explosion and shopping fever at 11.11. Excessive use of merchandising techniques such as countdown timers and panic buying created a sense of anxiety. I always regard myself as a rational consumer but I gradually became immersed with this ‘trendy anxiety’ and felt an urgent need for participating in this buying something. I found my state of mind undergoing a metamorphosis driven by consumerism as well. So I create this series of works illustrating the outcomes when the illusion of ‘online carnival’ fades away and the naked truth is exposed.