Artificial Orchids Bring Human-like Presence to Abandoned Electronic Devices

Artist Rachel Youn sources vacuum cleaners, personal massagers, electronic baby rockers, and walking pads from thrift stores to create kinetic sculptures that incorporate artificial flowers, metal hardware, and used electronic components. Her creations, such as “Slow Burn”, combine seemingly disparate elements to form pieces that possess a captivating human-like presence. Youn’s latest work features an artificial orchid at its core, paired with a neck massager, metal clamps that control the petals’ movement, and a monitor mount that attaches it to a gallery wall. A motor from the massager brings life to the sculpture, animating metal rods that mimic the opening and closing of the flower’s petals. This visual effect imbues the piece with an air of restraint, as if the flower is confined in its own sexuality, its movements bound by the constraints of its mechanical components.