No Devils’ Advocate Zone (English)

Lan “Florence” Yee, 2023, LED signage, 25 x 208 x 13 cm

Two long, narrow, glowing, and red pixelated LED signs hung side by side and high off the floor. Words in all caps are scrolling towards each other, disappearing in the middle. Because the text on the left sign is scrolling from left to right, and the text on the right sign is scrolling from right to left, the text appears to be clashing in the middle. The red glow from the sign spills out onto the surrounding wall and floor.

Content

Left Sign:

Maybe because they were afraid her scrubs were contagious maybe because we are East Asian and queer maybe because they realized how hollow this performance was

Right Sign:

At 7pm every evening our neighbour would awkwardly play the national anthem on a tuba while my then-partner left for her nursing shift but none of our neighbours would talk to us or even meet our gaze

Installation Details

This two-channel sign installation positions short statements side by side, as parallel and conflicting desires. A text-based piece, it includes language that was once popularized at the height of the pandemic in reference to the many sacrifices made by frontline workers. Just as this period was unexpectedly marked by grief and joy, the words collide in waves, unending and unsure of where to go next.

Lan “Florence” Yee is a queer visual artist and serial collaborator whose practice focuses on text-based art, sculpture, and textile installation. Yee obtained a BFA from Concordia University and an MFA from OCAD U.

About the Artist

Lan Yee stands in profile, leaning back slightly, dramatically draping a comically long-fingered white glove on top of their face while they look directly at us. They are a non-binary trans person of Cantonese descent with light olive skin tone, a long black mullet, and black round glasses.