Inspection of a Mangosteen

2025

38x24x12 in.

LCD screen, microcontroller, satin, glass beads, gooseneck arms, motor, mirror, polarizing film, Two devices invade a soft satin frame that holds a blank screen. The first device is a mirror that presents an optical construction of reality, inverting perception and condensing spatial depth. The second device is a rotating viewfinder that momentarily reveals a moving image of a mangosteen in the screen.

The mangosteen is a fruit that brings back memories of my childhood. It is native to my homeland, Indonesia, and other Southeast Asian regions, thriving in humid, tropical conditions. Throughout the 20th century, repeated attempts to cultivate it in the climates of the United States, driven by fascination with its rarity and exoticness, were met with failures due to the fruit’s interdependence with its natural ecosystem.

In this narrative, technology becomes a vehicle for progress within the frameworks of capitalism and globalization. It promises efficiency and distribution, yet it exposes the tension between industrial ambition and ecological resilience.