Night at Dressing Room
Yuyuan Wei & You Li
2025
This work explores the often-overlooked status of mannequins in the costume industry through an interactive installation and short film. In the installation, viewers activate a switch in a "dressing room" to reveal a mannequin applying makeup in preparation for a performance. The short film tells the mannequin's journey—from being used in exhibitions and garment creation to being abandoned in a storage room, culminating in its final act in a world of discarded mannequins.
Short Film
EVERY FORGOTTEN BODY
HOLDS A PERFORMANCE YET TO TAKE ITS FINAL BOW
SHE NO LONGER REMEMBERS
THE FIRST TIME SHE STOOD BEFORE A MIRROR
PERHAPS IT WAS IN A SHOP WINDOW
OR A QUIET CORNER OF A CLASSROOM
MOTIONLESS, SHE WAS WATCHED, MEASURED, USED
UNTIL ONE DAY, NO LONGER NEEDED
SHE WAS CAST INTO A LIGHTLESS STORAGE ROOM
ONE DAY SHE OPENED HER EYES
TOOK A STEP
EMERGED FROM THE DUST
TO PERFORM BENEATH THE SPOTLIGHT
HER AUDIENCE?
OTHERS LIKE HER-OLD MANNEQUINS
NO APPLAUSE, ONLY GAZES
TAKE A SEAT
WHEN THE LIGHTS COME ON
A SINGLE MIRROR IS ALL THAT SEPARATES YOU FROM HER
HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN?
YOU, TOO, WERE ONCE LIKE HER SHE WAITS FOR YOU
IN THE MIRROR