Perfect Model
2018 - 2024
An examination of simulated landmarks in the United States and China, where replicas transform cultural icons into commodified tourist traps. In these contrived spaces, visitors chase a version of authenticity that remains perpetually out of reach, while workers keep the façade intact—all part of an elaborate performance of cultural tourism. The project reveals an uncomfortable insight about our globalized society: we've created a world where simulations have become destinations in their own right, where cultural identity is malleable, and where our collective desire for escapism has transformed heritage into fantasy. These simulacra reveal not just how culture is commodified, but how we've grown to prefer our history sanitized, our traditions packaged, and our experiences meticulously staged. As our desire for effortless escapism grows, we risk reducing our rich cultural heritage to nothing more than a neatly packaged, profitable spectacle.
“But for the present age, which prefers the sign to the thing signified, the copy to the original, representation to reality, appearance to essence, … truth is considered profane, and only illusion is sacred.”
- Feuerbach,