This series of Use Value includes 8 pieces of garments that are at once aprons and bags. The title is a word-to-word translation of the last line of the poem Chang E 嫦娥 by Li Shangyin 李商隱 (813-858). Chang E is a mystical figure who had stolen the elixir of immortality from her husband Hou Yi 后羿, and had to spend an infinite amount of time on the moon alone. This chosen line is a scenery shot – while the plot has already happened in previous sentences, this sentence only constitutes an air of melancholy, lingering against the vast, empty and blue backdrop made of the sky and the sea.

The first 7 pieces of garments will each feature one character of this line:碧 (jade) 海 (sea) 青 (blue) 天 (sky) 夜 (night) 夜 (night) 心 (heart), the last garment features a period:。(.) They have already been hand-embroidered onto Chongming Homespun 崇明土布 between 2017-2019. Chongming Homespun is a traditional type of fabric originated in the Chongming district of Shanghai. The particular dying and weaving style can be traced back to late Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368); the batch I sourced were produced roughly around the Republic of China era (1912- 1945). They are textured, warm, mundane and of various shades of blue.

The structure of the garments combines the previous two series of Use Value products: bags and aprons. Other fabric produced in other geographical locations and eras, that I sourced organically in the past years, as well as hand-dyed fabric, are collaged with the embroidered Chongming Homespun.

photo by Lane Lang