‘Sweet Dreams’

Pillow & Pillow Case

Disused Sugar Factory BonBon Town Art Center
Zhengzhou. Fujian Province. China

2026

Part of ‘The 7th "GRAVITATIONAL BODY" Light Live Art x C-PLATFORM performance art event

Sweet Dreams is an unrehearsed, embodied, site-responsive, and relational performance. My exhausted body, marked by insomnia, mental heaviness, and physiological depletion, is both subject and material. BonBon Town, a former sugar factory, creates tension: a site of sweetness, production, and energy meets a body that is sleepless and struggling. The title becomes ironic; sleep is not sweet but a battleground.

I deliberately wear a stylish, long, fitted black dress. Elegant and formal, it acts as a controlled second skin, contrasting with internal chaos while its black surface absorbs dust and stains. Against the dirty industrial warehouse backdrop, the dress looks polished and out of place, heightening the paradox of sweet dreams in a place of labour.

The pillow and pillowcase are charged objects. Meant for rest, they instead receive sweat, dirt, and struggle. The white pillowcase contrasts with the black dress: soft and vulnerable against composed and fitted, private collapse against public elegance. Both become records of the performance. The dress and pillowcase carry the residue of exhaustion and the environment. Site, audience, artist, and object complete the witnessed narrative. This makes the invisible struggle visible and shared.

Audience written Reflection of Performance

TEXT by Malina

“The work \"Sweet Dreams\" presented by Kimvi constructs an extreme visual contrast: a black long dress against pure white pillows, juxtaposing ultimate softness with rugged industrial ruins. We attempt to force a hint of "sweetness" into the cracks between steel and concrete, hoping to use an illusory dream to shield ourselves from the absurdity of reality. This is not only a surreal snapshot but also a spiritual sanctuary for modern people.

True sweetness does not exist; it only resides in the darkness covered by pillows and in self-deceptive illusions. This contrast leaves me with a profound sense of helplessness and a poetic melancholy. Kimvi’s entire body of work is filled with surreal dramatic tension. The performance is extremely quiet, yet it seems as if one can hear silent cries.

The dream is white and very light, yet it presses down on me, forcing my head to bow.”

Next
Next

Excavation