Sophie Penkethman-Young: Woolworths Orchid

"When you google an orchid you’ll find hundreds of images, all of them slightly different, but mostly the same. They are infinitely replicable. Hundreds of people may be seeing the same images at the same time. When you walk through the supermarket you see these orchids, dozens of them lined up, all of them are slightly different, but mostly the same."
-Sophie Penkethman-Young

Woolworths Orchid is a video work by artist Sophie Penkethman-Young. Splicing together internet-based footage of orchids sheds light on the back-end production of these flowers as a commodifiable object. The video work is also overlaid with a reading of an AI generated poem, by ASMR performer Ondine Manfrin, using advertising copy for buying orchids online. The line between physical and digital is blurred, raising questions about the mass consumption of natural objects.