Pounds of Happiness

Pounds of Happiness (installation), 2009, mixed media, pound shop items, 8 x 8 x 5 feet / 2.4 x 2.4 x 1.5 m

Pounds of Happiness (installation), 2009, mixed media, pound shop items, 8 x 8 x 5 feet / 2.4 x 2.4 x 1.5 m

A collection of works of modest ambitions—small moments of pleasure. The simple gestures draw visual connections, make curious recursions, and declare unwarranted exuberance.


Pounds of Happiness highlights modest pleasures available in daily life.

While in residence at Chinese Arts Centre, I re-considered my tying pessimism with mundanity and optimism with transcendence. With Pounds of Happiness, I suggests that optimism can and should exist in the everyday. Modest ambitions—in life, and in works of art—may exhibit unexpected value.

The works are a celebration of visual pleasure and accessibility. (The Cheap and Cheerful drawings were also on view.)

Learn more about my residency findings and projects in Everyday Ambition: Forays into Optimism and Pessimism (PDF).

Caption: Christine Wong Yap, Pounds of Happiness (installation), 2009, mixed media, pound shop items, 8 x 8 x 5 feet / 2.4 x 2.4 x 1.5 m // Pounds of Happiness (conveyor belt), 2009, paper, neon gel pens, glitter pens, wood, motor, table, 48 x 34 x 24 inches / 122 x 86 x 61 cm. Produced in the Breathe Residency at Chinese Arts Centre (now known as Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art). // Sorted, 2009, gilt and enamel badge, 1 inch / 25 mm diameter. Edition of 50. // what can you do, 2009, site-specific intervention: papercuts, yellow drafting film, lights; dim. var.