Technology Apr 17, 2026 · 1 min read

Ghost orchid in the machine

Vacuum cleaners, personal massagers, electronic baby rockers, and walking pads: These are the secondhand machines Rachel Youn sources to create their kinetic sculptures. Made with artificial flowers, metal hardware, and these used electronic components, each one possesses a humanlike presence. Slow...

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The Verge
by Cath Virginia
Ghost orchid in the machine
Artificial orchids affixed to a stripped-down under desk elliptical in a gallery.
Perfect Lovers II | Photo: Nik Massey

Vacuum cleaners, personal massagers, electronic baby rockers, and walking pads: These are the secondhand machines Rachel Youn sources to create their kinetic sculptures. Made with artificial flowers, metal hardware, and these used electronic components, each one possesses a humanlike presence.

Slow Burn is made from an artificial orchid, a neck massager, bits of metal that clamp the orchids' petals, and a monitor mount attaching the entire apparatus to a gallery wall. A motor on the massager animates metal rods that force the orchid open and close, a visual that feels caged in its sexuality, a flower forced to furl and unfurl infinitely fo …

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This article was originally published by The Verge and written by Cath Virginia.

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