I was invited to use lemons to make a work in Time Square. After submitting the draft of the work, it was not allowed to show there. It might be a case of art censorship. The discussion of the event is in inmedia (in Chinese):

The artist statement:

"Ling Meng"
MAN Chingying Phoebe
Lemon, carton
2005

As Guy DEBORD in The Society of the Spectacle said, "The Spectacle is the moment when the commodity has attained the total occupation of social life. The relation to the commodity is not only visible, but one no longer sees anything but it: the world one sees is its world." Our world is greatly commodification. Advertisement everywhere affects our way of seeing things. Commodity sometimes defined one's value and one's relationship with others. It is hard not to be a material girl or boy.
Is it a problem? Are we all slaves of money and commodity? It might not be a problem if we can have the control of our own lives and have our modes of consumption and believe that money is not everything and we would not buy anything that is useless.
Andy Warhol is one of the interesting examples. He said he loved shopping and put everyday product like Campbells' soup, Brillo (image left) as art. I would like to extend his work by using carton as art and put some lemon favour in it. (image right) Audience will read a notice on the art work which said, " Join the creation. Individualize product. Please replace the lemons with your own stuff." The work is interactive and the audience can keep on changing the carton by replacing the lemons with their own creation. It can be messy and it is post-modern.

Image left:
Andy Warhol, "Brillo Boxes," 1969, 45 boxes/silk- screen on plywood, 20 x 20 x 17" each.