State of Duality is a 16x10 matrix of AI-generated video vignettes featuring the hyper-collectible figure, Labubu, composed to echo the form of the California state flag. At the heart of the flag, the iconic bear is reimagined as a cluster of golden Labubus—symbols of wealth, excess, and violence.
California becomes a place where the pursuit of the next collectible has evolved into a civic faith, concealing the social and spiritual costs of its own gilded dream. Each vignette is a snippet of miniature dystopias, capturing the uneasy tension between the cute innocence and lucrative value of the collectible and the harsh realities of addiction, desire, chaos, decay, and social breakdown it distracts us from.
The perpetual loop locks us into a haunting cycle that refuses resolution. It confronts us with an uncomfortable truth: our new symbol is not of strength or resilience, but a commodity we cannot stop chasing.