One day, I was walking with Derek on Princess Street in Edinburgh,the sky is extremely blue that day. I really wanted to have a picnic with him there with the nice view of the castles. but under current situations, we wouldn’t risk our lives for that.
So at 11pm of October 16th, we departed to look for swans in a lake next to his campus, and had our picnic there. This whole event lasted for about an hour.
So at 11pm of October 16th, we departed to look for swans in a lake next to his campus, and had our picnic there. This whole event lasted for about an hour.
Midnight Picnic is an experiment on a different way to conduct one of the most common social activities — picnic. This work is a video documenting the process of a picnic happened in Edinburgh at midnight.
Picnic today is connected tightly with social media where food is placed in carefully arranged compositions accompanying with flowers, exquisite China, wine, balloons, pillows, and so on. This raises a question on what a picnic consists of: the outdoor space, the food, the weather, the mood of enjoyment, or the socialising process? In history, picnic were purely indoor affairs between French aristocrats during the 18th century. Later, this activity became popular among the middle-class and the working-class as well, while being moved outdoor. Due to its popularity, picnic baskets are invented and the contents are standardised in the 20th century. The form of picnic is never static but continues to evolve.
During the time of pandemic, going out for picnic is risky. But one still can choose to do it at midnight when no one is around. It contains none of the photogenic elements, nonetheless I still define it as picnic for the closeness to nature, along with the fun conversations.
Picnic today is connected tightly with social media where food is placed in carefully arranged compositions accompanying with flowers, exquisite China, wine, balloons, pillows, and so on. This raises a question on what a picnic consists of: the outdoor space, the food, the weather, the mood of enjoyment, or the socialising process? In history, picnic were purely indoor affairs between French aristocrats during the 18th century. Later, this activity became popular among the middle-class and the working-class as well, while being moved outdoor. Due to its popularity, picnic baskets are invented and the contents are standardised in the 20th century. The form of picnic is never static but continues to evolve.
During the time of pandemic, going out for picnic is risky. But one still can choose to do it at midnight when no one is around. It contains none of the photogenic elements, nonetheless I still define it as picnic for the closeness to nature, along with the fun conversations.