“If I Wanted Hype, I'd Do OnlyFans”: Artist Behind Viral Flower Market In S'pore On The Chaos That Comes With Her Art Installations

No part of this story can be reproduced without permission from 8days.sg.

By now, you would have seen videos of visitors rushing into Cj Hendry's Flower Market exhibition at Gardens by the Bay stuffing their bags with plush flowers. You may have even seen the artist behind it, Cj Hendry, reposting videos of the frenzy. 

So when 8days.sg met Cj, we had to ask the South African-born, Brisbane-raised artist about the hooha in Singapore at her viral Flower Market exhibition. 

Cj was in Singapore to chat about her upcoming juju world which runs from June 20 to July 18.

When we bump into Cj early before the media launch, she's dressed in an oversized T-shirt and matching cap and overhear her announcing cheerfully that she was heading out to grab some breakfast.

Refreshing as there is not a shred of dramatic artist aura one would expect.

Unlike many artists who might distance themselves from such scenes, Cj, who's in her mid-30s, regularly reposts videos of the frenzy on Instagram. Similar scenes have unfolded at Flower Market installations in Sydney, Abu Dhabi, and Hong Kong.

So when we finally sat down with Cj for a chat, we had to ask: Does she secretly enjoy the hype surrounding the exhibition?

Without skipping a beat, she says she cannot control the narrative her work brings.

“When is something that is so commercial, and so accessible, like Flower Market, it's free and you get to take your first flower for free. Hype comes with the territory. We don't go out and look at that. That is irrelevant to the concept of the idea,” she tells us.

But is there a chance all the chaos is part of her art, and we are all just characters in Cj’s world?

Cj insists it was never meant to be that way.

“As my art becomes more commercially successful. There will be just more people who weigh in. But I think it (chaos) has become like that, but I do not go out to do that,” she says.

Then she says something that immediately got everyone in the room to sit up, and even drew a few nervous laughs in the room. 

“If I wanted the hype, I would have just gone on to do OnlyFans. You know what I mean?” she quips.

“That will be an easy way to do it. You know, so why take on the investment and the risk of doing all this? You know, like, yeah, all that (chaos) is irrelevant for me,” she says.

In fact, Cj says she would much rather things be more orderly.

“Like pick their one flower for free, and then [leave]. But that does not always happen. I also do not like the idea of putting constraints on an exhibition. That does not feel right to me either. If you tell people, this is what I do not like in art, often when I walk into an art exhibition, and there is a big blurb or a whole booklet that you must read, and they tell you what to think. That is completely uninteresting,” she says.

“You can come in; you can experience my exhibition how you choose to. I do not force you to go out in at a certain time. I do not force you to think a certain way. I like the idea of there being almost no rules,” Cj adds.

Then Cj started describing what she believes an artist's job is. And suddenly, the Flower Market frenzy made a lot more sense.

“Not enough s**t is absurd. As an artist, my job is to either make you excited, and angry. I am not out here to please everyone. I am not out here to make everyone my friend. If I wanted to do that, I would go into ice cream or pizza. My job is to make you stop and pause, I think. And it needs to sometimes be absurd,” she says.

“I like to do things in a big, bold way because I have not already noticed that. But yeah, I think everyone can benefit from a bit more absurdity,” Cj adds.

However, when the topic of over consumerism and scalpers came up, Cj was quick to brush it all off.

“People are just getting too deep,” she says.

Cj also revealed that her latest creation and star of the upcoming exhibition, juju, a floppy-eared, flower-eyed bunny, was designed with the help of artificial intelligence (AI).

“I don't know how to design a toy,” she admitted, and turned to AI for help, which turned out dozens of iterations before the now-famous juju emerged.

The character was named after her mother, whom her children affectionately call "juju".

Ironically, juju began life as something of a response to the Labubu phenomenon.

CJ said she started developing the character at the peak of Labubu mania. “It was more of a commentary on Labubu, if I could be so honest,” she says. 

“It was great for that moment, but there is no substance to fall back on. If I go out with only commercial intent and sensibility, it does not work. I believe in creative first, and then if it works financially, then you're done your job right,” Cj explains.

For now, visitors to juju world will be able to frolick in a giant ball pit filled with countless plastic juju figurines, which visitors can take home for free (a plushie version will be sold at $39.90). 

Unlike Flower Market, however, this exhibition is ticketed, with admission priced at S$15 for adults and S$10 for children.

Still, after what happened at Flower Market, we would not be entirely surprised if someone turns up carrying an empty tote bag, or two, to store their plastic juju figurines. 

Will we see more chaos a la Flower Market?