Healthy Cigarettes

Healthy Cigarettes is a video work exploring emotional dependency, psychological coping, and the illusion of control. During a period of emotional stress, I felt an intense urge to smoke. Though I never lit a real cigarette, I found myself mimicking the action — holding two fingers to my mouth, inhaling, exhaling, even flicking imaginary ash. This simple, repeated gesture became a form of symbolic self-soothing.

The act reflects vicarious gratification — a way to momentarily escape unpleasant emotions without engaging in harmful behavior. While not physically addictive, this habitual motion carried emotional weight. It became a private ritual, a substitute for release, a quiet language of avoidance.

The work questions how we externalize internal tension and create invisible systems of control through repetitive action. In a culture where emotional expression is often suppressed, even gestures without substance can hold deep psychological meaning.

Healthy Cigarettes captures the paradox of a “harmless” habit born from harm — a coping mechanism that says more about what we’re running from than what we reach for.