Pleasure #404 brings together the work of five contemporary artists who explore fantasy, identity, desire, and subversion through varied yet interwoven practices. This exhibition envisions alternative futures through a lens of speculative creativity, informed by diverse perspectives on race, gender, sexuality, emotion, cultural aesthetics, and world building. Xinde, Alaina, Kefan Zhou (Vie), Yichen, and Laurie embrace and subvert subjective pleasure, recognizing that this search for pleasure may as well bring us to an error, a glitch. 

This exhibition builds on the ethos of Legacy Russell’s Glitch Feminism, positioning the "glitch" as a site of transformation and disruption. Even if we get an error, even if our search for pleasure and imagination results in a #404 message, even if our bodies are rejected and our desires are ignored, we think about the ways to reprogram our brains to manipulate this #404 message to fit our goals. Contemplating worlds that allow our bodies to exist and thrive is essential to this work. By engaging with the "glitch" as both a metaphor and a methodology, the artists collectively challenge normative structures and reimagine new possibilities for self-expression and community.

Through referencing history, engaging with the present, and fabulating the future, we have come upon a body of work that celebrates both a common goal of uplifting each other, and also finding subjective pleasure within ourselves. Each artist’s work offers a unique response to the idea of speculative futures, creating a dynamic interplay between personal narrative, collective imagination, and cultural critique. Together, the artworks investigate how speculative practices can rupture conventional narratives of pleasure and power, allowing space for fluidity, hybridity, and the reimagining of identities.