Abstract
[FishTank]: VR Immersive Interactive Art Installation Exhibited in Video Format
[FishTank] is an immersive VR interactive piece questioning “what is the meaning of life?”. If life is composed of a pile of sensory experiences, what does the role of VR play here? If we are living just in another virtual reality world, do we retain our own free wills? These questions not only come due to the rapid development of VR technology but also the severe uncertainty the COVID-19 brought to our lives as mental/spiritual challenges.
The title, [FishTank], illustrates explicitly the VR environment the audience will experience. In a large cubic space(tank) with a skylight, there is a small floating cube and a school of fish “freely” swimming inside. Not only through observation, but the audiences can add/reduce the cubes with the original floating cube to create sculpture-like continuous artificial reefs for the fish to navigate. This landscape creation process is just like building an environment in a video game, like Minecraft. It seems like the audiences have taken the lead owning the powers to manipulate the fish species as the God/Creator here. However, from an empathetic perspective by taking the “fish” here as the metaphor of human beings, we (human beings) are all just programmed and living in this water tank (virtual world) created and manipulated by another supreme species. Eventually, what is life? Is it just another programmable virtual reality environment we are living in, just like these fish in the tank?
Three of my generative artworks, Fragments, [FishTank], and WonderForest were selected to be exhibited as artworks in Generative Art 2021 International Conference which will be held in Hybrid format this year. Besides physical presentation at Archaeological National Museum, Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy, there will also be virtual presentation and exhibition taking place remotely. Generative Art is the idea realized as a genetic code of artificial events, as the construction of dynamic complex systems able to generate endless variations.
Exhibited online at Generative Art 2021 International Conference, 15-17 December 2021
[FishTank] is an immersive VR interactive piece questioning “what is the meaning of life?”. If life is composed of a pile of sensory experiences, what does the role of VR play here? If we are living just in another virtual reality world, do we retain our own free wills? These questions not only come due to the rapid development of VR technology but also the severe uncertainty the COVID-19 brought to our lives as mental/spiritual challenges.
The title, [FishTank], illustrates explicitly the VR environment the audience will experience. In a large cubic space(tank) with a skylight, there is a small floating cube and a school of fish “freely” swimming inside. Not only through observation, but the audiences can add/reduce the cubes with the original floating cube to create sculpture-like continuous artificial reefs for the fish to navigate. This landscape creation process is just like building an environment in a video game, like Minecraft. It seems like the audiences have taken the lead owning the powers to manipulate the fish species as the God/Creator here. However, from an empathetic perspective by taking the “fish” here as the metaphor of human beings, we (human beings) are all just programmed and living in this water tank (virtual world) created and manipulated by another supreme species. Eventually, what is life? Is it just another programmable virtual reality environment we are living in, just like these fish in the tank?
Three of my generative artworks, Fragments, [FishTank], and WonderForest were selected to be exhibited as artworks in Generative Art 2021 International Conference which will be held in Hybrid format this year. Besides physical presentation at Archaeological National Museum, Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy, there will also be virtual presentation and exhibition taking place remotely. Generative Art is the idea realized as a genetic code of artificial events, as the construction of dynamic complex systems able to generate endless variations.
Exhibited online at Generative Art 2021 International Conference, 15-17 December 2021
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publication status | Published - Dec 2021 |
| Externally published | Yes |
| Event | Generative Art 2021 - Sardinia, Italy Duration: 15 Dec 2021 → 17 Dec 2021 https://generativeart.com/ |