︎︎︎
Nafasi Art Space/əbˈstrakt/
2023
DAR ES SALAAM
- In July and August of 2023, I had the pleasure of completing a residency at the Nafasi Art Space in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. Throughout the five weeks, I produced works across a variety of digital media and printed a limited collection of transparent works. The residency culminated in the show /əbˈstrakt/.
- In the rich tapestry of language, "abstract" emerges as a word of contradictions – Merriam-Webster alone presents 15 variations, each wrestling for dominance. This exhibition, /əbˈstrakt/, stands at the crossroads of these linguistic tensions. The most obvious of these tensions is between the almost anarchic adjective used to describe aesthetics that hide or obfuscate their meaning and the more authoritarian verb used to reduce complex subjects and phenomena into simpler and more convenient terms. This exhibition exists in the no man's land of this war of the words, delving into the clash between an unruly aesthetic and a commanding reduction, wielding their clash as a narrative force.
At its core, this collection unravels the violence inherent in abstraction, while making use of aesthetics that defy easy interpretation. The exhibit showcases an array of digital creations – VR spaces, 3D models and paintings, vivid 2D images crafted with Blender, and video art.
SUN JIR0 masterfully transcends the utilitarian boundaries often ascribed to digital art. With creations birthed not for practicality, but for the sake of art itself, the artist subverts the norm of the media. This collection is the result of an embodied and expressive approach to creation, with the artist making work often directly in virtual reality, to expand the artistic rather than technological bounds of the medium.
This exhibition comprises a number of component series that all came to a head during SUN JIR0’s residency with Nafasi Art Space. Featured in this collection are pieces from the “Caste” series of abstract geometric 3D models; “Virtual Geography,” a series of renders and 3D models of landscapes made in VR; “Panoption,” a series of 2D image renders that make heavy use of transparency; and “Any Other Name,” a collection of pieces ranging 3D models and 2D renders that tackle the themes of the exhibition more broadly.
︎︎︎︎︎
SUCKERS
2018
上海 / SHANGHAI
Interactive Media Arts Capstone. Mixed reality docu-fiction series investigating the lives of vampires living in Shanghai.
Explored all aspects of production while aiming to learn about humanity through our diverse mythology around vampires.
The final iteration of the project was developed as a part of my capstone course work, but it is the result of merging two seperate inquiries: an exploration of UX design for XR and a docu-fictional approach to film making explored in two previous courses.
Explored all aspects of production while aiming to learn about humanity through our diverse mythology around vampires.
The final iteration of the project was developed as a part of my capstone course work, but it is the result of merging two seperate inquiries: an exploration of UX design for XR and a docu-fictional approach to film making explored in two previous courses.
︎︎
060920WEATHERREPORT
2020
LOS ANGELES
060920WEATHERREPORT is a visual mixtape reflecting on wildfires, COVID, mental illness, consumerism and all of the things that tie them together. It features video clips sourced from the news, entertainment television, found footage, scientific reports, and commercials. The audio is a mixtape I recorded in Los Angeles on September 6th, 2020, one of the hottest days of the year.
YouTube blocked specific sections from being uploaded due to copyright infringement (though all footage was originally downloaded from YouTube).
YouTube blocked specific sections from being uploaded due to copyright infringement (though all footage was originally downloaded from YouTube).
︎︎
HYPER REEL
2019
上海 / SHANGHAI
WASHINGTON D.C.
HYPER REEL is a tryptic of generative video collages that explore simulation, simulacra, and the singularity created in Unity. The generative nature of the project ensures that the audience’s experience is different on every viewing. All three sections source hundreds of video clips from movies, television shows, and YouTube videos as well as excerpts of text written by scientists and philosophers alike. Music for the “simulation” section was selected from three albums by futurebandit and worldgrinder.
︎︎
VTV / 僵视2017 - 2018
上海 / SHANGHAI
Mixc ART Shanghai
VTV is an installation that blurs the line between reality and fiction; in this case, transporting audience members to a world in which vampires walk the earth alongside humans. However, rather than portraying the undead as horrific demons and bloodthirsty monsters, VTV to humanize them by recontextualizing existing vampire media. The piece was ultimately comprised of the physical installation designed to replicate a living room including a CRT TV and bluetooth remote control, four videos that acted as looping “channels,” and a p5.js sketch that provided the “backend” to the TV interaction.
The installation was shown at the INFINITE: Dimensions in Digital Art and Beyond exhibition at “The Mixc ART Shanghai” as well as the Interactive Media Arts end of semester show.
The installation was shown at the INFINITE: Dimensions in Digital Art and Beyond exhibition at “The Mixc ART Shanghai” as well as the Interactive Media Arts end of semester show.
