"Phantom in the pupa"
Individual Work
Blender | Rhinoceros & Grasshopper
A fictional design of 3D/installation art about people during the COVID-19 pandemic, showing the state of human existence after the resolute implementation of the "COVID-zero-clearing" plan. This project is my exploration of an "introverted and veiled" form of interaction.
PHASE I - PRINCIPLE & MECHANISM
<pepper's ghost> the 1860s
Pepper's ghost is an illusion technique used in the theatre in the 19th century.
The left picture shows the stage setup for Pepper's Ghost. A brightly lit figure out of the audience's sight below the stage is reflected in a pane of glass placed between the performer and the audience. To the audience, it appears as if the ghost is on stage.
Conceptual Mechanism
In two side-by-side rooms, there are two audiences who cannot see each other. I use the illusion technique based on pepper's ghost to let the people in the two rooms get an obscure perception, rather than direct interaction.
Compared with the original Pepper's ghost in the 1860s, I added a set of cameras, a screen, and an additional set of vertical glass. So that it can create an illusion that people on both sides are in the same space.
PHASE II - <THE PUPA> 蛹
The space in the pupa is just enough for an adult to stretch his limbs
Born in a pupa until death
The project imagines a worldview based on the "zero-clearing" policy. To completely defeat the virus, people are born in a closed space called “pupa” until death. There is no family, no interpersonal relationship. All of the activities are completed in a space smaller than a truck. In each pupa, there are two human beings who have been paired since birth, but they will never see each other in their whole life. They don't even realize each other's existence at first.
Core Components
The people in the pupa spent his childhood and youth alone. He could only learn about the old world through the screen. The content displayed on the glass reflected his inner desire.
The phantom
The screen is connected with a mysterious signal. The glass shows a lady who is also wearing a "suit". The person in the pupa looks at his reflection in the mirror, as if he sees himself living in the same space with the stranger. Although he can only see the back of the lady, the person in the pupa still fantasizes about living with her.
PHASE III - GALLOP IN NATURE
Future of Human Society?
Human beings live in the pupae, and the pupae lie on the rails and bridges.
People have lost their social relations, and the levels of human society, including buildings, villages, towns, and cities, will be reduced to ruins. Hundreds of years later, there will be only pupae galloping in nature.
