Peixuan Yu | The Interplace: Between the Real and the Virtual

 
“We are living in the time of the transient self, embodying the identity of ambiguity, acting in a variety of realities.” Inspired by this quote from Roy Ascott, The Interplace would like to discuss the multiplicity of self when people are traveling between various virtual spaces, for instance, social media platforms. The virtual selves might be distinct from each other, as they are an extension of the physical self and a reflection of the characteristics of the environments these selves are in.

In this interactive video installation, the audience is provided with a private and meditative space that is in the middle of the real and the virtual. Upon walking into the space, the audience would encounter their virtual self. By absorbing the particles in the virtual space through body movements, the virtual avatar of the audience gradually becomes brighter, indicating the completeness of their self identity. In the final scene, the audience would enter an unrealistic universe that changes rapidly, which is a metaphor of the transient virtual environments people travel between through a variety of media. All of the visuals are built up purely by particles. The movement of particles seems simple, but it has its own power in that particles are the units that our world is made up of. The aesthetics of the visuals in this project is abstract and minimal, leaving the audience with more space to relate and imagine.

Based on the results from a series of interviews conducted by the artist on the concepts of self identity in virtuality, it was common that people did not realize the differences between their physical and virtual selves in the first place but managed to identify they were different as the interviews went further. Many interviewees found the conversation about self consciousness between virtuality and reality an inspiring experience of knowing more about themselves. Through this project, the artist would like to create a space where the audience would be able to have such conversations with themselves and where they are encouraged to reflect on the relationship between their multiple selves and the impacts from the environments they are in.