Virtual Reality and HD Video
This project includes two parts. The first part is a virtual reality piece that the singular encounter of virtual reality experienced through HTC Vive VR headset is transformed into a collective experience by connecting the VR headset and HD projector. This VR space is chaotic, multi-layered, and lacking an origin, and the floating memory of the Wenxi Fire of 1938 meets the virtual reality experience which echos the last line of Hymn to the Fallen( Part I): Memories are like digitizing physical beings/They are Real/They are Virtual/They are Virtual Realities. The second part of this piece is a 13 min 25sec video piece narrating the process of using photogrammetry in making virtual models of four architectural structures in Changsha, China. Paralleling with the narration of making virtual models, the memories of the Wenxi Fire of 1938 attached to these four buildings sneak into the narrative.
Zhongshan Pavilion
In this project, I started from using photogrammetry technology in virtualizing four architectural structures, arguably relevant to the Wenxi Fire of 1938 from different perspectives: Zhongshan Pavilion (a surviving architecture), Chenqian Mansion (a refurbished architecture), Tianxin Pavilion (a rebuilt architecture), and a one that will be demolished soon at Chaozong District because of gentrification policy. Photogrammetry is the technology of generating virtual 3D models by aligning images together.
Chenqian Mansion
In this project, I started from using photogrammetry technology in virtualizing four architectural structures, arguably relevant to the Wenxi Fire of 1938 from different perspectives: Zhongshan Pavilion (a surviving architecture), Chenqian Mansion (a refurbished architecture), Tianxin Pavilion (a rebuilt architecture), and a one that will be demolished soon at Chaozong District because of gentrification policy. Photogrammetry is the technology of generating virtual 3D models by aligning images together.
Tianxin Pavilion
In this project, I started from using photogrammetry technology in virtualizing four architectural structures, arguably relevant to the Wenxi Fire of 1938 from different perspectives: Zhongshan Pavilion (a surviving architecture), Chenqian Mansion (a refurbished architecture), Tianxin Pavilion (a rebuilt architecture), and a one that will be demolished soon at Chaozong District because of gentrification policy. Photogrammetry is the technology of generating virtual 3D models by aligning images together.
Hymn to the Fallen Part I & Part II
This video includes clips from Hyman to the Fallen (Part I) and VR play of Hymn to the Fallen (Part II)
Hymn to the Fallen( Part I) is a 13min 25 sec video piece narrating the process of using photogrammetry in making virtual models of four architectural structures in Changsha, China, including Zhongshan pavilion, Chenqian Mansion, one unknown building in the Chaozong District, and Tianxin Pavilion. Paralleling with the narration of making virtual models, the memories of the Wenxi Fire of 1938 attached to these four buildings sneak into the narrative. Model construction and memory construction of the Wenxi Fire 1938 coincide together metaphorically, practically, and conceptually. The video ends with a family ritual memorializing dead family members. This ritual is the hymn to the dead, the link to the past, the epilogue of the intersection of real and virtual, and a footnote on memory construction.
Hymn to the Fallen( Part II) is a virtual reality piece that the singular encounter of virtual reality experienced through HTC Vive VR headset is transformed into a collective experience by connecting the VR headset and HD projector. The whole VR experience is about 12 minutes long. This VR space is multi-layered and lacking an origin; it is composed by various elements coming from different places: archived images,, photogrammetried architecture and objects, found footages of TV series referring to the Wenxi Fire of 1938, an interview , and so on. There are six different scenes and audience can fly in and out of the buildings to be immersed in different narratives. This VR space is liminal that it is real and not real at the same time. Audiences fly in this virtual reality space and are fully awareness of the existence of their body. The floating memory of the Wenxi Fire of 1938 meets the virtual reality experience which echoes the last line of Hymn to the Fallen( Part I): Memories are like digitalizing physical beings/They are Real/They are Virtual/They are Virtual Realities.