Good Life
葛雪梅 | Xuemei Ge
Interactive Art | Dec. 2023
Visual Part：
Tools：Touchdesigner / HeyGen
Pre-interaction visual part:
The use of three bubbles in the overall visualization is to express that they are in their own bubbles, thinking that they are pursuing something higher, but in fact, they are very fragile and unreal. The three bubbles represent the three standards of happiness in our society: marriage, family, career. The three groups keep repeating the standard of happiness they are looking for ......
......
LEFT: “ I have to find someone to marry and start a family before I turn thirty and become a good wife……”
MIDDLE: “We have to buy a big house and pay off the loans until we're 60. We also have to have a baby so he can take care of us when we are old.……”
RIGHT: “ I have to find a good job and try to make lots of money. That's the way to be successful……”
......
For the AI Avatar:
Character expressions with happiness and cheerfulness were intentionally generated through AI, it is hoped that it will also be possible to present the viewer with a sense of their illusory happiness and numb mechanicism.
Post-interaction visual part:
By squeezing the heart, the overall visual appearance of bright red and deformation, as a strong expressive image, deeply conveys the enormous pressure borne by people pursuing the "good life" defined by society. These pressures have long since deformed them, making them feel as if they can't breathe, and are deeply trapped in the quagmire of social expectations.
The rows of vertical stripes in the picture hopefully present a sense of predicament. These vertical lines are not only a technique to express the sense of oppression, but also symbolize an invisible cage that confines people.
No matter how hard they shout and how deformed they are under pressure, they are never able to get out of this seemingly invisible but substantial cage......
Heart Visual Part：
The fluctuating circle can be used as an indicator of the amount of pressure with a fluctuating circle. When the fluctuating circle expands rapidly, the viewer is able to feel a dramatic increase in pressure; when it shrinks rapidly, it represents an instantaneous release or relief.
Through the design of this fluctuating circle, the visualization of pressure can be more vividly presented in the work, and the audience can more directly perceive the fluctuation of the character's heart and the pressure he or she is under, and thus participate more deeply in the emotions and ideas that the work hopes to convey......
Interactive part:
Interactive device—heart
Tools:
Blender/3D print
Pressure sensor/Arduino
By choosing the heart as an interactive device, the artwork can be closer to people's life experience, echoing social phenomena and triggering the audience to think deeply about overwork stress and psychological pressure. As a symbolic organ of the body, the heart is not only the center of life, but also a powerful medium for conveying emotions and stress in art works.
