Domy Reverie | Interactive Installation Co-created with AIs

Artwork Description:

"'Domy Reverie' is an immersive real-time visual and audio experience, manifesting as a microcosm that intertwines diverse realities and speculative futures. The installation presents two spherical domes, each containing a glowing core, orbiting each other over an interactive landscape. These cores are a kaleidoscope of satellite time-lapse images—one dome hosts authentic images, the other displays AI-generated counterparts.

Each dome serves as a metaphorical window into a world—an exploration of the blurry boundary between utopia and dystopia. One reflects the visceral truth of our world, the raw beauty marred by human intervention. The other, AI's interpretation, mirrors either an idyllic haven untouched by humans or a further ravaged dystopia. This dual presentation offers an uncanny dichotomy between what is and what could be.

Beneath these orbiting domes, the landscape reacts in real-time to the images displayed in the 'real' dome, an echo of our Earthly realm. It pulses with life or shivers in distress, reflecting the varying degrees of human impact on the environment.

This triadic structure—the two domes and the responsive landscape—creates an intricate Microcosm-Macrocosm analogy. It embodies three layers of reality: the 'Artificial/synthetic Reality' of the AI-generated dome, the 'Historical Reality' of the real dome, and the 'Collective Reality' of the reactive landscape. Each layer offers its unique interpretation and response to our shared world, presenting a complex dialogue on our environmental footprint and its reverberations across realities.

Furthermore, the creation of an aurora-like illusion around each dome raises questions about the semblance of safety and isolation such structures propose. It serves as a visual metaphor for the illusionary comfort in ignoring the impending environmental crises and our uncertain future.

Through 'Domy Reverie', I aim to explore the interconnectedness of realities, the tension between preservation and decay, and our role within this cosmic dance. In this intersection of art, technology, and environmental consciousness, we are invited to reflect upon our responsibility towards our shared home and the uncertain paths that lie before us.

Motivation:

The inspiration for 'Domy Reverie' stems from my exploration of Google Earth's time-lapse function, which documents the environmental changes spanning 38 years. As I delved into this function, I discovered a vast archive of pre-recorded time-lapse videos depicting various sites and highlighting the human impact on landscapes. As an artist deeply engaged with environmental issues, these videos initially left a profound impression on me, emphasizing human intrusion and the detrimental effects such as climate change, sea level rise, and deforestation.

However, I gradually realized that I was only seeing a partial history and that my perspective was biased, particularly when I viewed the urbanization videos of Cheng Du and contemplated the evolution of my own country. I came to understand that I couldn't simply label these changes resulting from human actions as entirely wrong or damaging to the environment. Every creature on Earth seeks its own path to prosperity and a better life, and as humans, with our intelligence and evolutionary advantages, we are no exception.

This realization motivated me to ponder an alternative world—how it might unfold, how the environment would transform over time, and how we could discern whether these changes are positive or negative. The environmental changes caused by human impacts are complex, comprising both positive and negative aspects. The world is not a simplistic dichotomy of utopia and dystopia, and our understanding of it is inherently limited.

This contemplation also connects with my earlier AI art project, 'City in a Jar' (also known as 'Future in a Jar'), which explores how environmental issues may shape people's lives in the future. The project employs the characteristics of artificial intelligence, drawing from a vast database of human creativity, to envision a future that eludes precise prediction. Is it dystopian or utopian? That question lies at the heart of the project's inquiry into the future.

This recognition of uncertainty and multifaceted perspectives led me to contemplate the concept of a dome, often regarded as a symbol of utopia. However, in my view, the dome is also a reflection of dystopia. One influential example of dome architecture is Buckminster Fuller's Cloud Structures.

Building upon these ideas and drawing from the microcosm-macrocosm concept present in the jar and dome, I collaborated with AI to reimagine "cloud structures" and developed the notion of three layers of reality within 'Domy Reverie'.

Overall, my artwork aims to explore the interconnectedness of realities, the tension between preservation and decay, and our role within this cosmic dance. By intersecting art, technology, and environmental consciousness, 'Domy Reverie' invites viewers to reflect upon our collective responsibility towards our shared home and the uncertain paths that lie before us.