Yuqi Zhao

In “Sim Nature,” the viewers navigate through a “natural” world existing in between cyberspace and reality with a companion’s guidance. The final destination is constructed of columns symbolizing trees, which are arranged in a perfectly symmetrical manner, almost invoking a sense of monuments. This world is a harmonic and calm natural fantastical land that is not less artificial than the concept of “nature” in our mind. 

Through entering this digital world hosted on WebVR framework, the audiences hand over their consciousness to operate under the law of cyberspace (constructed by me.) The underlying rules operating this world are designed to resemble that of the major websites we interact with today, specifically the co-existence of natural landscape and browser portals, the images that get bigger once we stare at them longer, and so on. I hope through navigating this “awkward” world that fails to provide congruence with neither the reality nor the cyberspace, the viewers are encouraged to reassess how we construct “nature” and how the columns of the internet manipulates our perceptions. 

Finally, incorporating an avatar that acts like a real-life companion, the project questions whether recommendations algorithms are helpful buddies that help you easily navigate or ingenuine machines that manipulate your experience.