2025

VR, PC, video (01’59’’)

 

Director: Yijia Li

Art Direction: Xiyan Chen

Interaction Designer: Miao Su

Technical Artist: Richeng Liu

Narration: Xiyan Chen, Zhen Liu​

Character Design: Fanrui Sun

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Aftermath envisions a future defined by algorithmic governance. While human civilisation has reached peak efficiency, this pursuit of meticulous optimisation has triggered a crisis: the erosion of creativity. The work probes the tension between machine-led functionality and the unique, irreplaceable spark of human ingenuity.

 

The experience manifests through a digital landscape of asymmetrical agency. Two participants inhabit the same space, yet their roles reflect the power dynamics between human intuition and AI omniscience. One participant, acting as the 'system', operates from an omnipresent perspective—reshaping the space, extending walls, and reconfiguring the structure of the environment. The other moves through this world as it is being formed, navigating a shifting reality where paths may lead somewhere unexpected. As the landscape develops in response to the actions of both, the work becomes a shared—yet contested—act of building and discovery.

 

Through this encounter, Aftermath reflects on how people might continue to live, collaborate, and create within environments increasingly influenced by artificial intelligence. Even within systems designed by machines, the work suggests that human interaction, curiosity, and cooperation remain central to how we experience the world.

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