Infinite Games

Xiaolei Liu Spring 2020 Thesis Prep

INFINITE GAMES 1

INFINITE GAMES INFINITE GAMES INFINITE GAMES INFINITE GAMES INFINITE GAMES INFINITE GAMES

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Xiaolei Liu Spring 2020 Thesis Prep

Thesis Prep

From Xiaolei Liu Advisor: Kristy Balliet School: Southern California Institute of Architecture Address: 960 E 3rd Street Los Angeles, CA 90013 E-mail: paopaolei0731@163.com

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Xiaolei Liu Spring 2020 Thesis Prep

CONTENT First Part: Statement Thesis Statement

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Sci-fi art and body architecture

Second Part: Research Sci-fi Art

Cyberpunk Element New Media Combination

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Body Architecture Animation

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Third Part: Design Active Expose 2049: Cold Light

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Xiaolei Liu Spring 2020 Thesis Prep

Thesis Statement Sci-fi art and body

This thesis researches sci-fi art and body architecture to make an imaginative future life. This is an evolving human being’s life, in which the boundary of machine and creature is ambiguous, as the opposition of science and art collapses,the conflict of material and consciousness melts. When science meets art, new creatures and new orders are produced, leading to life’s extension.

It is weird, uncanny, but makes coexistence of human beings, machines and media. As well as illusion and reality can happen in these infinite games at the same time.

As known, this trend is inevitable. From the birth of smartphones, the booming development of VR technology, to the emergence of new types of robots, it gradually illustrates that human beings are quietly changing their roles and functions in this complex world. The connection with the world has visible changes. Those signals imply the coming of our information age, so that we would utilize new tech products to explore more possibilities and apply to different territories.

There are two main parts in this thesis, sci-fi art and body architecture. In sci-fi art, cyberpunk elements and new media combinations are introduced to illustrate how technology gives new ideas to the city and culture in the future.

As for body architecture, animation is emphasized to discuss development of body in motion with the participation of time and body sensors. In the third part, there are a couple of experiments inspired by the projects mentioned in the two parts above.

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Second Part: Resear Sci-fi Art Cyberpunk Element New Media Combination

Body Architecture Animation

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Xiaolei Liu Spring 2020 Thesis Prep

rch

e

"My main concern is: what is truth? I even question the universe. I wonder if it’s real. I wonder if we’re all real!”

--------------Philip K. Dick

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01 CYBER ELEME

from movie to re

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RPUNK ENT

eality

Xiaolei Liu Spring 2020 Thesis Prep

Shanghaijing, Pause Fest

There is a sharp contrast between the highly developed human civilization and the fragile human individuals, and the contradictions between the outside and the inside, between the steel and the flesh, between the past and the future, between the reality and the unreal are interwoven. Seemingly opposite, destiny is linked together.

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The Digital City Normal City The digital city: made by city perspective at night with dark background, colorful commercial board, and huge projective image. The view is full of a strong sense of visual effect that makes a mystery and prosperous environment.

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Neon Li

ight

Xiaolei Liu Spring 2020 Thesis Prep

Projective Image

Blade Runner 1982

Ghost in the shell

2073, Nilita Piyukshin

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The Texture

The texture: In cyberpunk images, rain, wet and reflective ground are usually used to show a cold and chaotic world. At the same time, glow and fog is another combination when making this atmosphere with an uncertain and unknown feeling.

Stand Tall and Shake the Heavens, Cyberxen

When that time comes, 05

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Xiaolei Liu Spring 2020 Thesis Prep

Rain

Glow

Fog

Wet and Reflective ground

Art my Masashi Kageyama

Rain

Fog

Wet and Reflective ground

Glow

Art station, Vadim Sadovski

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The Color

The color of cyberpunk: The cyberpunk style images are a combination of dark backgrounds and saturated light colors.

The bright monochrome color such as bright pink and fluorescent green is one kind of that. Also it has the collision color combo, making the picture to have more visual impact.

Denki Town, Yuta Shimpo

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Electric

city Theft, Engwind

Xiaolei Liu Spring 2020 Thesis Prep

California 2085, Sylvain Sarrailh

Shanhaijing, Pause Fest

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The Relationship

Human And Virtual Reality

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This type of film is mainly based on the background of virtual reality technology to express the psychological changes of human beings in this process. How to tell the difference between the real and the virtual becomes an important philosophical question, or who you believe the world is real or not. We get a taste of the virtual world, which allows us to become addicted to the world and escape from the chaotic problems of the real world.

Xiaolei Liu Spring 2020 Thesis Prep

No.1 Player, 2018

The Matrix, 1999

Total Recall, 2012

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Human And robot

The relationship between humans and robots has always been very delicate.

Humans want robots to be more and more intelligent to do a lot of things for them, but they are afraid that robots are more powerful than humans, and thus resist the idea of humans having autonomous consciousness. So this kind of movie would create a robot character with such an awakening consciousness,

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challenging human definitions of machines and organisms, as well as self-consciousness. In the future, it is worth exploring whether humans and robots will coexist harmoniously, or whether humans will control robots or be enslaved by them.

Xiaolei Liu Spring 2020 Thesis Prep

Ghost in the Shell, 2017

I, Robot, 2004

Blade Runner, 1982

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02 New m combin

the paradise of i

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media nation

Xiaolei Liu Spring 2020 Thesis Prep

The Greateness, Xiaolei Tian

information When art meets science, contradictions and commonalities exist at the same time, forming new species and new order. In this chapter, through refreshing the classics, decomposing and regrouping and interaction, new media integrates into art work, which is grotesque and witty, to see how people get along with technology.

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Refresh the Classics

Refresh the classics: Classics is one of the main materials for new media artists to develop a totally different work. The works discuss the ultimate relationship between science and human and that if it will form new lives and a new order after mutual domestication. With new sights to view culture and context, the conflict and coexistence are quite attractive obviously.

The Creation of Ad

The Greate

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Xiaolei Liu Spring 2020 Thesis Prep

dam, Michelangelo

eness, Xiaolei Tian

The Thinker, Auguste Rodin

The Greateness, Xiaolei Tian

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Thangka, Guanpeng Ding

The Greateness, Xiaolei Tian

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Xiaolei Liu Spring 2020 Thesis Prep

Vitruvian Man, Leonardo da Vinci

The Greateness, Xiaolei Tian

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Decompose and Regroup

Decompose and regroup: this is an interesting approach to combine with new media through resolving body parts and adding new composition into the structure.

The new composition has different scale, color, texture or function than before. Artist creates some disturbing new species and strange scenes to explore infinite possibilities.

b0t/fl0w, Tony Oursier, 2017

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Xiaolei Liu Spring 2020 Thesis Prep

Myth, Xiaolei Tian, 2019

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Interaction Scientific approach triggers more channels for people to experience the world or themselves. Time is introduced in this artwork, as well as the sense organ. For a three-dimension and four-dimension environment, people can put themselves into the interaction. The interaction is dynamic, imperceptible,and humorous.

Movie Drome, Stan VanDe

Floating multi-im derbeek always fi to create an envir a theater, making lay down to enjoy ages all around th seems like the 3D today.

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erBeek, 2012

mages: Vanfigured out ronment, or g people to y the imhem, which D movie hall

Xiaolei Liu Spring 2020 Thesis Prep

Visitation, Bill Viola, 2008

This short video showing on screen depicts a spiritual metamorphosis as two women choose to pass through a threshold of water. The water is like a portal connecting the two worlds.

They communicate with the audience with eye contact.

The surround sound and high resolution let the audience feel the real interaction.

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INTERACTION

PROJECTOR

PEOPLE

TeamLab Borderless, 2018

PEOPLE

INTERACTION

PROJECTOR

MODS Museum, 2019

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Xiaolei Liu Spring 2020 Thesis Prep

WDCH Dream, Refik Anado, 2018

View View

WDCH Dream, Refik Anado, 2018

WDCH Dream, Refik Anado, 2018

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03 ANIMA

body in mot

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Xiaolei Liu Spring 2020 Thesis Prep

ATION

tion

Chibi Unity, Vibe, 2019

Motion is an attractive existence that makes dynamic and fluent space structure. Freezing the time, we catch the movement and image the animation with technology, which leads to an alive picture made of a series of movements. In this case, we could apply this method into a lot of industries, like architecture, decoration, and 3D art. The animation looks so unreal, thus the outcome attracts people and intrigues imagination.

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What is Animation

Animation is a method in which pictures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In old times, pictures were drawn by hand but now are captured by high frame rate cameras, and turned to be made by computer-generated imagery.

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Xiaolei Liu Spring 2020 Thesis Prep

Photo by Albert Visage

Bird, Samer El Sayary

Horse’s gait, Eadweard Muybridge, 1879

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Image the Animation

Image the animation: using an advanced camera, movements are recorded in the same picture. The simultaneous image provides a trace and wave of body motion.

“Time is nature’s way to keep everything from happening all at once.”

-----John Archibald Wheeler.

Photographer Harold Edg

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gerton

Xiaolei Liu Spring 2020 Thesis Prep

Photographs by Andrew Davidhazy

Interactive Installation by Butch Rovan

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Application Decoration Decoration: based on the free morphology of the animation, it is particularly suitable to be applied for decoration.

Created by Madeline Gannon, CMU School of Architecture.

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Xiaolei Liu Spring 2020 Thesis Prep

Created by Madeline Gannon, CMU School of Architecture.

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Fashion Fashion: The animation is combined with fashion design. As a basic structure, the body is covered by a waving form of cloth made by a 3d printer.

Catwalk Imagery, Iris Van Herpen, 2019

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Xiaolei Liu Spring 2020 Thesis Prep

No Kill Mag, Iris Van Herpen, 2019

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Installation Installation: The animation approach provokes artist to create bunch of charming installation art combined with digitized image which brings new experience.

Prima Materia, Nohlab Studio, 2016

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Xiaolei Liu Spring 2020 Thesis Prep

Prima Materia, Nohlab Studio, 2016

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Architecture

Soma Architecture

High speed, in Reggio Emilia inaugurating The station Mediopadana

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Xiaolei Liu Spring 2020 Thesis Prep

MoDus Architects

The Beekman, Gehry

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Third Part: Design Active Expose 2049: Cold Light

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Xiaolei Liu Spring 2020 Thesis Prep

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04 Design work

explore mo

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Xiaolei Liu Spring 2020 Thesis Prep

n

ore posibility

Cybergirl, Sketchlab

At this phase, there are two experiments to use sci-fi art and body architecture. One project is about a hole to combine the animation structure and visual impact. The second one is creating two comparable rooms with cyberpunk style and combining human body with the machine.

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01. Active Expose

In this project, hole is the theme to create a special space. In this space, the inner appearance is made by blades according to the way of the active animation. The hole is totally different in daytime and nighttime. It is still and clean in the daytime, while entering into night, it is going to be charming with dynamic neon light.

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Xiaolei Liu Spring 2020 Thesis Prep

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Different time frame view

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Xiaolei Liu Spring 2020 Thesis Prep

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02. 2049 Cold Light

This cybernetic room design is about a story about the narrative situation of humans and robots in the future. One is a human’s living room which is chaotic and dirty, while the robot lab is vivid and hopeful. And the relationship between human beings and the artificial body is subtle.

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Xiaolei Liu Spring 2020 Thesis Prep

The Human Living Room

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Human beings are facing the problem with limited resources and overloaded population. People are living in diaordered environment anxiously and hopelessly. They fear being stripped of their sovereignty by artificial man. The artificial man starts to have his own consciousness and wish to longer life time.

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Xiaolei Liu Spring 2020 Thesis Prep

The Robot Lab

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The main question is : What is the truth?

The artificial woman thought she was real human. But she gradually find what she believed and watched is fake.

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Xiaolei Liu Spring 2020 Thesis Prep

The television in human house is actually monitor in lab.

The bed in human house is manipulating table in lab.

The refrigerator in human house is nutrient solution bottle.

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INFINITE GAMES

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