Involution

Data Visualization / Social Awareness / Installation

According to observations, people's voice in social media is interconnected. There are topics about family, gender, relationships, education, and stress. These are all reflections of social ideology. Interestingly, discussions always follow new TV series and movies. These TV series and films are trying to arouse social awareness with their narratives. But discussions on social media keep repeating the same question in different expressions, which causes anxiety as these discussions will never offer an answer. People need to realize that they are in a constant cycle of inward consumption, yet they are unaware of it.

Content:
I created an interactive project room where people can see the most popular Chinese TV shows, such as A Love For Dilemma, casted on a screen via the television application.

Spectators could walk through and stick their face in a round hole to watch the episode. On top of the episode, I projected text with the questions and topics that are discussed on the TV show and that were created on social media because of the TV show.

I collected the datasets from Weibo. At the same time, the TV shows generate much buzz about social issues such as asking the viewers, do you know what is involution, have you ever experienced involution? As the episode ends, the discussion comes to an abrupt end.

This installation was interactive, because the spectator was also a part of the project: when prompted by the video during the third part, the viewer was told that they could affect what happened on the screen by moving their own body. Therefore, they became part of the installation and piece themselves.

The significance of human narrative is that the viewer is no longer merely a passer-by
but a subject who can rewrite the story; they are participants in their own life.

It is time to focus on our own path and take action to change it.