PURPOSE
Rethink the priority needs
Experience it in Web VR.
Artist Statement
Modern media advertisements are not just about telling the audience that a product exists and respond to a need that someone may already have. It is creating desires that we might not otherwise have had before seeing the advertisement . In other words, it aims to create fake desires in us by manipulating us so that we will want their products. The problem is that we waste resources on unimportant stuff. We are inefficient as a result of our lack of self-awareness. We consume to divert our focus away from our anxieties or to satisfy our insatiable need for status and belonging. The media has never stopped telling us to shop. The question that arises is that do we as the customers have the freedom to choose what to purchase?
The truth is that the images projected by the media have already made our choices for us. Our choice is reduced to brand names. Consumerism, like communism, restricts our freedom of choice. Our self-awareness has been distorted, Our self-worth has been justified by the logo of different brands we put on. Purpose is a virtual art that allows the audience to experience the three dimensional virtual space in a distorted world.
This artwork speaks about the issues of consumerism in the age of Anthropocene based on the theory of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. It provides an invitation to the audience to reflect and rethink the priority needs of human beings.
Technical Statement
3D models were built in Cinema4D and Marvelous Designer. Most characters are from Mixamo and DazStudio. For Windows users, the interaction was developed in Unity. For web browser, 360° panorama images are being rendered with Octane Renderer and developed for web environment. Cinematic trailer is filmed with a Unity's plugin - Cinemachine.
"Consumerism, like communism, restricts our freedom of choice."
This piece was also restructured to be map onto the walls of Digital Art Gallery.
Credit: KC Tan, Dr. Lim Kok Yoong, Iffah & Shakir_Filamen.
