Memorial of Forgotten Casualties
A retrospective project of [39] Monument of Concealed MigrantsArt, AR
Toolkits: photogrammetry, webAR, three.js
Year: 2023
Featured in Exhibition: Ties that never be unbound, Underground Art and Design, New Art City Festival
Memorial of Forgotten Casualties is a place-based immersive experience designed to empower marginalized and estranged city residents and immigrants by providing them a platform for survival, communication, and expression in public spaces. The project uses web-based Augmented Reality technologies to transform famous landmarks into long-lasting underground public memorials and monuments that can only be accessed through secret portals. By highlighting the underrepresented voices of marginalized communities, the project aims to tell stories that have been ignored or forgotten.
Whoever enters the landscape can access the digital landscape via their smartphones' QR codes and create a venue to voice their opinions, discuss and critique decisions, and reclaim their identities and histories connected to specific places. The overlaid digital content will provide a unique and interactive way for marginalized groups to engage with their surroundings. It is an inclusive experience encourages community participation and fosters a sense of belonging.
Whoever enters the landscape can access the digital landscape via their smartphones' QR codes and create a venue to voice their opinions, discuss and critique decisions, and reclaim their identities and histories connected to specific places. The overlaid digital content will provide a unique and interactive way for marginalized groups to engage with their surroundings. It is an inclusive experience encourages community participation and fosters a sense of belonging.
Located at the Harvard Science Center and facing the iconic Harvard front gate, Tanner Fountain is a privileged spot. To me, the endless rocky structure of the fountain is reminiscent of a cemetery, especially when covered in snow.
Phrase 1:
On 23 October 2019, the bodies of 39 Vietnamese people — 31 men and 8 women — were found in the trailer of an articulated refrigerator lorry in Grays, Essex, United Kingdom. The trailer had been shipped from the port of Zeebrugge, Belgium, to Purfleet, Essex, UK, and the lorry cab and its driver are believed to have originated from Northern Ireland. Investigations are being led by Essex Police, and involve the national authorities of the UK, Belgium, Ireland and Vietnam.Along with Kelsey Tianyu Wang, I created a series of huddle scuplture projections in the snow, marked as death body from 1 to 39, in memory of the 39 Vietnamese bodies, and all the concealed migrants died in the same situation.
The statues were mapped onto the stones in a curled-up position, creating a somber representation of tombstones covered in snow during winter. This metaphor effectively conveys the tragic fate of the frozen dead.
May their soul find rest.
Phrase 2
During March 2023, I revisited and developed the project and remade the visual presentation with new tools including Augmented Reality(AR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
The use of AR creates an immersive and interactive experience that is easily accessible to a broad audience through a smartphone's QR code. This allows for greater engagement and participation from the community, as they can explore and interact with the digital content overlaid with their surroundings.
Featured in Exhibition:
Ties that never be unbound, Underground Art and Design, New Art City Festival
