http://yugezhou.com Video projection onto relief sculpture, 10 minutes (infinite loop), Please view the original video here: https://vimeo.com/126562578 ‘To afar the water flows’ reconstructs the city into a high-rise garden utopia, emphasizing a genuine harmony between man-made structures and its natural surroundings. This project originates from a simple desire to make people aware of their surroundings—both the physical and the psychological world they live in. Eight years ago, I left my home in Beijing, where the rapid transformation of the urban landscape dramatically reshaped the city and people’s lives, and I came to America to begin my journey—migrating from the west coast to the east coast, and from the east coast to the midwest. “To afar the water flows” is both a visual diary of this journey and a loving portrait of American cities. My installation is inspired by the concept of architectural relief (a technique where the sculpted elements remain attached but raised above the background plane). My audiences experience a gradual shift in the appearance and depth of my installation from a flat image to a three-dimensional relief with protruding geometric shapes. I use techniques like relief and projection mapping to enhance the framed glimpses of sceneries as well as emphasize the physicality of digital video.
