Chenxin Cai
Growth
Prompt: For this project, every student made a creative piece relates to the topic we choose in the seminar class. Based on our research of the topics, we went further to develop our own themes for the project.
My topic in the seminar is Rene Magritte. By brainstorming ideas related to Magritte and his works. I decided on my theme as something deceptive or multi-faceted which leads to the contrast between virtuality and reality. My idea was influenced by Magritte as he dove into his paintings of theorizing the relationship between art and reality.
In general, there are four parts in this video: the human face, the cracked egg, the eye in both eggs (real & artificial), and the tin foil strips growing from the paper egg. In the first part, the face made glints for the idea of people as multi-faceted and how the world is being perceived in an illusory way. Just like Magritte once said, “The reality of art is just the illusion of nature.” Then it comes to the cracked egg. An eye hides in the eggshell. And the eye shifts to the inside of the other egg (the artificial one). It becomes more and more active until it gets to come out. So it leads to the final part in which more eyes appearing along with the tin foil strips growing from the egg.
Through the interactions between the eyes and the eggs, this piece intends to give a sense of growth between reality and virtuality. The eggshell symbolizes the barrier between the inside and the outside world, while the eyes act as the bridge connecting the two worlds. Through the crack of the egg, the hidden eyes inside the eggshell can peek at the outside world, at the same time, the eyes from the outside can also look into the inside.