Paradise on Earth

Overview

This project's sarcastic title, "Paradise on Earth," questions whether the "censorship culture" in which we live is a paradise or a hell.

Through this project, I hope to expose these long-standing social problems around us and to highlight the significance of personal privacy and freedom of expression for the development of society.

Paradise on Earth

Overview

This project's sarcastic title, "Paradise on Earth," questions whether the "censorship culture" in which we live is a paradise or a hell.

Through this project, I hope to expose these long-standing social problems around us and to highlight the significance of personal privacy and freedom of expression for the development of society.

Paradise on Earth

Overview

This project's sarcastic title, "Paradise on Earth," questions whether the "censorship culture" in which we live is a paradise or a hell.

Through this project, I hope to expose these long-standing social problems around us and to highlight the significance of personal privacy and freedom of expression for the development of society.

The Awakening

China's Internet censorship has grown tremendously in recent years.

Digital surveillance resembles 1970s Cultural Revolution regulations.

Annual surveillance camera growth is alarming.

Even scarier, the government has been gathering data through mass surveillance on millions of people at once.

Inspiration

Edward Snowden's 2013 revelations exposed the actions of the National Security Agency and created a platform for global media to report on the documents. Under Xi Jinping, China has expanded its surveillance capabilities with 200 million "Skynet" cameras deployed in 2018, which is four times more than the US, and projected to reach 700 million by 2020.

Ideation

To develop more ideas of this project, I conducted brainstorming to explore ideas from all kinds of aspects related to the theme. I listed some of my thoughts here.

I chose the following imagery as design elements for sketching after a brainstorming session.

Sketch

Rendering

The Cube
Make The Invisible Wall visible


The Cube
Make The Invisible Wall visible


The Cube
Make The Invisible Wall visible


I tried to use this cube to symbolize the personal space that is monitored and the constrained freedom of expression; another goal was to make the audience feel more immersed after entering this place.


AR demo

In this project, I explored the power of interaction in Unity to enhance the audience's engagement and comprehension of the work's theme. The goal was to encourage further investigation and critical thinking.

The Poster

Using the human eyes as a key cue, a huge number of body parts are extracted and superimposed using artistic modeling, removing and combining multiple body parts to portray the misery and struggle of people caught under continual surveillance and suppression of free speech.




Seed Planted

In this project, I aim to shed light on the dangers of rampant censorship and inspire people to uphold their fundamental right to free expression. By raising awareness, I hope to encourage proactive defense of this crucial human right.

The Reflection

The widespread use of mass surveillance and censorship restricts freedom of expression by forcing individuals to self-censor their thoughts and ideas. This stifles social media content, hindering imagination and creativity, while government facial recognition and surveillance greatly infringes on residents' privacy rights.