Our video art program #MachineCinema2 enters its fourth week with two artworks addressing the subject of rewilding:
🌿 ReRooted (2024), by Cruda Collective @cruda.collective
🍄 To Be A Mushroom (2024), by Rolin Yuxing Dai @rrooolin
Machine Cinema 2 is curated by Pau Waelder @pauwl x Niio.art @niioart
📍Until March 22nd · Antic Ajuntament de Tarragona (Carrer Major, 41)
⚡️ This is the last week presenting new artworks, but next week we'll conclude the program with a special screening of all eight artworks!
#MèdolTGN #IA #DigitalArt
@tgn_cultura@creacultura_cat@cultura_cat
Comença el quart programa de #MachineCinema2: RENATURALITZACIÓ. El programa 4 reuneix Cruda Collective i Rolin Yuxing Dai amb dues peces que qüestionen la masculinitat i la identitat a través d’imaginaris naturals i híbrids.
🌿 ReRooted (2024), de Cruda Collective @cruda.collective
Partint d’un taller de Virginia Vigliar sobre una mirada ecològica de la masculinitat, l’obra llança una pregunta directa: què és el masculí i com es pot renaturalitzar?
🍄 To Be A Mushroom (2024), de Rolin Yuxing Dai @rrooolin
El bolet apareix com una criatura ambigua: fred i viscós, però també dur i tou. Una metàfora per pensar la identitat com un espai fluid, entre força i vulnerabilitat.
Machine Cinema 2, un cicle de vídeo comissariat per Pau Waelder @pauwl x Niio.art @niioart
📍Del 17 al 22 de març · Antic Ajuntament (Carrer Major, 41) De dimarts a dissabte de 16 a 21.30 h
⚡️ Atentes, que Machine Cinema 2 s’acaba! Última setmana d’estrenes. Però del 23 al 29 de març, totes les peces reunides en dues sessions finals per tancar el cicle!
#MèdolTGN #IA #DigitalArt
@tgn_cultura@creacultura_cat@cultura_cat
SELF TRANSFORMATION Open Call — Final Selection
3 Square Meters
3D designer Rolin Yuxing Dai/ China @rrooolin
The title “3 Square Meters” refers to the confined space of a car interior during a traffic jam — a moment of physical stillness contrasted with the boundless freedom of insects moving beyond the glass. This experience sparked a speculative reflection: a world in which humans regain the ability to fly, transcending physical limitations and environmental costs while reconnecting with the fluid movement of nature.
The visual language draws from natural structures and transformation. The intricate venation and iridescence of dragonfly wings inform the garment’s construction, symbolizing speed and agility. References to metamorphosis — from pupa to butterfly — express the evolution of human mobility, shedding the weight of mechanical systems in favor of lighter, organic forms of existence.
About the designer
Rolin is a digital artist from Shenzhen, China, graduated from the Digital Direction Program at the RCA, with a background in Photography & Imaging from NYU. She likes to create artwork as a welcoming, open space—like a visual daydream you can drift into or out of at will.
Presented as part of the digital program of Unique Fashion Show NY.
#UniqueFashionShowNY #OpenCall #DigitalFashion
It’s a Show (2025) a 360° immersive film designed to be experienced on both desktop and VR headsets by Rolin Yuxing Dai (@rrooolin ) as a part of the MA Digital Direction programme at the RCA (@rca_digitaldirection ).
Curated digital cool, struggling, perfectly imperfect you – which is better, or are they all true?
This work examines the impact of curated digital identities in the hyper-competitive online world. It considers whether these carefully constructed personas lead to identity fragmentation or if it simply acts as a playful form of self-expression.
The video is staged as a virtual runway show inside a massive stadium, opening with AI-generated avatars performing in perfect synchrony. Their harmony and symmetry embody the polished ideals of digital perfection. As the performance unravels, this flawless façade collapses into a chaotic “backstage” of fractured visuals, emotional turbulence, and internal conflict — a metaphor for the fragility beneath curated surfaces. In the final scene, raw 3D body scans of real, unpolished human forms emerge, inviting viewers to wonder where the idealized self ends and the true self begins. Is there a ‘real’ self behind the screen or are our digital personas simply another facet of who we are? Or perhaps, it’s all just a never-ending show.
This was made using Maya, Scaniverse, Adobe Premiere, and After Effects (technical support by Mike Faulkner).
The work was exhibited on July 31st at Outernet, London.
#rca #digitaldirection #immersivefilm #360video #VRart #virtualrunway #digitalidentity #newmediaart #immersiveexperience #rolinyuxingdai
Rolin Yuxing Dai is from Shenzhen, China. With a focus rooted in themes of millennial digital nostalgia, escapism, and post-humanism, her practice is driven by a continuous exploration of new forms and techniques aimed at reimagining the art of storytelling. Rolin’s personal style, often infused with a light, whimsical tone. Through her art, she tries to create a space for play, like an amusement park, a fluid, open environment where one can drift in and out of meaning at their own pace.
Featured here: This piece explores the idea that with the rise of social media platforms, many individuals have increasingly manipulated their authentic identities sometimes to the point of distortion. This phenomenon has become a dominant trend in contemporary online culture, fueling growing social comparison as people strive to present themselves through extreme or idealized personas. The project aims to investigate the impact of curated self in the highly competitive online world, examining whether it leads to identity fragmentation and loss particularly when digital personas diverge significantly from individuals’ real-life selves or if it simply acts as a playful form of self-expression. The video, staged as a virtual runway show inside a vast stadium, opens with AI-generated avatars moving in perfectly synchronized sequences on the “frontstage.” Their harmony and symmetry reflect the polished ideals of digital perfection. As the performance unfolds, the flawless world begins to collapse into a chaotic ‘backstage’ of fractured visuals, emotional turbulence, and internal struggle. This breakdown mirrors the fragility and tension hidden beneath curated façades. In the final scene, raw 3D body scans of real, unpolished human forms emerge, inviting viewers to wonder where the idealized self ends and the true self begins. Is there a ‘real’ self behind the screen or are our digital personas simply another facet of who we are? Or perhaps, it’s all just a never-ending show.
👾CALL FOR 3D BODY SCANS👾
I’m creating an animation piece for my RCA 2025 graduation show that explores curated digital personas and authentic physical presence, and I’m looking for volunteers who would like to be featured in the artwork.
The concept of self-identity as an ongoing performance, as coined in Perfect Me: Life Is One Long Catwalk by Heather Widdows, has become increasingly relevant—especially in the context of late modernity, where the pervasive influence of media allows us to curate and alter our authentic identities, sometimes to the point of distortion or alignment with extreme ideologies. This project explores the impact of curated self-presentation in today’s highly competitive digital world. It asks: Does this performance of identity lead to fragmentation and loss, particularly when digital personas diverge from real-life selves? Or can it be simply viewed as a playful form of self-expression?
The video centers around a virtual runway setting, presenting both the “frontstage” and “backstage” to reflect different facets of virtual characters. The finale will reveal the raw, unpolished side of who we truly are.
To bring this concept to life, I invite volunteers to contribute 3D scans of their unique faces or bodies, which will serve as representations of authentic physical presence and the layered, multifaceted nature of identity in this video piece.
Proposed Exhibition Venue: Outernet London
For more details and to submit your 3D scan, please visit the link in Bio👆
#opencall #3dscan #runway #identiry #virtual #rca #avatar #scaniverse
City Digital Skin Media Art Innovation Competition (Best Innovation Award)
Organizer: School of Sculpture and Public Art, China Academy of Art
#beijingwukesong
#hangzhouwulin
