YANG LI

Voxel Ark

2022

Interactive Digital Video

AR NFT

Mixed Media Sculpture

Variable dimensions

In the first year of the pandemic, a plethora of video footage and eyewitness accounts revealed that as human
activities contracted, many wild animals found their
habitats encroached upon. In 2021, the inaugural year of the “Ten-Year Fishing Ban on the Yangtze River,” sightings of the Yangtze River dolphin resurfaced, and a notable northward migration of elephants captured the nation’s
attention. The BBC also released the documentary “The Year Earth Changed” during the same period.

The observable revival of nature within just a couple of years suggests that every incremental improvement may not be in vain. Given the increasingly urgent environmental issues that demand attention, how should we, as artists, respond to this impending crisis in a collaborative manner? How can we leverage the expanding arsenal of artistic media and forms of expression? Moreover, can artistic practice extend beyond the canvas, actively engaging with society and collaboratively constructing an ideal social framework with the audience? Here, we transition from mere “questioning” to contemplating how to “collaborate.”