Escaping Apple Fish (2020) is a short video piece that comments on the informative fragmentation in the current cyber ecosystem. Yangyang Chen uses Apple’s live fish wallpaper footage to direct attention toward the manipulation of the image, visualized through Apple fish constantly turning back to conceal itself from being exposed. The final sequence references ASCII art by recomposing the object through plain letters. The pixelated, minimalist elements compound to simulate the precise calculation of computer languages—building a colorful world on the screen.
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How could there be light in the deep sea, but we can see a fish emerge from the dark ocean.
Where does it come from?
Who let us see it?
How does it feel to us?
Marshall McLuhan once said: the medium is the message.
Even sometimes the message doesn’t do any good to the authenticity of the main subject.
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Yangyang Chen is an exchange student at University of Richmond, where she is studying film studies. When she has free time, she likes to glue herself to the computer screen, skimming through all kinds of incredible digital artworks.
