In New Leaf (2020) artist Damon Pham was inspired by the outpouring of nostalgic memories listeners expressed in the YouTube comments section of the “Animal Crossing: New Leaf” soundtrack. In these comments, people reminisced over in-game memories triggered by the hourly changing music. Pham showcases the storytelling of this unique environment by curating comments generated by a computer algorithm trained on real comments representing each hour of the soundtrack. These comments are paired with animated Animal Crossing villagers that, when clicked by viewers, will recite a comment specific to the hour the viewer is visiting the piece. The result is a delightfully nostalgic piece that provides a break in its monotony.
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Check out Damon Pham’s Q + A.
Visit New Leaf here.
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Damon Pham works with time-varying media: sound, video, and the web. He graduated from Indiana University with a major in statistics and a minor in computer art. His recent interests include collective voices and the experience of addiction.
