On May 1, 2024 CAFA Graduation Season was officially unveiled at CAFA Art Museum. Just as the theme “Direction of the Heart” contains good wishes and sincere expectations for Class of 2024 at CAFA, 2024 CAFA Graduation Season does not only contain their art achievements, their enthusiasm and perseverance in creation are also reflected, which further conveys the imagination and expectations of young students as they embark on the road to the future.
Exhibition View of Episodic Murmuring at 2024 CAFA Graduation Season
The Game Interface of Episodic Murmuring
Episodic Murmuring
By Wang Yiwei, Printmaking Department of CAFA
“Episodic Murmuring” is a video game in which you can choose your direction of plot as there are pictures, texts, and Chiehtaotu. The texts contain elements such as secret love, homeland, flying, hiding, and ballads, just like hearsay whispering during walks; the images also have their narrative logic, and there are complex and non-one-to-one correspondence with the narratives of texts, just like looking around while taking a walk. Some of the images were extracted from strangers’ photo albums, and some were collected at home and then made into “old photos.” They were numbered, classified and added explanatory notes, and put into a decent archive. Of course the Chiehtaotu is also fictional, although there are some real locations, it’s more like a mental map, the “city center” is the kindergarten.
Episodic Murmuring Archive Box J
The Game Map of Episodic Murmuring
Rubbings of the Wangjiang Building Workshop
I had a roundabout experience during my creation but there was always someone who would like to help as long as I sincerely wanted to do anything. Shapi helped me with game and program by demonstrating Twine and perfecting the Unity version. Xiang Letian, my high school classmate helped me with sound by producing very accurate music. Not only did he write and sing a very key ballad of Ming Dynasty in it, but he also completed all the sound effects and theme melodies in a very creative way.
Early experiment of my creation
The original Twine version of the game
A spectator was doing neck training while watching the map.
I learned a lot from this creative process. In Gothenburg, I played the game with my Chinese friends at my student apartment, which was like a party rather than an exhibition; then I played it again with foreigners studying Chinese in Sweden, and I also played it with my classmates from the University of Gothenburg. I began to reflect it after I received their feedback, if the purpose of my creation was to explore the life experiences of different groups, then “why should they be interested in your work?” Therefore, I gave up using games as a guide for the audience to tell life experiences, instead I created a workshop with simple rubbings, immersive woodcuts, and a comfortable, private and safe venue. I’d rather refer to “Wangjiang Building” as “participatory art” as the difference lies in the purpose of creation and the way of recording the creative process.
An exhibition presented at my home with friends during the exchange period
During the exchange period in Sweden, I was setting up the exhibition with my classmates Kinga (left) and Julia (right).
An appreciation banquet with seniors for our mentor in 2023
An event that I had held at CAFA Youth Space
Courtesy of Wang Yiwei, edited by CAFA ART INFO.
