Four Taiwanese Works Shortlisted for Paris NewImages Festival; Chen Hsin-yi Discusses VR Embodiment

The immersive art event "NewImages Festival" was held from April 8th to 12th in Paris at the Cité des sciences et de l'industrie, with forums and workshops taking place today. Taiwan has three works shortlisted in the XR (Extended Reality) competition unit: "To the Sun – Rhapsody for Heaven" by Lu Chia-hui and Chang Wen-chieh, "The Awake" by Hsieh Hsiao-ting and Hsieh Hsiao-wei, and "Clouds in Two Thousand Meters" by Chen Hsin-yi. Additionally, Hsieh Wen-yi's "Dark Side" was shortlisted in the Dome competition unit. As the opening's first major event, Chen Hsin-yi today conversed with festival director Michele Ziegler in the "Reimagining immersion" forum. Chen Hsin-yi said that when writing scripts for VR (Virtual Reality) creations, she cares more about how to make the audience's body "feel" rather than their perspective. For example, her work "The Abandoned" is an adaptation of many victims' experiences during the White Terror, a drama rather than a documentary. Still, in the 35-minute VR film, it makes the audience feel as if they are present, perhaps leading them to ponder more. She explained that VR films differ from general movies in that they cannot use montage techniques, but there is still "spatial editing." For instance, an audience member looks right, hears a sound on the left and looks left, then turns back to the front. The information from these three scenes combines to form a unique editing experience, where different viewing orders constitute the viewer's unique experience. Chen Hsin-yi stated that when creating VR works, she often considers a fundamental question: why use the VR format? After completing three works over the years, she gradually realized that VR is "very bodily," capable of generating a sense of "epiphany" during viewing. Chen Hsin-yi spoke about her next work in progress, "After Shattering into Dust." "Shattering into Dust" comes from the Diamond Sutra, and in some ways, its meaning is very similar to VR. For example, point clouds generated by scanning matter form images. From the perspective of the scripture, one can ponder: "Are individual points real? Or is the whole shattered state real? Is everything combined real?" These questions "seem to be exploring VR as a medium." Taiwanese works frequently win awards in major immersive content competitions, and their proportion in this year's NewImages Festival shortlist in Paris is also prominent. Out of 18 works competing in the XR competition unit, Taiwan accounts for three; out of 11 selected for the Dome competition unit, Taiwan accounts for one. Chen Hsin-yi told a CNA reporter that the Kaohsiung Film Archive began promoting immersive image creation in 2017, giving Taiwan an early advantage. Moreover, the talent entering this emerging industry is abundant, covering diverse fields such as film, theater, special effects, and games. Coupled with strong government support, this has led to Taiwan's excellent performance. Chen Hsin-yi mentioned that Taiwan also has technological advantages. For example, her 2018 work "Remains of the Future" used 8K3D specifications, because "only with good enough image quality can one truly be immersed." At that time, it seemed no other international team had achieved this level. Chen Hung-hsing, Director of the Taiwan Cultural Center in Paris (Centre Culturel de Taïwan à Paris), highly praised "Clouds in Two Thousand Meters" for being very advanced in the VR field. He said that with the strong support from departments such as the Kaohsiung Film Archive, the Ministry of Culture, and the Taiwan Creative Content Agency, the national driving force is one of the key factors for Taiwan's leadership in this art field. (Edited by Tien Jui-hua) 1150408