Creator

CHEN Wenjia, School of Creative Media

About the Work

Boundary Free is an interactive VR installation, which promotes mutual understanding between people with physically disabilities and able-bodied people. Before creating this exhibit, the artist spent “a week in a wheelchair” to see the world from the perspective of a wheelchair user. She was deeply moved by this “experiment”, which was a major source of inspiration for the creative work shown here today.

Her deepest impression from her experience in the wheelchair was on Sai Yeung Choi Street South in Mong Kong, one of the most crowded places in the city. As she moved slowly in her wheelchair among the crowds, she felt unsettled by people staring at her. An immense sense of isolation overwhelmed her, as if she were cut off from the rest of the world.

Three progressively evolving scenes make up the work, allowing the audience to experience different perspectives in each scene. They will experience what it feels like to be in the seat of a wheelchair user, gaining a deeper empathic understanding of both the physical difficulties and social pressure wheelchair users face.

Mechanism

Inspired by her experience during her week in a wheelchair, she designed three progressively evolving scenes in VR. In “Intersect” (Scene 1), she recreated Mong Kok’s busy Sai Yeung Choi Street South. In this virtual world, pedestrians actively attempt to prevent the player, who is in a wheelchair, from reaching the end of the road in the scene. “Intersect” is intended to be a reflection of reality, in which the player experiences the world from the perspective of a wheelchair user. The flood of apathetic pedestrians surrounding and working against the player evokes a sense of isolation and helplessness, similar to what one may experience on the street in a wheelchair.

In “Coincide” (Scene 2), the presentation takes some creative liberties; while the location is the same, all the virtual pedestrians are also in wheelchairs. Unlike “Intersect”, this surreal, yet relatively tranquil experience raises questions and invokes reflections on equality and our ideals concerning the world around us.

In “Parallel” (Scene 3), the surrealism is taken to the next level, and the world is transformed through “Inversion”. Roadblocks reduce pedestrian mobility, while wheelchair users roam freely without obstacles. This “role-reversal” challenges the status quo and makes us think about whether the world should be as it is. Each VR scene also contains various details that make statements in their own right. Hidden in different spots by the artist, these Easter eggs, combined with the audiovisual experience, encourage the audience to explore and appreciate the work.