Yifan Liu (Born in 1999) is a Chinese photographer based in China. She is studying at the University for the Creative Arts in the UK with a BA in Photography. Her work currently focuses on the relationship between the virtual and the real, specialising in collage and subjective photography.
“A Cave Called Infinity” experiments with collages to demonstrate Liu’s research into digital cave theory. Inspiring by the book Gamer Theory Mckenzie Wark, Liu found that the virtual game world cannot bring the sense of satisfaction and achievement that players expect, but presents a reflection of human relationships, ethics and morals in the real world. To express this finding, she blends game elements with realistic elements in a playful way, to build a fictional space. This space represents a human-made capitalist “cave” in which Liu’s dull, serious, avatar is trapped. The work aims to blur the border between reality and virtual, connecting the game world and real world to give the viewer a third perspective: that we are constantly trapped in one virtual cave after another built by humans.
Charlotte Allcock | Photography
