This project was a computational extension of a sculptural response to the global refugee crisis.  Informed by Ai Wei Wei’s, Life Cycle, exhibit at the MAF in Los Angeles, over the course of a museum field trip, students were introduced to Chinese mythology, contemporary art, the global refugee crisis, and computational storytelling.

 Wei Wei’s Life Cycle exhibit references the Shan Hai Jing, “Collection of the Mountain and the Seas” which is a cultural and geographic account of mythical beasts with body parts of humans and animals predating the Qin Dynasty.  In Life Cycle these mythic figures float as bamboo and silk sculptures above a raft of refugees calling to mind guardian spirits.

Bringing an imagined geography to life through Ai Wei Wei’s Shan Hai Jing, students told imaginative tales of migration using the Scratch programming language, precut cardboard body parts , and Makey Makeys.  Over 1000 students used their digital shadow puppets to tell stories of migration inspired by their everyday experiences and  Ai Wei Wei’s artwork.
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