Abstract
This article examines the AI imaginary through visual culture. New media artists in East Asia utilize technologies such as 3D modelling and rendering, computer vision, motion capture, and facial motion capture in their practices. Drawing on Benjamin’s notion of ‘aura’, Marx’s theory of ‘alienation’, and posthumanism theories, the paper examines the self-referential critiques on unchecked digital capitalism that both liberate and exploit the human body and labour. It first examines Cao Fei’s vision of a futuristic metropolis where cyborgs make humans obsolete. It then illustrates computer vision algorithms and motion capture techniques’ alienation of humans from their bodies, labour, experience, and environment in Fei Jun and Lu Yang’s works. Finally, analyzing Japanese and Korean examples, the paper further discusses how new media art reveals the paradox of AI and other automated technologies that simultaneously enable and constrain, offering a critical perspective on AI’s promise and peril in rapidly digitizing societies.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 242-267 |
| Number of pages | 26 |
| Journal | Asiascape: Digital Asia |
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue number | 1-3 |
| Early online date | 18 Sept 2025 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Sept 2025 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© Gerui Wang, 2025.
Funding
The author is grateful for Professor Ban Wang’s feedback and comments at multiple stages of this project, and for Professor Dafna Zur’s guidance on researching Korean popular culture. Insights and suggestions from the edi- tors, Professors Florian Schneider and Haiqing Yu, as well as two anonymous reviewers, greatly helped enhance discussions on methods and analysis of visual materials.
Keywords
- AI
- automation
- body
- digital capitalism
- new media art
- self-referential
