kristopher chu / 🍎

hi! my name is kristopher chu (๑'ᵕ'๑)⸝* i made 🍎 to invite curiosity about the images and representations we consume in our daily lives. it's a small game with touches from edutainment, a genre that i hold fondly in my heart. In its exhibition state, this game allows people to engage in a conversation about perspective and see how others perceive. by exploring the meaning of this symbol and other symbols in our lives, we can be more aware of how we replicate and frame reality. words, images, and symbols are created things. while creation is beautiful, it holds certain distance from reality.

through creation, things hold the fingerprints of their creators. there is always a little bias, formed by the maker, the medium, or other context. it's impossible to capture the whole of reality in any work. perhaps the filmmaker wasn't pointing the camera at what you would have noticed or the journalist left out details you would've found important. in our current moment, pictures, videos, and words show us a vast field of information. we live at a time where a vast sea of information is at our fingertips. there are many people trying to convey their truths or truths they believe are profitable. the veracity of this communicated information is often secondary to our consumption of it.

after all, not many people are attaching exhaustive works cited to their short form videos nor their social media posts. it would be a cumbersome task and a thankless task given the few who would read such verification.

'pics or it didn't happen' used to be common phrase, implying the truth in a picture taken from the real world. however, the reality of pictures is rarely solid. as early as the Cottingley Fairies of 1917, pictures were used to create beautiful fantasies. creating fake things that appear real has been a pasttime of humans for a very long time. i don't think a lack of complete truth is a flaw; often, it enhances a story or allows creativity to shine. however, it is important to remember: through all creations, we are consuming the world through a lens.

a big thank you to all 60~ participants of the exhibition, my cohort, professors & staff, my family and my friends.

kristopherchu.carrd.co/

kuppatan.itch.io/000