Yinuo Chen Creative Portfolio 2023

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Yinuo Chen [ yee-know ]

3D Generalist ;

Creative Technologist;

AI Prompt Engineer ;

Portfolio 2023

01 My Body Is Not My Home

Academic Project | 3D Short Film | 2023

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She/Her/Hers 3D Generalist, Creative Technologist, AI Prompt Engineer

Yinuo Chen is a multidisciplinary creative technologist based in Brooklyn and Beijing.

Yinuo had recently graduated from the Interactive Media Arts Program, NYU Tisch, with a Bachelor of fine Arts degree. She is currently a full time AI prompt engineer at Bluefocus Digital’s AIGC center, focusing on VAE model customization and AI assisted video workflow development.

Her works have been showcased at the Enjoy Contemporary Gallery New Zealand, Chengdu Contemporary Image Museum, The Blanc Gallery, iidrr Gallery, System Shanghai, NYU Tisch Gallery, and NYU Interactive Telecommunications program.

02 Man/Eater

Academic Project | Live Audio Visual Performance/Arduino Glove | 2023

03 East-South-West-North, Where did he go?

Individual Project | Origami Print Collection | 2023

04 Selected Client commissions

Artist Commissions | Audio Interactive 3D Visuals | 2023

05 TASKAM : Selected works

Group Project | 3D Audio Visuals | 2022 - 2023

06 AI Prompt Engineering : Selected works

Professional Projects | AI Assisted Commercial Productions | 2023

10 14 18 21 25 0

Directed by Yinuo Chen

Heart 3D model Creation By Kristopher Shi

Motion Capture Dance Sequence by Mark Peshkov

Landscape Production by Keer Zhao

Original Soundtrack by Gabriel Chi, Cameron Tanaka, and Jamante

01 My Body Is Not My Home 3D Animated Short Film Preview Here 2022.12 - 2023.12

02:45 min

Academic Work in New York University

Instructor: Snow Fu Yunxue

Unreal Engine, Autodesk Maya, Premiere Pro

Description: My Body Is Not My Home is a 3D animated short film experimenting with the concept of displacement. It features a digital simulacrum, mirrored after its creator, aimed to reveal, materialize, and reinterpret the often obscured physiological trauma and alienation that accompanies the involuntary process of growing into a politicized body that has no place to call home.

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1. Introduction

Could creatures of the uncanny

illicit Sympathetic Identification?

In the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, the Asian female body has found itself thrusted into the forefront of the American consciousness, perceived simultaneously as a source of disease, an object of desire, as well as a perpetual foreigner.

This centuries-long phenomenon of the abjectfication of Asian women echoes themes from Bell Hooks’ influential essay, "Eating the Other: Desire and Resistance" (1992), which delves into the commodification of the 'Other' by the white desiring subject and their desire for transformation through encounters with the 'Other'.

“cultural, ethnic and racial differences will be continually commodified and offered up as new dishes to enhance the white palate […] the Other will be eaten, consumed and forgotten.”(hooks 1992, p. 39).

The commercialization of the ephemeral and digital "Other"—a concept frequently depicted in mainstream movies and video games—presents a substantial risk to our perception of reality. Leveraging artificial intelligence and progressive technological innovations, individuals are now able to craft and proliferate virtual avatars of the 'Other', thereby perpetuating a perilous loop of depersonalization within digital and physical worlds.

My Body Is Not My Home strives to serve as an instrument of defiance against the involuntary mechanism of abjection. Its goal is to re-humanize the entity of the "Other" and to reframe the Asian female form within the realm of the digital and technological landscape, and forge new paradigms of representation.

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2. Research & Methodology I approached this project with an experimental and speculative mentality, curious to see how far the malleable nature of cognitive objectification and abjectification would apply in the digital realm.

Objectification:

VS. Abjectification:

The way we process visuals of human bodies is more configurative, as an organized whole that is perceived as more than the sum of its parts. Objects, in turns, are perceived less configuratively, more analytically as an assemblage of parts. Interestingly, the study reveals suggestive postures specifically cause objectification, regardless of high vs. low skin to cloth ratio. Bernard, P., Hanoteau, F., Gervais, S.,

Servais, L., Bertolone, I., Deltenre, P., & Colin, C. (2019). Revealing Clothing Does Not Make the Object: ERP Evidences That Cognitive Objectification is Driven by Posture Suggestiveness, Not by Revealing Clothing. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 45(1), 16-36. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167218775690

According to Julia Kristeva's Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection, Abjectification, by definition means the Othering of the subject, The act of

othering, though similar to the process of objectification, evokes an added on layer of repulsion and disgust. (Powers 2)

Suggestive Posture

Analytical processing

Neutral body posture

Configural Processing

(often recognized in Open body postures)

(Or closed body postures)

Sexualization

Objectification

Humanization

??

Uncanny Asian Female Open & Closed postures Digital Body

Visual Inspirations:

Final storyboard, 2023

Sacrifice Delusional Mandala, Lu Yang, 2019

Initial Sketches, 2022 Spider, Louise Bourgeois, 2003

Initial Sketches, 2022

Metamorphisis

Assemblage of Self

The narrative unfolds in three distinct sequences: "Sacrifice," where the self is willingly offered up for consumption; the rebirth into "Metamorphosis," rejection of its former self and the further evolution into the 'Other'; and ultimately, the "Assemblage of Self," hysterical dance sequence which visualizes the torment of being perceived as an assemblage of self that could never be seen as whole.

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3. Scene Breakdown Sacrifice

To create a hyper-realistic human body material, I created a subsurface scattering material Blueprint inside of Unreal Engine, ensuring the subtle light transmissions are reflected through the skin layer.

I

The creature’s face is created through converting a 3D scan of my face into Unreal Engine’s Metahuman. The animations were recorded on my phone, and retargeted to the Metahuman’s face through it’s Livelink System.

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3. Scene Breakdown

Metamorphosis

00.Initial Material + Physics Test

The second-skin falling-from-above method failed to accurately mimic the motion of skin peeling from a body.

01.Switching to PathTracer

To correctly render the semi translucent materials and create an overall more hyper realistic footage, I switched over to using Path tracer renderer, which simulates the true physics of light ( it uses ray tracing as one component of a larger light simulation system) and created a custom subsurface material blueprint inside of UE to create a semi-transparent, light leaked through effect on the cocoon.

02.Body Pose Re-design

* The final design of the body’s pose during rebirth is confined to the pattern of the Fibonacci sequence, where each number is the sum of the two preceding ones, a pattern frequently observed in natural forms. This arrangement symbolizes how our identities are the cumulative result of past memories, shaping us and influencing our perception of control over our decisions.

Initial material test in Unreal Engine’s real time ray-tracer also displayed

limited capability in rendering translucent materials.

03.Adjusting Gravity

I added a wind vortex in Maya and set the gravity to be horizontal, so that the skin would fall sideways, and correctly mimic the skin peeling effect.

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3. Scene Breakdown Assemblage of Self The tension of the story’s slowly builds up up to this point, where metamorphosis occurs and the protagonist enters a frenzied dance sequence.

The modified body structure comprises three sets of limbs, representing the traumatic memories that linger on despite the passage of time.

The diamonds draped around her body symbolize the entrapment of empty aesthetic values, which become a tangible burden that increasingly oppresses the individual over time.

Without the weight of her heart, her body is much lighter, easier to carry herself around in the world.

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4. Environment Design Landscape Production By Keer Zhao.

Foliage, Light and Environment Design by Yinuo Chen

The inspiration for this landscape structure stems from a small patch of woods not far from my childhood neighborhood in the suburbs of Beijing. Despite being surrounded by construction sites, I often found myself taking walks through the area during winter holidays upon returning from the States. The pond was always frozen, sometimes covered in snow, and I couldn't help but wonder what it would look like in the spring. As such, I digitized this fantasized, ephemeral patch of nature, re imagining what it would have looked like in the spring of 2013.

Foliage color and composition inspired by the Ophelia Painting by John Everett Millais, 1851–52

To enhance the overall dreamlike environment, a murky, shiny water material was created. It composes of two different diffuse colour, and linearly interpolates between the two colours based on the intensity of the Fresnel equation(how the light reflects at different intensities based off of the angle of view).

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5. Conclusion Audience Feedback As part of my project, I shared a reel containing snippet of the character on Instagram, and requested the audience to share their observations toward seeing the character’s animated actions.

Out of the total 199 comments received, 12% of the comments expressed sympathetic identification, 4% contained sexualization/objectification of the digital body, and 84% commented on the aesthetic aspects of the content.

While this metric on the comment section of a single video alone is not sufficient to make a conclusive statement on whether the digital human surpassed the realm of the "other," I am optimistic to see that this character is capable of evoking identification despite its uncanny appearance. This reinforces the idea that digital humans could, on certain levels, subvert the process of dehumanization through thoughtful and context-specific designs.

4% sexualization/abjectification

12% sympathetic identification

84% aesthetic value

Overall Project Outcome Significant increase in exposure on social media since the release of the film’s promotional materials Scheduled to release promotional merchandise in collaboration with iidiir Gallery and Fluc , NYC, in December, 2023 Exhibited at the NYU Tisch wide Halloween event 2023 Selected by Chengdu Photo Festival's curator as part of the NYU Student Exhibition, which is scheduled to be open on December 31st for a duration of 3 months in the Chengdu Contemporary Image Museum in China The Animated Short Film will be officially released on 12/1/2023.

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02 Man/ Eater View Here

Live Audio Visual Performance/Data Glove 2022.12

Academic Work in New York University

Instructor: David Rios

04:00 min

Arduino, Runway ML, Touchdesigner

Man/Eater is the name of this experimental live performance system. Performance system intergrating deep sea creature aesthetics into technology.The user takes on an alter-ego during the performance, wearing a custom made mirror mask and a wireless midi Arduino glove , controlling the soundscape and live visuals via motion. The gloves and the mask becomes a physical extension of the performer’s body, enabling the performer to become the ultra-instrument.

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1.

Concept

&

Mask

Design

Key Concepts: While

sound

and

incorporating

music

visual

are

primarily

elements

can

experienced

significantly

Mask Design

through

augment

the

hearing,

cognitive

processing and emotional impact of auditory experiences.

Inspired

by

Björk's

performances,

Bonnaroo

integration

notably

2013,

I

her

of

visual

masked

developed

an

art

in

her

appearance

alter

ego

at

that

simultaneously conceals and accentuates the performer.

While

the

mask

offers

a

sense

of

security

through

its

concealment, it also imposes a limitation, restricting the

performer's vision to only the motion of their hands.

The hands, in turn, controls the soundscape and visual landscape of the entire

performance.

The

performer

is

forced

to

become

one

with

the

designed

performance system. The gloves and the mask becomes a physical extension of

the performer’s body, enabling the performer to become the ultra-instrument.

Visual Inspirations:

The Dreamers, a family of deep-sea anglerfishes known as Oneirodidae

Inspired

by

the

bioluminescent

attracts

the

symbiotic

lures,

I

audience's

relationship

between

designed

a

mask

that

attention,

mimicking

deep-sea

both

the

anglerfish

conceals

mutually

the

and

wearer

beneficial

their

and

interaction

between the fish and its light-emitting bacteria. This design hopes to reflect the

intriguing duality of protection and allure found in these enigmatic sea creatures.

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2. Glove & Performance System Design Approach and Tools System Flowchart .

Schematics Diagram & Hardware Component Arduino Nano 33 Io Flex sensors * Lithium batter Mini Breadboard Wire & Sensor housin Plastic Halloween Finger Casing

** Ultrasonic Distance Sensor was not used in the final application due to time constraint.

A. Hardware Development After several mobility tests, I discovered that using rubber bands not only

resulted in a general discomfort, the sensors' exposed surface was also prone to damage from constant friction with the finger enclosure casing.

Since the flex sensors are quite easy to break, I made several attempts to house it without losing its sensitivity.

My initial approach was to use rubber bands to tighten

As a solution, heat-shrinking tubes were applied to cover the sensors' body, enhancing finger mobility and

the flex sensors on the inside of the hard-shelled

minimizing the risk of sensor damage.

mechanical finger casings.

B. Software Development Arduino to Touchdesigner:

Touchdesigner to Ableton: each

6 Total inputs: the x, y, and z

finger’s movement to a different reverb

position of the accelerometer,

effect. inside Ableton

which measures the movement

To ensure the distinct effect of each finger, I

of the hand through space

Through

used

Touchdesigner,

the

Logic

I

mapped

Chop

Function

in

The 3 flex sensors’ bent angle, is

Touchdesigner to choose only the activated

mapped to a value between 0

finger to be the singular trigger

and 1 where 1 is the finger fully

The

other

two

finger

triggers

are

bent downwards

automatically turned off when one finger’s flex

Touchdesigner sends over the

data reaches the value of 1 (finger bending

converted signals to Ableton via

downwards).

OSC.

Data Categorization inside TD

Accelorometer data from Arduino influencing the “expansive

space” reverb, increasing the intensity as the device moves

Example. The main video switch sends the final output on the TV screen

from Left to right

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3.

Performance

&

Project

Outcome

.

ITP/IMA Winter Showcase 2022

ITP Alter Egos Final Showcase 2022

The live performance was selected to be shown at the ITP winter

Project

show 2022, as well as ITP ‘s Alter Ego Final showcase 2022. In the future, I hope to improve the automation aspect of the current

Outcome:

system, and implement realtime generative soundscapes into the design.

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03 East-South-North-West, Where did he go?

Graphic Design, Origami Prints 2023.11

Individual Project

Tools: Photoshop

In my elementary years, my paternal grandfather introduced me to the game of paper fortune telling, known in his terms as "East-South-West-North" (东 南 西 北 ). Despite the differing nomenclature, it shared core similarities with its Western counterpart. Players are enabled to choose the shape of their fortune through the simple folds of this origami pattern. In 2023, I undertook the task of digitizing our family's deteriorating photo albums, uncovering numerous unseen photographs of my paternal grandfather. I was inspired to create a multi-dimensional portrait of him using origami, blending his past and present into a unified representation.

This project aimed to extend his lifestory beyond my fragmented childhood memories.

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1. Design Methodology

Categorization Process

Design Principles

Digitize the corroding photograph

The design should build anticipation as the user goes

Translate inscriptions into Englis

through the steps to reveal a hidden message

Research syntax style and locations

The design should reveal a chronological narrative

mentioned in the written inscriptio

through the paper folding process

Chronologically

reorder

the

The design can be easily learned and replicated.

photographs into a reusable catalog.

Methodological protocol: 15

2. First Iteration

The first iteration consists of a chronologically organized collection of my grandfather’s photographs featuring his handwritten inscriptions. As the player adjusts the pattern, the years gradually regress from 1987 to 1955.

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3. Second Iteration The second iteration of the project spans photographs from 2007 to 2022. As participants engage in the folding process, the timeline advances toward the future.

Notably, I digitally merged my image onto an older photo with my grandfather using Photoshop. This was done to symbolically include him in my college graduation, an event that occurred a year after his passing.

This intentional alteration serves to disrupt the chronological sequence and seeks to create an intersection of past and present beyond the regid rules of time.

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04 Selected Client Works A. Eartheater Live Visuals

Audio Visual Live System Design / Performance Artist Commission, Art/ Animation Director 01 hr 2023.4 Unreal Engine, Touchdesigner, Premiere Pro, Midi controller

Comissioned by renowned singer/song writer Eartheater to develop a live audio visual system for her show at NYU. View Here

B. When the sun goes down 3D Audio Visual music video Artist Commission, Art/ Animation Director 04:24 min 2023.6 - 2023. 7 Unreal Engine, Premiere Pro

Commissioned by emerging singer/songwriter 11 JIA YI to direct and produce an original live visual animation for his award-winning single "When the Sun Goes Down" Video showcased at 11 JIAYI and 99GOD ‘s China Tour “Into the Dark” in various renowned Chinese live music venues including Yue Livehouse Beijing & Systems Shanghai.

View Here

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A. Eartheater Live Visuals System Flowchart

Color Scheme Design

Unreal Engine Ocean Render Loop Realtime Audio Input Dynamic Geometrical Movement Touchdesigner

Scene Switch Midi Controller Input

Motion Speed Elegant

Midi Controller Test in Touchdesigner

Mitosis

Gravity

Phoenix

Client Brief Keywords Flying Over the Ocean

LIquid

Loop

Transformation Show Documentation

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B. When The sun Goes down: selected stills

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05 TASKAM Selected Works

2023.6

View Here

Our Hands Unbroken (an ode to Internal Countermeasure Electronics) 3D Audio Visual Installation Gallery commision, Art/ Animation Director, Group Project 02:37 min 2021.9 -2022.2 Unreal Engine, Maya, Premiere Pro

TASKAM was invited by Enjoy Contemporary Gallery, New Zealand, to create an original 3D music video installation for their Mirai Nikki (Future Diary) exhibition. Original 3D visuals directed and produced by Yinuo Chen. Original Soundscape by Gabirel Chi and Cameron Tanaka.

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05 TASKAM Selected Works

XPARK

View Here

3D Music Video 02:05 min

Unreal Engine, Maya, Premiere Pro

'XPARK' is a original 3D animated music video about the suffocation of desire. Directed and produced by

Art/ Animation Director, Group Project

Yinuo Chen. Original Score by Gabriel

2021.9 -2022.2

Chi and Cameron Tanaka.

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05 TASKAM Selected Works

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06 AI Prompt Engineering Selected works

View Here

Sixgod Prevails AI Motion Graphics Design

Stable Diffusion, Midjourney, Runway ML gen2 2023. 10

Professional Ad Campaign

Video Documentation

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06 AI Prompt Engineering Selected works

LiblibAI X Blue Converse AI Contest Control net 3D design/ Stable Diffusion Workflow Development 2023. 11

Professional Ad Campaign

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