An immersive performance installationJiayi Li / NYU ITP Thesis

SPRING, WORM, WORM

Digital storytelling · Scenography · SoundEnter the world ↓

[ Between bodies, between worlds ]

A fairy tale of
becoming otherwise.

Fluid identities, femininity, and the ritual of transformation. Spring, Worm, Worm brings digital projections, live performance, and immersive sound into a world of unsettling truths and absurd fables.

Context: NYU ITP thesis
My role: Director / CG Lead
Motion capture performance
Medium: Immersive performance installation
Digital projection & sound

01 / The encounter

A room inside the fable.

Watch the full performance ↗

A luminous cyan figure projected beside a seated audience — Installation view · CultureHub / La MaMa

A red and white figure projected vertically above a glowing bed — Light takes the shape of a body.

Audience members gathered around a white hospital bed in a dark performance space — The audience shares the room.

A performer standing behind a red-lit table — I / Presence

A performer holding an object above a projected body — II / Ritual

A pale projected body remains as the stage darkens — III / Afterimage

02 / The projected body

The moving image becomes part of the scenography in deploying the digital presence into physical space.

Original wall projection contains flashing imagery and sudden changes in sound.

Projection source film

03 / The tangible body

Persephone’s Cuisine

A white organic sculpture with long limbs and red seeds on a plate — Sculptural work · Persephone’s Cuisine

04 / Behind the image

Building the unreal.

Pale sculptural creatures arranged across a luminous turquoise digital environment — Digital world study

A digital set featuring a hospital bed and medical equipment — scene mock up

A digital character wearing a ruffled costume in the 3D workspace — Character development

The playbill.

Spring Worm Worm printed playbill cover — Cover

Printed playbill with production credits and audience information — Production credits

Made together

Cast of
collaborators.

Presented at BLACKBOX,
curated by UAAD
ARTIFICE 004 × //PIXELMOUTH × UAAD
CultureHub / La MaMa, New York
April 5

Director / CG Lead: Jiayi Li
Motion capture performer: Jiayi Li
Sound design: HRTS, Jiayi Li, Enddle
Interactive / Audio engineer: Enddle (Jianhao Zheng)
Lighting artist: Audrey Chou
CG / Texture artists: Emily Hu, Amber Pan
Graphic design: Max Cao
Motion animator: Joy Zou

A fairy tale ofbecoming otherwise.