Yilu Li

Visual Communication (MA)
As a visual communicator, I work across experimental video, mixed media installation, and nonlinear storytelling. I explore the space between the digital and the tactile, where code meets surface, and textures carry meaning. My tools range from video editing to projection mapping to behavior-driven interaction — often weaving screen-based media into physical environments that ask the viewer to move, to pause, to trace.
(UN)TRACE In platforms shaped by algorithms, visibility is a reward. You’re seen only if you align, conform, perform. But what happens to the voices that don’t fit? This project draws from the idea of digital squatting — inhabiting the abandoned, overlooked, or discarded parts of the internet. Not to break the system, but to survive in its margins. To build a presence that is self-defined, unranked, and unoptimized. Through layered videos and obstructed screens, you are asked not just to watch, but to wander, bend, wait, and find your own way of seeing. This is not about being recommended — but about choosing to stay. You observing, you choose, you stay. If you are not recommended, How can you still be seen?
(UN)TRACE In platforms shaped by algorithms, visibility is a reward. You’re seen only if you align, conform, perform. But what happens to the voices that don’t fit? This project draws from the idea of digital squatting — inhabiting the abandoned, overlooked, or discarded parts of the internet. Not to break the system, but to survive in its margins. To build a presence that is self-defined, unranked, and unoptimized. Through layered videos and obstructed screens, you are asked not just to watch, but to wander, bend, wait, and find your own way of seeing. This is not about being recommended — but about choosing to stay. You observing, you choose, you stay. If you are not recommended, How can you still be seen?
(UN)TRACE In platforms shaped by algorithms, visibility is a reward. You’re seen only if you align, conform, perform. But what happens to the voices that don’t fit? This project draws from the idea of digital squatting — inhabiting the abandoned, overlooked, or discarded parts of the internet. Not to break the system, but to survive in its margins. To build a presence that is self-defined, unranked, and unoptimized. Through layered videos and obstructed screens, you are asked not just to watch, but to wander, bend, wait, and find your own way of seeing. This is not about being recommended — but about choosing to stay. You observing, you choose, you stay. If you are not recommended, How can you still be seen?
The Optimized World - This screen stands clearly in front of you. What you see is smooth, sharp, and illuminated — just like the content optimized to be seen. Every frame is calculated, every gesture corrected. You are not required to move. You are only asked to agree. Visibility here is a reward. Individuality becomes data. [ Location: A large screen leaning against the wall, directly facing the viewer. Viewing Guide: Stand in front — everything is clear, immediate, and waiting for you. ]
The Distorted Zone - This screen faces the wall. Its content reaches you only through a reflection, reversed and unstable. You lean in, but never see it fully. This is where visibility slips, where signals fracture, where meaning flickers and fades. Not everything unseen is hidden. Some things are made unreadable. [ Location: A small screen hidden behind the main screen, facing the wall. Its content can only be seen through the reflection of a silver card. Viewing Guide: Don’t look directly. Find it in the reflection — reversed, unstable, incomplete. ]
The Squatted Space - This screen hides beneath a sculptural shell. To see it, you must crouch, shift, peer through a narrow frame. It does not offer clarity. It offers choice. This is a world assembled from fragments, from repurposed images, from quiet traces left by those who refuse to vanish. Here, watching is an action. You observing, you choose, you stay. [ Location: Embedded at the bottom of the sculptural structure, only visible through a small hole at the top. Viewing Guide: Crouch down. Change your angle. See what appears when you stay. ]
(UN)TRACE In platforms shaped by algorithms, visibility is a reward. You’re seen only if you align, conform, perform. But what happens to the voices that don’t fit? This project draws from the idea of digital squatting — inhabiting the abandoned, overlooked, or discarded parts of the internet. Not to break the system, but to survive in its margins. To build a presence that is self-defined, unranked, and unoptimized. Through layered videos and obstructed screens, you are asked not just to watch, but to wander, bend, wait, and find your own way of seeing. This is not about being recommended — but about choosing to stay. You observing, you choose, you stay. If you are not recommended, How can you still be seen?

About

As a visual communicator,
my practice centers on experimental video, mixed media installation, and nonlinear storytelling.

Working between the digital and the tactile, I explore where code meets surface,
and where textures, both visual and material, begin to speak.

Using tools such as video editing, projection mapping, and behavior-driven interaction,
I weave screen-based media into spatial experiences that unfold through movement and delay,
inviting viewers not only to watch, but to shift, crouch, and trace their own path through the work.

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