Public Square 2.0 is a video-based multi-projection installation about people’s interactions within the public space, as a reflection of people’s relationships within a community in Beijing under the COVID-19 context. The videos screened within are documentations of human interactions in a community in Beijing during the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 from March to August. Each video highlights different parts of a communal square, documenting individuals and their daily activities within it at different times.

When it comes to Duke Kunshan University community, for students, staff and faculty abroad, most of them are still unable to return to campus due to the pandemic. With cameras aimed at the lobby live, and a whiteboard that allows real-time interactions through an online meeting platform, people within the public area and those abroad can communicate with each other in a reconstructed DKU community during the ongoing pandemic.

From the end of 2019, the pandemic has affected people’s lives all around the world. Even till now, people’s outdoor activities are more or less restricted. And for some, the access to face-to-face interactions is still difficult. Within this context, this project wants to explore how we can increase interactions and strengthen bonds between the DKU community, letting them know they are not alone. What roles can communal space play in this process? How can we, as a community, support each other, and tell each other that we will face the challenges together?

Installation

Video Documentation

Life in the Square is an archive that documents things that happened in a square within my community in Beijing during the COVID-19 outbreak. I shot videos from March to August through my window from the same angle almost every day. Most of the raw videos last for 30 minutes and were recorded at similar times each day. The final story map contains collages and short documentaries of individuals’ activities within the square. Through this project, I want to explore how the square, as a public space, connects lives during the special time of the coronavirus.

StoryMaps

Screenshots