Seph LI
Media artist, Designer
Seph LI
Born 1988 in Beijing, China. Lives and works in London, U.K.
Seph LI （李昊哲）instances technology to create poetic interactive experience within defined systems. He searches for dynamic equilibriums in nature and re-imagines them into interactive systems through digital technology. Dynamic fluids, flocking fishes, and physics hypothesis are some of the concepts that serves as an entry point for Seph's abstract artworks. In his interactive systems, the artist defines the rule, the content is co-created by algorithmic code and visitors interactions.
Seph holds bachelor degrees in Computer Science and Digital Design from Tsinghua University in Beijing, and M.F.A. from Design|Media Arts department in UCLA.
Artworks
Golden Scale, Ink Pond
Golden Scale, Ink Pond (金鳞墨池) is a mesmerizing interactive installation that embodies the art of ink painting. This captivating work operates as a self-contained and automated system, where groups of golden fish elegantly glide through the pond, leaving behind mesmerizing ink traces that scatter throughout the water. In this immersive experience, audiences are invited to actively participate in the artwork; as they walk, the movements disturb and attract the fish, creating a continuous interplay of motion. This ever-changing, yet harmoniously balanced ink-painting is dynamically generated within the system.
Every element of this masterpiece unfolds in real-time - from the fluid animation of the fish to the captivating ink traces. Combined with the unpredictable interactions of the audience, a truly dynamic ink pond comes to life, offering a captivating visual journey that evolves with each passing moment.
InkFall
「墨・迹」「Ink・Fall」is a digital installation of ink painting of waterfall. From ancient times, China has a traditional of using ink to draw waterfall paintings. And the core concept of [山水画](mountain and water paintings) is never about accuracy or beauty of a moment. It is about the flowing atmosphere that make Chinese paintings unique. This installation, uses thousands of lines and hundreds of thousands of ink particles, to paint ink paintings on screen.
Though expression methods have also changed dramatically in this digital age, what I want to show and communicate is almost the same as the ancient artists do in this piece. When fingers touch the painting(screen), ink streams will be separated by fingers, particles are also blasted, but the flow of ink continues. At the same time, the sound of koto rises and fused into the background music of birds and water flows harmoniously.
Presented in Shanghai in 2019
Curated by Qi ZHU, founder of K.D.Art
Composition
Composition is a video series exploring different methods of spliting the space, and arrangements of different elements. It started as a quick experiment of residency in Itoshima, Japan - in which I transformed drone footages into particles based layouts. Later on, in Composition #2 and #3, quad-tree and paper folding techniques were tested.
Composition #3 was screened as part of the Shining Hat program at Expo'25 in Osaka, Japan.
Marionnaud
Commissioned by Marionnaud flagship store at Wuhan K11, China.
Curated by Qi ZHU, the founder of K.D.Art
Thus Trees, Thus Us
The work is presented as a ceiling projection. When viewers stand under the projection, they become trees in the forest. Through changes in gestures and posture, they can control the growth tendency and speed of the trees. Viewers can choose to stand next to other trees, growing their own trees by blocking light from others; or they can choose to stand in open spaces, letting their trees grow freely.
All trees in the work are generated by participating viewers. After viewers leave, the trees automatically disappear after a period of time, forming a dynamically balanced forest.
The custom software implements a complicated tree growth algorithm that is driving real light simulations - trees will seek where more light exists and naturally form crown effects. An AI-based tracking system is also deployed, where makes no need for heavy stereo camera or expensive LiDAR devices.
For the projection, we have also deployed our AUTO-ALIGNMENT CALIBRATION SYSTEM, which semi-automated the projection mapping process and heavily reduced setting times and man labour.