Axis Mundi: 狐仙

Axis mundi, referring to the connection between the physical and spiritual realms, is a soothing sensory digital space designed in response to the overwhelming, dissociative pace of our current networked lives. Informed by my ancestral traditions and cosmologies, a many-tailed 狐仙 (fox spirit) guides and grounds viewers through a calming audiovisual loop, bringing awareness to the ebb and flow of breath, and inviting presence, pause, and self-regulation.

AXIS MUNDI: 狐仙 was created and exhibited in early 2022, with endless thanks to Gray Area’s Fall 2021 Creative Code Immersive.

Axis Mundi web installation

AXIS MUNDI: 狐仙 was created with JavaScript, HTML, and CSS, with gratitude to aframe.js, p5.js, chroma.js and freesound.org. The web installation can be experienced here.

Gray Area Spring Showcase

A physical, multisensory, interactive version of AXIS MUNDI: 狐仙 was installed at Gray Area’s Spring Showcase in 2022, as a shrine altar with a responsive bench that activated the experience. This gallery version of the project was created with Arduino and a handmade pressure sensor, Node.js, speakers, a scent diffuser, live plants, ritual implements, and fresh citrus fruit. With ambient sounds from the surrounding installations by other artists in the show, my piece unintentionally simulates an experience of sensory overwhelm in a crowded space and the soothing balm of interacting with my piece, with audio and visuals calibrated to the rhythms of deep breath. The video above documents interaction with the piece.