The Forever Elephant (象像) is a hybrid animation and interactive installation exploring how images live, die, and are reborn in the algorithmic age. The project includes an experimental screensaver-style animation and a digital puppetry game, combining AI-generated visuals with 3D-scanned antique toys. Visitors will encounter an elephant undergoing a ritual of reincarnation, set within a surreal, liminal landscape. Drawing on new materialism, image ontology, and Eastern philosophy, the work examines the blurred boundaries between image and imagery, physical and digital, memory and transformation. It invites viewers into a meditative, visual experience that is both playful and philosophical—a funeral rite for future images, and a gentle question: What does it mean for an image to truly exist?
The Forever Elephant / Yiyang Sun, Ariana Sabino Nogueira da Cunha Marta, Matti Niinimäki, Taavi Varm - Photo: Yiyang Sun, Ariana Sabino Nogueira da Cunha Marta, Matti Niinimäki, Taavi Varm
Exhibit
The Forever Elephant
Yiyang Sun (CN), Ariana Sabino Nogueira da Cunha Marta (PT), Matti Niinimäki (FI), Taavi Varm (EE)
The Forever Elephant / Yiyang Sun; Ariana Sabino Nogueira da Cunha Marta; Matti Niinimäki; Taavi Varm - Photo: Yiyang Sun; Ariana Sabino Nogueira da Cunha Marta; Matti Niinimäki; Taavi Varm
The Forever Elephant / Yiyang Sun; Ariana Sabino Nogueira da Cunha Marta; Matti Niinimäki; Taavi Varm - Photo: Yiyang Sun; Ariana Sabino Nogueira da Cunha Marta; Matti Niinimäki; Taavi Varm
The Forever Elephant / Yiyang Sun; Ariana Sabino Nogueira da Cunha Marta; Matti Niinimäki; Taavi Varm - Photo: Yiyang Sun; Ariana Sabino Nogueira da Cunha Marta; Matti Niinimäki; Taavi Varm
Please note: The program for the Ars Electronica Festival 2025 is still in progress.
We are currently preparing all the information for the website and plan to put the full program online in the coming days – stay tuned!