Ambra Liu
2025
Interactive Multimedia Installation
Video Art · Projection Mapping · TouchDesigner
New York University Shanghai IMA Capstone Show, 2025
Tender Dinner explores the intergenerational connectivity among women in contemporary East Asia, focusing on the emotional bonds that unite different generations. Recreating a. family dinner table scene in a darkened environment with interactive video art, the project forges an intimate setting where audiences immerse themselves in the experiences shared and imagined by women from different generations.
In East Asian familial culture, the dinner table functions as a daily ritual of gathering and communication. Here, three characters, whose stories are projected onto the table, join a gentle, intimate exchange. The video interweave historical photographs, portraiture, botanical imageries, and watercolor textures, accomanied by voiceovers.
Visually, each scene employs and also transcends what is deemed "feminine," juxtaposing the visuals with introspective and heavy audio content. This contrast amplifies the women’s struggles under all forms of patriarchal constraints, emphasizing a poignant site of tenderness and power.
By inviting viewers to listen in the narratives, Tender Dinner asks the viewers to imagine continuity and latent solidarity in a virtual space crafted to hold the memories of women from different generations.
Interaction Design
As a video-based interactive installation, Tender Dinner begins with an introductory video that sets the emotional tone and narrative structure of the experience.
“I don’t like family dinners, because I'm the youngest daughter in the family. I have to wait until everyone older than me has started eating before I can pick up any food with my chopsticks. It has never been a happy dinner for me. All I want is someone at the dining table who can understand me and help me pick up my chopsticks, without any worries. So I feel so relieved that you are here—to help me pick up my chopsticks and to share this memory with me.“
With these opening lines, spoken in the voice of the Daughter, the audience is gently invited to begin the journey by picking up a pair of chopsticks on the table. This symbolic gesture activates the interactive narrative.
After the introductory video, viewers can use chopsticks to trigger one of three character narratives (Grandmother, Mother, Daughter). The sequence is progressive: