When we turn on the TV, images related to the universe and aliens fill the screen, whether it is film, theater, or related news and speculations...they are common themes found in the media.
In the series “Mr. Universe,” I wanted to depict the reality of Taiwan and other Third World countries through the production of the science-fiction film. In trying to simulate and replicate the products not originated from local technology and cultural contexts, the result images are prone to reveal "flaws" and "impurities." For example, the makeup, costume, props, voice simulations rendered in “Mr. Universe.”
At the same time, a dialectical relationship exists between the aliens and mass media (television) in this work, as if propagating the fact that the alien images come from the media, but simultaneously criticizing the media.
In “Mr. Universe I”, the aliens seem transfixed as they stare at the television screen in a strange simulation of the sci-fi background, repeatedly and unconsciously receiving the images fed by the media
In “Mr. Universe II,” the aliens begin to interact with the images on the television. There are two aliens in the film - the alien inside the television and the alien watching the television; the boundaries between image and reality are ambiguous and difficult to distinguish.
In “Mr. Universe III -- Star Trak,” the television has become a spaceship, depicting how the media has become the origin in shaping the sci-fi imageries found in daily life.