Ziwen Liu
experimenter/filmmaker/director/observer/composer
PROFILE 
ziwenliu.com
ziwen.liu@duke.edu

Ziwen Liu is a multimedia artist working as a filmmaker, digital artist, and installation artist. She is engaged in the research and creation of digital art and generative media. By embracing randomness and disorder, she seeks to eliminate and replace the presence of the 'self' as the author. This approach challenges conventional artistic logic, exploring the aesthetics of disordered relationships among fragments and images.

CONTACT
CV/简历
Education
Duke University
MFA|Experimental & Documentary Arts
2025

Southwest Minzu University, 
Radio and Television Studies
2021

Teaching
2025.11-2025.12
TA|Shenzhen University
Course: Art Technology: Creative Management and Industrial Practice

2024.8-2024.12
TA|Duke University
Course: Experimental Filmmaking

2024.1-2024.5
TA|Duke University
Course: Introduction of Film Studies


Research2025       
Department of Art, Art History & Visual Studies, Duke University
“Human-Inspired AI”,  Independent Study, Professor Bill Seaman
• Research Paper: Creativity in AI-Generated Art: Inspiration from Human High-Order Emotional Consciousness Creativity.
• Based on the high-order theory of emotional awareness, it compares the creativity of artists and authors with the creativity of AI-generated art.
• Generate artistic context and genealogy. 1956, Electronic oscilloscopes and plotters; 1987, Discussion of Images; AI art after 2020, deconstructing art.
• Systematic generation of art research, brainwave control, and image selection works.

2024       
John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute, Duke University
“Mountain and Sound Studies” Graduate Working Group at Duke University.
• Grounded in mountain and global sound studies, explored how sonic practices—such as oral histories, field recordings, and ethnographic listening—can illuminate the entangled relationships between place, identity, and power.
• Established a cross-regional field recording archive network spanning the U.S., Taiwan, China, and Japan, which opened new pathways for collaborative listening-based scholarship.

2020     
Sichuan University
"Dong 28 Music Pixel World - Sichuan-Chongqing Music Video Cultural Interaction Platform" won the Silver Award in the 2020 Challenge Cup Sichuan College Students Business Plan Competition.
• pre-project planning, data and sample search, collection, and analysis.


Projects
• “Earth Organ” VR headset, virtual exploration world roaming game, art concept game, in creation. Fusion of Taoist Art and Medical Sciences with the Fusion of the Virtual World - Artist Author (2025)
• MFAEDA Experimental Film Salon Screening Exhibition - Co-Curator (2025)
• Headset EEG Data Generation Control Video Playback Device - Author (2025)
• “A Time-bound Pact, A Shared Future”, Documentary on the 75th Anniversary of the establishment between China and Pakistan, Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Executive Director (2025)
•  A Kind of Performance: Graduation Exhibition - Artist & Curator (2024-2025)
• State Council, Documentary Production for the International Development of a Series of Media Products - Executive Director (2021)
• “To you who are beautiful”, Short Film, Women's Voice of the All-China Women's Federation – Assistant Director (2023)
• China Association for Science and Technology Youth Science and Technology Center "Tomorrow's Little Scientists" 100 Interviews - Executive Director of Single Episode (2020)
• " Harmonious and Beautiful Songpan", Chinese historical and cultural city documentary - Episode Director (2022)
• "Dream to the Future", National Challenge Cup Finals theme song MV  - Planner and Director (2022)
•  "Shu Embroidery", The intangible cultural heritage of the Sichuan Provincial Department of Culture - documentary and promotional film. - Planner and Director (2019)
• "Spicy Jianghu", CCTV (CCTV10)  - Assistant Editor in single-episode (2019)



Paper• Ziwen Liu. (2025). Comparative Analysis of Documentaries on Chinese Miners-"Behemoth" and "Miners, Horsekeeper, and Pneumoconiosis" as Examples. Education Reform and Social Sciences (ERSS 2025)
• Ziwen Liu. (2026). Creativity in AI-Generated Art: Inspiration from Human High-Order Emotional Consciousness. Acta Psychologica.


Awards• “Earth Organs” VR World, National Copyright for Game Story & Concept Design (2025) .
• "A Kind of Performance" documentary, Graduation Thesis project.
Melbourne Lift-Off Film Festival, Official Selection (2025)
25’ Tianjin International Academic Film Festival, Official Selection (2025)
LEEDSflix International Film & Screenplay Competition, Official Selection Finalist (2025)
• “Movable Music Healing Box”,  Dean's Research Award for Master's Students at Duke University. (2024)
• "Tax of Love", released at the Foshan Grand Theater. (2021)
• "Devil's Redemption", The Organizing Committee of the Sichuan Division of the    National College Student Advertising Art Competition. (2020)
• "Honor Master", The Organizing Committee of the Sichuan Division of the National College Student Advertising Art Competition. (2020)
• "Miss Right", Gaia 48 Film Festival. (2019)
• "The Sun", The 7th International College Student Microfilm Ceremony, Capital Normal University. (2019)
• "Pattern", NEW ERA Youth Film Season - New Studio and Chaoyang District Cultural Center. (2018)
• "No matter where you are, don't miss it", The National Organizing Committee of the National College Student Advertising Art Competition. (2018)



SkillsFilmmaking: Script writing, Storyboard design, Editing, Sound production.

Computer Skills: Adobe Premiere, Adobe Audition, Adobe InDesign, p5.js, Maya, Unreal, AIGC, MQTT, Touch Designer,  Sensors & Actuators.

Paper media art: Handmade book content creation, format, and art design, work binding.

Music: Piano, Drums, Ukulele.
                







Last Updated 24.10.31
WORK 
Film  Digital  Photograph  Book


1. A KIND OF PERFORMANCE - An exhibition
​​​The music slowly drifted through the cold. The story unfolds through the music of Tao, an elderly band leader, portraying the lives of the elderly in northeastern China. It all takes place in Ziwen's hometown, Jinzhou. This place has been forgotten amidst China's rapid development and even abandoned by the younger generation. What is life like for these elderly people in their cold hometown?
The work includes two parts. The first part is a photography exhibition, displaying portraits of elderly people and the landscape in the northeast. The second part uses collected moving images to create an experimental installation with various media expressions. The same footage is presented through three mediums: the artist, the system, and the audience's emotions. Different media allow the audience to move through the space...

​

The summer of 2023, when I returned to my hometown, inspired this interview. It had been five years since my last visit, and my hometown had become both strange and familiar to me.

The economy in Northeast China is developing slowly. But I've found that places, where the economy grows more slowly, can preserve more of their past culture and character.

Before my interviews, I thought what I would see was a group of elderly people persistently gathering every day to sing old songs, which I believed held some spiritual significance. However, after my interviews, I realized that what Uncle mentioned most was, "I don't know what else to do, so I go to sing and perform every day." This was quite different from what I had expected.

But now I thought, isn't this exactly why the Northeast is such fertile ground for culture and the arts?




2. Come To Me
 If mountains, cows, sheep... All voices came towards me...



3. Memory of Trees
The idea came to me on the morning of the weekend as I stood on the balcony smoking a cigarette. It seemed like yesterday's rain hadn't finished, and there was a puddle of standing water left on the grass on the first floor. The water dripped down in ripples.

The temperature of this day is warm and humid because of the water vapor. The water vapor wasn't so tiny that it couldn't be felt.

A feeling arose: I wanted to be wrapped in water, wrapped in trees, wrapped in nature. That is romantic and can breathe with the trees as I climb naked up the trunks and see beyond. I want to get down on the tree...

The music is equally as romantic as water, and also has an echo that goes on and on.​




4. ShuXiu（《蜀绣》非遗数据库先导纪录片）
There is no narration, and the beauty of an ancient technique is conveyed through sight and hearing.

This film was selected as the official international platform of "Beautiful China".




5. Miss Right
The narrative Short film tells the story of someone who acquires the power of making wishes come true without any effort, but ultimately wants to kill himself. The film is a 48-hour film festival submission. The creative team decided on the story and script for the film the night they received the theme. Filming and editing were done within 48 hours.




6. Gaze
When I look at a beautiful girl, I realize that I am gazing at others.

Why are there always some meanings when we look at others? ‘Gaze’ can also be called a sort of research object. We look at and think about this world through our eyes. So, I try to discuss eyes and gaze with this video.




7. Harmonious and beautiful Songpan
 The part of "history and ethnicity" is excerpted from the film, which tells the story of the Tea Horse Road, an important route that connected this ancient city with the outside world in ancient times. Starting from the Tang Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, this route connected this city with the central part of China. 

At that time, people used horses to transport food and other necessities over mountains to this city, while also bring the important tea culture in China into the city. The prosperity of economy and trade made it an enduring city. This particular form of trade is called "tea-horse trade". During that period of history, various local ethic groups went into business and developed their own distinctive cultural customs and ancient architectural styles. All these have made this ancient city all-embracing.




8. Tax of Love
When the father does not express care and love...




© CARGO TEST 2027