i.Mirror by China Tracy(2007)

i.Mirror is a experimental film that documents artist Cao Fei's immersive journey through Second Life, the online virtual world. Shot entirely within the platform, the work captures a dreamlike vision of contemporary urban China—one shaped by pop culture fantasies, consumer excess, and digital escapism. Fei uses the virtual space to explore themes of individuality, creativity, and personal freedom, offering a counterpoint to earlier cultural critiques about China's future. The film examines how virtual experiences increasingly blur with and replace our engagement with the physical world. Surreal and meditative, i.Mirror presents an alternative reality where digital avatars navigate the gap between desire and lived experience, reflecting the anxieties and possibilities of twenty-first-century urban life.