Over the past few years, we have collectively witnessed a profound shift in how we live, connect, and imagine the world. The pandemic expanded the boundaries of our everyday lives, making virtual spaces an essential complement to physical ones. Work, education, celebrations, gatherings, narratives, and curations shifted into hybrid or virtual forms. What was once constrained by geography and the necessity of physical co-presence has evolved into a more flexible interplay between material and virtual realities. For many, this has meant navigating a terrain that feels both intangible and strangely intimate, as we craft new ways of being together and sharing stories in the virtual spaces.

The virtual space is a blank canvas that allows us to build worlds in it, and they are sites where we collectively imagine, build, and negotiate new realities. These spaces invite us to reconfigure relationships, identities, and communities, allowing us to experiment with what a world might look like when it is untethered from traditional constraints. They are landscapes of possibility, charged with the potential for liberation and resistance.

However, these new possibilities come with tensions. Virtual spaces, while seemingly liberatory, are never neutral. They might exist within systems of extraction, surveillance, and commodification, shaped by the logic of patriarchal capitalism and colonialism. Digital platforms amplify voices and foster connection but could also be sites of algorithmic mediation and systemic inequity. Not to mention accessibility issues.

To “make” virtual worlds is to engage in an intentional and critical practice of grappling with these tensions and shaping these spaces with care, creativity, and a focus on collective flourishing. By diving into how we shape digital experiences together, we hope to shed light on how acts of virtual world-making can ripple outward, transforming not only the virtual but also the material realities we inhabit.

This edition of Worlds Unfolding focuses on these initial steps—the thought processes behind virtual world-making. This edition offers prompts and ideas to inspire the design of virtual spaces that nurture community, experimentation, and imagination.

The projects featured in this publication are the result of community submissions, showcasing a diverse range of approaches and stages of development. If you find a project intriguing, we invite you to reach out to the artists—whether to share feedback, start a conversation, or simply express your appreciation. Together, we can continue exploring the possibilities of virtual worlds and the stories they hold.

Published by Underground Art And Design Vol. 1 January 2025 1ST Edition ISSN: 3066-165X

Edited by Amy Xiaofan Jiang

Contributed by

3<3=3 (Chunlu Sheng and Xuanjie Huang) Alice Chen Andy DiLallo and Ian Anderson Caren Wenqing Ye and Keer Zhao Cecil Boey and Michael Wang Chia-hua Lee Freddie Sanders and Chaney Manshu Diao Huanzhe Hu Jiatong Yao Lois He, John Luo, Kaiyang Zhao, Kaiyang Zhao, Vio Zhu Neonature (Kassandra Huynh and Johannes Fuchs) Parsons & Charlesworth SENAIDA and Ricky Kapoor Song Xin and Rosie Muhan Yuan WanderLens Lab (Zihao Zhang and Daoxin Chen)