Cryoscape

(This work was published as a paper at SIGGRAPH ASIA 2025 )

Cryoscape began during Jiabao Li’s Arctic Circle Artist Residency in Svalbard, inspired by water’s diverse forms—vapor in the clouds, snowflakes in the sky, liquid waves in the ocean, and the solid majesty of glaciers and sea ice. Each state reveals a distinct morphology, reminding us that we are connected through bodies of water. This encounter led to the creation of a 3D ice printer that captures ice formation while treating melting as a core aesthetic element. The printer produces forms across scales, from lunar terrain and snowy landscapes to microscopic crystals and sculptural references. A camera records the ice in real time, while an AI system translates these images into Haiku-inspired poems.

Here, AI acts as a teacher. It invites us to see vast natural processes through a tabletop ice printer. Melting is the message. Unlike traditional sculpture, Cryoscape exists in constant transformation. As the work travels, local humidity, temperature, air quality, and water calcium reshape each ice formation, making every iteration site-specific and co-created with its environment. Each AI-generated poem carries an environmental cost, tied to the melting of a glacier. Cryoscape is a self-destroying machine.

Exhibitions

“Water Futures”, tiat, San Francisco, 2026 Jan

Tokyo Prototype, Toranomon Hills, Tokyo, Japan, 2026

“Not ice”, Tokyo, Japan, 2026

Art Gallery, SIGGRAPH, Vancouver, Canada, 2025

Art Paper, SIGGRAPH Asia, Hong Kong, 2025

Chill Out: The Arctic Couldn’t. 11 Jan 2025 – 6 Feb 2025. Gallery Ether, Tokyo, Japan

“Panic”, Ars Electronica, Linz, Austria. Sep 2025. “The Climate Tasting Menu”

We Matter, xlab Showcase, Tokyo, Japan, 2025

Photo by Jiabao Li