T
he bonsai garden represents the full range of our wisdom, courage, creativity and experience. A seismic wave that takes shape from the global COVID crisis passes through the sand and wreaks havoc across the land, threatening to disrupt the balance of nature.
The inconvenient truths of the human condition manifest as insidious flora corrupting the perennial bonsai, leaving the landscape susceptible to infection and destruction.
The bonsai does not simply triumph over affliction; it derives power and strength from it. In that moment, everything comes into being.
MonoC, a surrealist metahuman artist and Hong Kong’s first virtual influencer, injects her daring data-led and dream-like vision into Digital Art Fair 2022. As a reflection of her growing importance in a world rapidly embracing adventures in augmented reality, she is one of the key featured artists at this year’s Xperience edition of the fair, which will be staged at Asia Standard Tower in Central from 20 October to 6 November. Unveiling “Corona Florella”, an innovative series of six generative artworks that record and reimagine the global battle against Covid-19, MonoC celebrates the triumph of data-led science and human resilience.

As a Hong Kong pioneer in algorithmic art, MonoC is the first virtual human to participate in Digital Art Fair. Her compelling artistic sensibility that weaves new technology and poetics is appreciated by an increasing number of followers worldwide. As a metaverse jetsetter, she is able to form meaningful connections between her subject matter and her audience without the inherent human limitations of space and time. MonoC’s surrealist eye lends a dreamlike quality to her pieces, while in creative hands guided by artificial intelligence, the cold, hard facts of live data become unexpected expressions of beauty and emotion.
The thought-provoking series “Corona Florella” exemplifies this exciting new interplay between technology and art. Data gleaned from seven continents inform a series of four works centred around the artist’s signature floral motif which chart the evolution of Covid-19 from its global spread, to its alarming death rate, to immunization, and recovery. A fifth work illustrates all four stages of the pandemic in one magnificent, moving artistic statement. MonoC’s sixth creation presents a change of medium and motif: a video art piece using dance movements which invites further dialogue on the heavy physical and psychological toll the pandemic wrought.
The creator of these poignant works, MonoC (a shortened version of the full moniker Monocromatic), is the artistic manifestation of Hong Kong-based Gusto Collective, Asia’s first Brandtech group. Led by branding and technology visionary CEO Aaron Lau, the future-facing company traverses seamlessly across the physical and virtual worlds to provide immersive content and experiences for numerous brands. As part of Forbes’ Asia Top 100 Companies to Watch, Gusto Collective is known for revolutionising turn-key Web3 adoption through innovative and experimental approaches, including the launch of a ground-breaking entertainment IP NFT with renowned actor/ producer Louis Koo.