Cheng Ran: Always I Distrust Virtual Reality Artwork and Installation 2020 Role: Producer, HTC VIVE Arts Always I Distrust (2020) is the first VR artwork by the celebrated multimedia artist Cheng Ran. Conceived as a sequel to his video work Always I Trust (2014), it continues Cheng’s explorations into the emotional isolation of city life from a new perspective. The earlier work was inspired by a computer-generated spam email sent from an unknown woman to the artist, whereas the VR artwork assumes the perspective of an abandoned hacked email account, auto-generating incomprehensible missives to hundreds of recipients. As viewers put on their headsets, they traverse liquid spaces and interconnected portals in a nine-minute journey that is part excavating memories, part gazing at the unknown. According to Cheng Ran, “if urban construction is done by thousands of unknown workers, then construction of the information city should include these ‘virtual builders.’ As rapid urban development brings unprecedented technological changes, the relationship between cities and people has evolved accordingly. This relationship now stands at a new crossroad, over a new horizon.” Always I Distrust is commissioned by K11 Art Foundation and VIVE Arts and debuted in 2020 as part of the inaugural exhibition of the X Museum, Beijing. Images courtesy of the artist and K11 Art Foundation.