Be Like a Tree

Be Like a Tree is a video work that utilizes AI as a lens to explore collective identity. Participants are filmed reciting the same short Rumi poem – “Be like a tree and let the dead leaves drop.” Each face and voice, captured in intimate close-up, becomes part of a growing digital chorus.

Rather than resisting artificial intelligence, the filmmaker embraces its unique capacity to process and merge complex human expressions at scale – a task impossible by traditional means. Custom AI tools extract facial features and vocal qualities, which are then blended into a continuously evolving composite. Spanning time, the individual slowly gives way to the communal: one face made of many, one voice echoing with multitudes. The result is a meditative reflection on unity, identity, impermanence, and the quiet beauty of letting go.