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BIO
Lu Yang (b. Shanghai, China) is a multi-media artist based in Shanghai. Mortality, androgyny, hysteria, existentialism and spiritual neurology feed Lu’s jarring and at times morbid fantasies. Also taking inspiration and resources from Anime, gaming and Sci-fi subcultures, Lu explores his fantasies through mediums including 3D animation, immersive video game installation, holographic, live performances, virtual reality, and computer programming. Lu has collaborated with scientists, psychologists, performers, designers, experimental composers, Pop Music producers, robotics labs, and celebrities throughout his practice. Lu Yang has held exhibitions in UCCA (Beijing), MWoods (Beijing), Cc Foundation (Shanghai), Spiral (Tokyo), Fukuoka Museum of Asian Art (Fukuoka, Japan), Société (Berlin), MOCA Cleveland (Cleveland, Ohio). He has participated in several international biennials and triennials such as2012 & 2018 Shanghai Biennial, 2018 Athens Biennale, 2016 Liverpool Biennial, 2016 International Digital Art Biennale (Montreal), China Pavilion, the 56th Venice Biennale, and 2014 Fukuoka Triennial. In 2019, Lu became the 8th BMW Art Journey winner and started Lu Yang Digital Incarnation project.
LU YANG [CN]
DOKU-HUMAN, 2021
5th International Digital Art Biennial
Arsenal Contemporary Art Montreal
11.19.2021 - 02.13.2022
Video
Doku is Lu Yang’s latest nonbinary avatar named after the phrase, “Dokusho Dokushi”, meaning “We are born alone, and we die alone.”
The central question is whether our lives in the digital realm - made so acutely apparent during the pandemic - have undermined or replaced ancient religious ideologies. Lu Yang bypasses meditation or more conventional means of improving karma and goes directly to the assistance of scientists and technicians to find new ways to keep the cycle of life going in cyberspace.
To create a life-like digital post-human, Lu Yang collaborates with a team of scientists, 3D animators, and digital technicians using motion capture, detailing the features of her face and facial expressions so that the avatar, Doku, looks remarkably like its creator. Body movements are also generated through the motion capture of dancers and musicians, providing Doku with a perfect androgynous body.
