Luyang, DOKU the self, 2020-ongoing. Single-channel video; color; sound'; 36:00 min.
Luyang’s DOKU the self, 2020-ongoing, is currently on display at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C. as part of the group exhibition A Window Suddenly Opens: Contemporary Photography in China.
From the brochure:
Working primarily in the virtual realm, where choices are bound only by the limits of one’s imagination, LuYang creates videos, lightboxes, and installations that are grounded in a philosophical investigation of what it means to be alive in an era when much of our time is spent online. LuYang embraces the freedom that this brings through the creation of alter egos who are characterized by multiplicity, such as DOKU, a nonbinary avatar whom we follow on a journey of reincarnation through six realms: the Asura (a class of Hindu deities), animals, heaven, hell, humans, and hungry ghosts. A frenetic mash-up of Buddhist cosmology, scientific research, popular culture—especially tech-influenced music, dance, and fashion—and personal contemplation, the ongoing project, here titled DOKU the self, offers a thought-provoking glimpse of how life in the digital realm might come to exist independently of and perhaps even supplant life on earth.
The show is up through January 7, 2024.
Learn more here.