Otaku

In Japan they call them Otaku, referring to the young people who stay shut away in their bedrooms lit only by a computer screen that transports them to invented worlds. The Chinese artist who lives in Tokyo, Lu Yang (born in 1984), could be considered to be a true otaku, except this artist has turned a love of virtual worlds into art.

Virtual doubles

In other words, making a handicap into a virtue and – better yet – an oeuvre. Lu Yang’s latest piece of work, an immersive video installation projected in an artificial garden at the end of the world, is on display in Paris at the Louis Vuitton Foundation until 9 September. But the artist’s virtual doubles have been swarming across the world for several years now.

Around the world

Lu Yang has co -represented China at the Venice Biennale in 2015, been exhibited at the high-profile Kunsthalle in Basel in 2022, in 2023 was named “artist of the year” by Deutsche Bank and  her last video was shown on a very large screen at Unlimited during Art Basel, in Basel 2024 (See the report about Art Basel here)… among other things, with a body of work that calls the principle of reality into question.

Particular wisdom

So we believe we’re due to interview a young woman, but the documents accompanying the exhibition use masculine pronouns. This is an artist who likes to muddy the waters. Lu Yang explains: “There is no gender in my work. It’s society that produces the boxes indicating that you’re Chinese… man… woman.” He adds: “since childhood my perception of reality has been limited.

I was born in Shanghai into a normal family but my grandmother was Buddhist. I listened to her every day and that put me in touch with a particular wisdom.” He adds: “The truth is something that is inside yourself, which has nothing to do with vision and which cannot just be transcribed by language.”

We are born alone

Once upon a time there was Doku, the name given to the hero who is clearly an avatar for the artist. Doku comes from the Japanese term “Dokusho Dokushi” which means “we are born alone and we die alone”. Doku shows no emotion but is sometimes marked by acne flare-ups. He crosses extraordinary lands and dances, performing wonderful movements.

Motion capture and meditation

Naturally Lu Yang uses motion capture technology: injecting the character with a body language filmed with real dancers. The journey can at times be wonderful, at times frightening, and always dazzling. To find inspiration the artist admits to leaving their computer. “Before every new work I practice meditation.

By the cliffs, next to the sea

I go to a place by the cliffs, next to the sea. I close my eyes and all the information appears in my brain very quickly. Actually technology can really help you to make what corresponds to your specific ideas. To create them I modulate my teams according to the projects.” There is no real beginning and end to this projection. The sequences follow on from each other in varied themes and contexts, as though in a dream. More precisely, his moving images are conceived as a series of hallucinations.

Peace in the world

In the film shown by the Vuitton Foundation there’s a message inviting you on a journey: “Welcome on board the Desire, a luxurious cruise ship made to satisfy the five great desires of the living.” But what are Lu Yang’s desires? The artist’s answer, unexpectedly, is linked to current affairs: “At the end of the film there is a prayer for peace in the world. The Buddhists believe in the good energy of these words when they are repeated. Perhaps it will have an effect?”