December 1 - 30, 2023 from 11:57 PM - 12:00AM every night

BANK is thrilled to announce that artist Lu Yang (ACC 2013) is the winter season artist for Times Square Arts' Midnight Moment program in New York City. Her DOKU work series is featured on giant screens from 11:57 pm to 12:00 am every night in December, taking over Times Square with a post-human dance party.

Lu Yang’s elaborately outfitted and eerily lifelike avatars in DOKU: Digital Reincarnation is born from the artist’s distinct and ongoing scientific and philosophical inquiries — an interdisciplinary blend of Buddhism, neuroscience, psychology, and modern technology.

The shape-shifting protagonist in this five-channel work is DOKU; the name is derived from the phrase “Dokusho Dokushi,” which translates to “We are born alone, and we die alone,” and references a canonical Buddhist scripture. While sharing Lu Yang’s facial expressions and features, the nonbinary character was generated from an amalgamation of various dancers and musicians, and created in collaboration with a team of scientists, 3D animators, and digital technicians using the latest in motion capture technology. Through this repeated incarnation, the artist is reborn as an ever-present avatar, endowed with talents surpassing physical limitations — uniting ancient concepts such as reincarnation with the latest technological innovations.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Lu Yang (b. Shanghai, China) is a multi-media artist based in Tokyo. 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 her 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 her practice.

Lu Yang has held exhibitions at Centre Pompidou-Metz, France (2023); Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland (2023); Nxt Museum, Amsterdam (2023); Zabludowicz Collection, London (2023); the 59th La Biennale di Venezia, Venice (2022); PalaisPopulaire, Berlin (2022 - 23); ARoS Aarhus Art Museum, Denmark (2021– 22); Asia Society Museum, New York (2021); San Francisco Art Institute, California (2018); Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing (2011), and Fukuoka Museum of Asian Art, Japan (2011) among others. In 2022, Lu Yang was selected as Deutsche Bank’s Artist of the Year, Lu also received the BMW Art Journey Prize (2019), Asian Cultural Council Grant (2013), and the Focus on Talents Award, Today Art Museum (2011).

Lu Yang currently lives and works in Tokyo, Japan.

 

To learn more, click HERE.