PARCEL in Tokyo is currently presenting DOKU the Creator – 独生独死 创造者, a duo exhibition by Lu Yang and their digital avatar DOKU, running from April 19 to June 1, 2025, with an opening reception held on April 18. Marking the Japan premiere of the video work of the same title, this exhibition dives deeply into philosophical and technological questions about identity, authorship, and post-human existence.

Shanghai-born and now working between Shanghai and Tokyo, Lu Yang constructs a space where selfhood dissolves and consciousness becomes the central theme. The exhibition continues the artist’s long-running DOKU series, wherein Lu Yang infuses hyper-realistic digital avatars with metaphysical consciousness. Here, DOKU evolves from being a representational avatar to an autonomous artistic presence, echoing Buddhist teachings such as “We are born alone, and we die alone.” These digital entities transcend gender, nationality, and mortality, standing as philosophical vehicles in a post-ego, post-human world.

Utilizing 4K video, digital technology, game engines, and immersive spatial design by DODI, Lu Yang has built a world where reality’s fictionality is laid bare. Collaborations with scientists, monks, engineers, and musicians serve not only to expand the scope of artistic practice but to ground the work in multi-dimensional inquiry—one that includes neuroscience, otaku subculture, music, and the aesthetics of sacred ritual.

The visual intensity of the exhibition may overwhelm at first glance, yet beneath the spectacle lies a profound meditation on the spiritual and technological currents shaping contemporary life. DOKU the Creator is not merely a visual experience but a practice-based philosophical inquiry into authorship, the origin of creative value, and the nature of perception in a hyper-digitized age.

In works like It’s Butter! and Chew, Lu Yang blends humor with high-concept ideas—placing cartoonish symbols into ritualistic settings. However, in DOKU the Creator – 独生独死 创造者, the digital body becomes a site of sacred transition, where rebirth and dissolution occur simultaneously. This duality is reinforced by the exhibition’s title, derived from Buddhist teachings emphasizing impermanence and solitude.

Visitors are invited not only to witness but to engage. Through interactive segments and immersive design, audiences can reflect on their own virtual identities, the shifting definition of artistic labor, and the possibilities for consciousness within artificial systems. The exhibition encourages a rethinking of art’s role in an era defined by machine learning and simulated worlds.

Rather than simply posing rhetorical questions such as “What is art?” or “Who is the artist?”, Lu Yang and DOKU ask viewers to embody these questions, navigating a hybrid landscape that exists between tradition and futurism. In doing so, the exhibition positions itself as a speculative laboratory for the future of creativity and selfhood.

The exhibition is on view at PARCEL, located at DDD Hotel 1F, 2-2-1 Nihonbashi-Bakurocho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, and is open Wednesday through Sunday from 14:00 to 19:00. For more information, visit parceltokyo.jp.

Sayart / Maria Kim, sayart2022@gmail.com