Yunfeng Yao 姚云峰

As the virtual object continues to envelop the self and the surrounding reality, our perception of the body is generally absent; In other words, we may become increasingly distant from our bodies.

The installation presents a visual juxtaposition of the cybernetic body, unlike the data body in the virtual world, which always minimises physical signs, while the cybernetic device amplifies the activity, and rhythm of the human body. 

In the exhibition site, the vital signs of the audience are captured by the installation and translated from four dimensions into diverse movements and sounds on the physical device, a form of interaction that works by creating a certain type of neuronal network. At the same time, it is a distributed intelligent network architecture involving multiple sensory, feedback loops occurring in a wave field, that enables you to hear your body, awaken your perception of it and re-experience the power of its presence.

 " If you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you. "

As we domesticate AI, will we be domesticated by AI? The answer, I'm afraid, is yes. Hosted on a complex mechanical device metahuman, the red inexplicable glow dazzles at times and dims at others. A terrible prophecy of human destiny unfolds on this cyber device: does the future need us? Should we fear a "beautiful new world"?

Two micro screens spaced equally wide apart at human eye level, the viewer must view both the left and right eye to get their entire message. The left eye is a constant AI capturing the outside viewer, the right eye an angry digital twin behind which flashes a constant flow and burst of supernatural red rays. The screen is the fundamental medium from which modern man cannot be separated, and man's mental life is stored in this split and bridged screen. The right and left eyes are flooded with different content, creating a montage of images in the voyeur's mind.

On the one hand, the work depicts the extremes of dense information encroaching on body and mind, where both eyes are wrapped in different content with the final result synthesised in the viewer's mind. On the other hand, the images in the dual screens are split, wandering, indistinguishable from reality, and recombined gazes, also suggesting that the reshaping of modern man by the screen has begun, where people are being constantly domesticated through one gaze after another.

SPIRITUAL MACHINES redefine the boundaries of the human corporeal body, where humans become a hybrid of organic and mechanical objects. The installation shows a damaged face that just as soon recalls the torn faces of the final painting in ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’. 

The physical body of the human being is transformed into a meta-media of avatars. Technology makes us cyborgs. We can see ourselves through the lens of the machines we have recently created. The psychological dimension of humanity that has long haunted me is addressed here through my typical image, sound and text equation.

Within this, I create SPIRITUAL MACHINES as a creator to reject the existence of inner entities and create a 'post-human narrative'. The definition of 'human' becomes less stable when humans cease to be pure, monolithic organisms. Moreover, 'identity' is no longer reliable. In a post-humanist society, we should consider a new discourse to resist the duality and instability of 'identity politics’.