A high-energy audiovisual experience with real-time motion capture, live performance and virtual avatars in Hong Kong and Sydney

Shanghai-based new media artist Lu Yang premieres the live motion capture performance DOKU, The Binary World as a real-time collaboration between dancers in Hong Kong and Sydney. Interacting in a shared virtual environment, the dancers and avatars at Freespace and the Sydney Opera House shuttled simultaneously through multiple binary realms.

The high-energy audiovisual experience draws on Buddhist philosophy, club culture, video games and the aesthetics of anime. Embodying the avatar forms of Lu Yang’s genderless digital reincarnation Doku – Dokusho Dokushi, “We are born alone, we die alone” – the dancers present binary combinations of deities from the six realms of Buddhist reincarnation: Heaven and Hell, Human and Animal, Hungry Ghosts and Asura (Jealous gods). 

Lu Yang’s work has been presented around the world, and was featured in The Milk of Dreams show at Venice Biennale 2022.

Core Team:
Artists: Lu Yang
Musician/Composer: liiii
Production and Development (Sydney): Exhibitionist
Production and Development (Hong Kong): MetaObjects
Hell Environment 3D Design: Extreme John

Live Performance Team, Hong Kong:
Producer: Dr Ashley Lee Wong
Technical Lead: Andrew Crowe
Technical Assistant and AV Coordinator: Edwin Lo
Choreographer and Dancer: Kenny Leung
Videographer: Moving Image Studio

Live Performance Team, Sydney:
Producer: Mathew Spisbah
Motion Capture Technician AV Coordinator: Dr Sam McGilp
Choreographer: Harrison Hall
Dancer: Taiga Kita-Leong

Film Team, Sydney:
Director of Photography: Tyron Seeto
Steadicam Operator: Ginski Jermolajew
First Assistant Camera: Andy Diep
Gaffer: Vivian Duong
Editor: Cristobal Olguin / Tyron Seeto
Colourist: Sebastian Reategui

Panel Discussion
This programme includes Panel Discussion: Beyond Binaries: Digital Performance In a Post-COVID Era, in which we discuss the form of performance in a post-pandemic era and reveal the now and future of the avatar form – DOKU, as long as offering insight into the creative process of Lu Yang’s art piece.

Shanghai-based new media artist Lu Yang premieres the live motion capture performance DOKU, The Binary World in 2022 as part of the West Kowloon’s Phygital D dance programme. Collaborating with dancers and production teams spread across Hong Kong and Sydney, they utilise real-time Motion Capture technology to demonstrate how to control multiple digital avatars in bizarre shared virtual environments.

Watch the full performance

Lu Yang remotely joined a pre-performance panel discussion in conversation with Karen Cheung, Ex-Acting Head of Contemporary Performance, Performing Arts Division, West Kowloon Cultural District Authority, Stuart Buchanan, Head of Digital Programming at Sydney Opera House, as well as other guest speakers from our co-producing partners, to discuss the form of performance in a post-pandemic era and reveal the now and future of the avatar form – DOKU, as long as offering insight into the creative process of Lu Yang’s art piece.

Date and Time:
28 September 2022 (Wednesday)
7:00pm–9:00pm

Venue:
Online and in-person at Eaton HK

Language:
This event was conducted in English

Speakers:
Lu Yang, Artist
Karen Cheung, Ex-Acting Head of Contemporary Performance, Performing Arts Division, West Kowloon Cultural District Authority (Hong Kong)
Stuart Buchanan, Head of Digital Programming, Sydney Opera House (Australia)

Moderators:
Matthew Spisbah, Artistic Director, Exhibitionist, Producer of DOKU, The Binary World (Hong Kong)
Ashley Lee Wong, Artistic Director, MetaObjects, Producer of DOKU, The Binary World (Hong Kong)

HKT x WestK PopFest has come to an end! We appreciate all the music parties and audiences that participated, the energy from everyone made these four days incredibly enthusiastic and lively, making it a music festival never to be forgotten!

Let's reminisce about the wonderful memories of HKT x WestK POPFEST. Stay tuned for the next music festival!

TechBox is an experimental platform jointly established by WestK’s Performing Arts Division and the School of Theatre and Entertainment Arts at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. Launched in 2021, the platform brings together media artists, theatre designers, as well as academy faculty and students to focus on research, exploration and experimentation.

It aims to provide maximum creative freedom to explore the integration of materials, senses, scenography, spatial arrangements and conceptual ideas in theatre aesthetics.

TechBox 2023: The Travellers and the Listeners is the platform's first full-scale production. Departing from the traditional director or scriptwriter-led creative process, the creative team devised this performance within a technological context, developing a unique, cross-disciplinary creation model.

Led by principal artist Samson Young, the Techbox team* combined artificial intelligence systems with live, impromptu sound and visual interactions in a 2022 work-in-progress presentation. In 2023, inspired by Walter de la Mare's poem The Listeners, Young’s music composition and videos creations’ music composition and videos creations guided the design team in creating the theatrical elements — the set, lighting, sound, and projections allow further space and these were then integrated with musicians and performers to complete the production.

This video traces the artists' creative journey over the past year, including workshops and the various stages in the production of The Travellers and the Listeners.

*Team members include teachers, students and alumni from the School of Theatre and Entertainment Arts at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Theatre team, Technical and Production team from Performing Arts Division of West Kowloon 

Freespace Jazz Fest returned for its fifth edition in October 2023 and wrote a memorable chapter filled with unforgettable musical moments. We were grateful that all those participating in the music festival gave their unwavering support. Bad weather or not, our audience came to the West Kowloon Cultural District whilst typhoon no. 3 was hoisted, and musicians gave their all to every performance.

Relive the magical moment in this highlight video and stay tuned for the next Freespace Jazz Fest. Enjoy!

The experimental participatory experience Bright Day – staged in November and December 2022 – invited the audience to be central participants in a co-created waking dream.

Over a period of a week, cross-disciplinary Hong Kong artists Chan Kwun-fee, Fiona Lee and AK Kan collaborated with the audience on a two-part exploratory journey that delved into the city’s collective unconscious.

The first part of the journey was conducted individually by the audience at home. The second part – Dreaming Together – involved a group experience at Freespace. Part dream, part waking reality, Dreaming Together took place within a constructed environment of soundscapes and imagery. This video offers a condensed look at this immersive communal journey.

Bright Day is the second production in the West Kowloon Future of Performance series.

Read more about Bright Day here.

Between 26 and 30 October, Freespace Jazz Fest 2022 attracted a record-breaking 20,000+ visitors, with five days of non-stop great sounds across five stages at Freespace, the Art Park and Hong Kong’s new outdoor concert venue Wonderland. The festival also included free film screenings, an arts and crafts market on the Great Lawn, plus a variety of fun activities for parents and kids.

Our highlight video offers a brief look back on this exciting multi-day festival and a taster of what’s to come at future editions of Freespace Jazz Fest. Enjoy!

Read more about Freespace Jazz Fest 2022 here.

Foor mingles with visitors in the exhibition opening and meets gallery owner.

Series Synopsis

Foor is a stand-up comedian and amateur artist. After encountering Mak2 at a stand-up comedy competition, he begs Mak2 to introduce him to the mysterious art scene when he knew Mak2 is looking for an amateur to develop to an artist. Hong Kong’s Next Top Artist is a web series in which Mak2 invites different parties from the art sector, including artists, curators, professionals and gallerists, to turn Foor into a professional artist.

The development and creation of Hong Kong’s Next Top Artist was supported through a three-month artist residency programme initiated as part of SerendiCity – a media arts festival showcasing new perspectives on art, urban environments, people and technology.

The Programme is part of “Creative Tomorrow” exclusively sponsored by The Hong Kong Jockey Club.

For more SerendiCity programmes, please visit: www.westkowloon.hk/serendicity

Mak2 invites a renowned artist to give Foor a private painting class.

Series Synopsis

Foor is a stand-up comedian and amateur artist. After encountering Mak2 at a stand-up comedy competition, he begs Mak2 to introduce him to the mysterious art scene when he knew Mak2 is looking for an amateur to develop to an artist. Hong Kong’s Next Top Artist is a web series in which Mak2 invites different parties from the art sector, including artists, curators, professionals and gallerists, to turn Foor into a professional artist.

The development and creation of Hong Kong’s Next Top Artist was supported through a three-month artist residency programme initiated as part of SerendiCity – a media arts festival showcasing new perspectives on art, urban environments, people and technology.

The Programme is part of “Creative Tomorrow” exclusively sponsored by The Hong Kong Jockey Club.

For more SerendiCity programmes, please visit: www.westkowloon.hk/serendicity

Mak2 invites a curator to teach Foor how to write his curriculum vitae.

Series Synopsis

Foor is a stand-up comedian and amateur artist. After encountering Mak2 at a stand-up comedy competition, he begs Mak2 to introduce him to the mysterious art scene when he knew Mak2 is looking for an amateur to develop to an artist. Hong Kong’s Next Top Artist is a web series in which Mak2 invites different parties from the art sector, including artists, curators, professionals and gallerists, to turn Foor into a professional artist.

The development and creation of Hong Kong’s Next Top Artist was supported through a three-month artist residency programme initiated as part of SerendiCity – a media arts festival showcasing new perspectives on art, urban environments, people and technology.

The Programme is part of “Creative Tomorrow” exclusively sponsored by The Hong Kong Jockey Club.

For more SerendiCity programmes, please visit: www.westkowloon.hk/serendicity