10 Questions with Xiangyu Wang

Al-Tiba9 Art Magazine ISSUE16 | Featured Artist

Xiangyu Wang is a London-based digital media artist passionate about how to create poetic or interesting interactive installations, moving images, and performance art by new technologies. He focuses on the issues of the relationship between humans and nature and the impact of technology on the future. Xiangyu uses different technologies, digital media, and materials to make multi-sensory art experiences that inspire the audience to reflect on the themes explored in his work.

www.xiangyuwangstudio.com | @xiangyu.wang_

Mars Phoenix | Project Statement

Mars Phoenix is an installation designed for cyborg enthusiasts. Using speculative design to envision a cyborg rite of passage that helps candidates establish their cyborg identity, this project aims to provoke the audience to contemplate whether a new identity will be formed if humans become cyborgs.

In the year 2130, on Mars, the war between humans and cyborgs ended 25 years ago. Now, at the Jezro mine on Mars, a cyborg rite of passage is taking place. This mine holds sacred significance for Martian cyborgs, as it was the location where Mark, the first Martian cyborg, was assassinated 25 years ago by an Anthropocentrism believer who opposed cybernetic modification. Although Mark's physical body is dead, his consciousness is preserved within a phoenix-shaped cyborg relic, revered as the spiritual totem of the cyborg community. The ritual occurs annually on the 21 Virgo (the 19th month of the Martian calendar), which is the only occasion when cyborg modifications are permitted. This decision represents a consensus between humans and cyborgs, as humans still desire to slow down the cyborgization process to maintain the human population.

During the ritual, candidates establish a connection with the relic using connectors. The phoenix imparts the history and values of the cyborg community. The community rejects the binary oppositions between humans and animals, organic and mechanical, and physical and non-physical, as well as the humanist perspective that places "humans as the measure of all things." When the candidates finish this, the cyborg modification begins.

The installation simulates the scene of ritual, allowing audiences to wear connectors and engage with the phoenix. The connector incorporates a speaker and two motors. When the Phoenix finishes the narrative, the body modification begins. Then, the motor in the connector starts vibrating to simulate the sensation of body modification.

***Mars Phoenix***, Interactive installation, 3x3x3 m, 2023 © Xiangyu Wang

AL-TIBA9 ART MAGAZINE ISSUE16

INTERVIEW

Could you share some insights into your educational background and what led you to pursue a career as a digital media artist?

I finished my BA in Art and Technology at the Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts in 2020, where I began creating digital art. Later, I completed my MA in Information Experience Design at the Royal College of Art in 2023. When I started creating with digital media, I felt that using technology to create art is like using magic, and it always allowed me to produce eye-catching visual effects.
As I gained more artistic practice, I realized that in this era of rapid technological change, technology is impacting everyone. For most ordinary people, technology is very unfriendly; it's a black box. Ordinary people often cannot see how this black box operates, making it even harder to perceive its impact on our lives. I hope to show this impact to my audience and prompt them to consider whether it represents a utopian or dystopian future.

What were some of the pivotal moments or influences during your studies that shaped your artistic direction, particularly in the realm of digital media and technology?

My pivotal moment was at the beginning of 2020 when COVID-19 was just emerging. At that time, I was in quarantine in China. I couldn't go outside, so I anxiously relied on social media to find out what was happening in the world. During that period, I could hardly get rid of my phone. Despite knowing the situation was horrible, I often saw positive propaganda on social media. I was very disappointed. Then I realized that the information I was receiving was filtered, and technology was being used as a tool for somebody to manipulate and control me. This is the background of my first performance, "Cyberutopia".
I wore a retractable mask with a phone placed on the other end. The mask covered my vision, and I could only perceive the world through the phone. For instance, I use the phone's camera to view my surroundings, the map app to know my location, and I can order a taxi or delivery.
I recorded this process, including my wrong actions due to the wrong information I received, to show the absurdity of over-reliance on technology and media. This work marked the beginning of my concern for the ethics of technology.

Your work often explores the relationship between humans and nature and the impact of technology on the future. Can you describe your creative process when beginning a new project?

My work often features critical questioning or satirical commentary on technology ethics. I often envision a potential dystopian future that technology might bring to humanity. I usually do this by exaggerating the technical risks and using the technology as a medium when I create them.
For example, my recent work "Error Paradise" began with my contemplation of the glitches in AIGC. I noticed that the AI was starting to generate 3D models, but the AI was always generating models with glitches, bias, and misunderstanding. So I began to consider: As we become more immersed in the virtual world, how might AI errors impact our lives if we fully immerse ourselves in a virtual world generated by AI?
So, I started the making process. I used text-to-3D AI to generate numerous 3D models, collecting the glitchy ones and then using these glitchy models to create a video game in Unreal Engine 5. This allowed viewers to experience a world built by the error models.

How do you decide which technologies and materials to incorporate into your multi-sensory art experiences, and how do you ensure they effectively convey your intended message?

When I select technology and materials, I never start from a technical perspective. I will first define what my core concept is and what kind of experience I want to convey to the audience. Technology is just a tool and means, not the purpose of my creation. For example, if I want my audience to engage with my work quickly, I might choose interactive or wearable installation. If a linear structure better supports my narrative, I may prefer using games or video. If I want my work to offer some space for the audience's imagination, I tend to use sound as an invisible medium. Although I use technology in my creations, I hope my audiences do not just see the technology I use but also the reflections on technology ethics, humanity, nature, and society.

"Mars Phoenix" is a fascinating installation that envisions a cyborg rite of passage. What inspired you to create this speculative design and what are the main themes you aim to explore through it?

My inspiration does not come from a single moment but from my reflections on the integration of humans and technology. We often refer to the concept of the cyborg. In my opinion, a cyborg is a fusion of organisms and technology. That seems like a sci-fi scenario, but humans have been integrating with technology for millions of years. Today, it's almost impossible to live without technology. With breakthroughs in technologies like brain-machine interfaces, the integration of humans and technology is moving from external to internal.
So, I started to think that as the integration of humans and machines increases, the human body structure will also change.In the history of mankind, the human body structure is an important criterion for dividing social identity. People are divided into men and women, blacks and whites, etc, but if everyone is a cyborg, then these boundaries will become blurred. If a person has no reproductive system, no skin, and the only biological organ is the person's brain wrapped in a machine, how should we define its identity? Therefore, my work explores the issue of cyborg social identity. What values will a society composed of cyborgs have, and what kind of identity will individuals have?

The "Mars Phoenix" narrative is set in a post-war Mars with significant cultural and historical elements. How did you develop the story, the concept of the cyborg relic and its significance?

I employed the methodology of speculative design, speculating from existing science, social, political, economic, philosophical, and environmental foundations to create a story background. Then, I define a scenario and scope for the story and use an event to drive the narrative forward. Finally, I came up with the scene of Mars Phoenix. It takes place during the colonization of Mars. The harsh environment of Mars requires humans to transform their bodies, and the transformation of body structure has led to changes in values and identity. Finally, I used the cyborg's rite of passage as the scene of the story to carry the information of the work.

The installation involves audience interaction with the phoenix-shaped cyborg relic. Can you explain the technical aspects of how this interaction is facilitated and what sensory experiences it aims to evoke?

First, there is the interaction of sound. The consciousness of the cyborg ancestor Mark will briefly explain the history and values of the cyborg community to the audience. Mark will ask questions to the audience, such as "Are you willing to abandon humanism values and binary identity to embrace the values of the cyborg society?"
Second, the phoenix-shaped robot is Mark's avatar and the spiritual totem of the rebirth of the cyborg community. It will move with Mark's voice, and the audience will feel that this process is a dialogue with the phoenix.
Finally, it is a simulation of the perception of body modification. I implanted two motors in the connector. When the audience puts on the connector, Then the motor in the connector starts vibrating to simulate the sensation of body modification.

In "Mars Phoenix," you challenge binary oppositions and humanist perspectives. How do you hope audiences will respond to these philosophical inquiries, and what kind of reflections do you wish to inspire?

I hope to make the audience realize that binary divides race, class, or gender, and humanism divides the clear boundary between man and nature, but all these boundaries are drawn because of human physiological structure. When human physiological structure changes, it is difficult to define who is black/white, male/female. Everything will change accordingly. The definition of human will also become blurred, and we can't distinguish who is human, who is an animal, and who is a cyborg. Then, should we consider what new values and identities we will embrace at this moment? What conflicts between old and new values might arise in this transformation?

Looking ahead, what are some of the themes or concepts you are excited to explore in your future projects?

I am currently focusing on various topics related to technology ethics, such as AI bias, AI hallucination, and the ethical issues of Mind uploading. Some of these issues are already present and affecting our lives, while others are approaching a feasible future.

Are there any upcoming projects or collaborations you can share with us that will continue to push the boundaries of digital media art and interactive installations?

My upcoming work is about the human rights of digital humans. When we can upload our consciousness to the cloud, does it have human rights? I will use metahuman to create an avatar of me who is imprisoned in the digital world, and he will tell the audience how he was uploaded to the cloud. He wants to return to the real world, but once uploaded to the cloud, he can no longer return to the real world. There is no one to respond to his needs, so he starts to complain, cry, knock on the glass in the virtual world, and eventually goes crazy... I will use an LED screen to display it, and it will be placed in a classical oil painting frame and displayed like an artwork in a gallery. I hope this work prompts the audience to consider whether we need to treat the mind-uploading data as people with human rights when we can perform mind-uploading.

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