Technology and Spirituality in Lu Yang’s Parallel Universes: DOKU The Illusion Arrives at Espace Louis Vuitton in Venice
On the occasion of the 61st Venice Art Biennale, Fondation Louis Vuitton presents DOKU The Illusion, an immersive exhibition by Lu Yang. From May 8 to October 4, the artist presents the fourth chapter of the DOKU series, an immortal, non-binary and gender-neutral avatar.
Integrating manga, anime and video game aesthetics, DOKU investigates life, death and consciousness in the digital age, constructing metaverses that redefine the relationship between body and identity, highlighting what remains hidden, in dialogue with the themes of the 2026 Biennale “In Minor Keys“.
In the film, an initiatory journey set on the Japanese peninsula of Izu, the protagonist encounters their own double. Between surreal landscapes, paradisiacal gardens and combat scenes, the two avatars bearing Lu Yang’s face traverse death and rebirth, suggesting a new form of freedom through digital reincarnation.
DOKU is an extension of Lu Yang’s soul, who subjects their own avatar to a series of experiments, electroencephalograms, neuroimaging and facial tracking, to create other selves in parallel universes.
As DOKU traverses the six realms of Buddhist reincarnation—human, animal, heaven, asura, hungry ghost and hell—the spiritual dimension, translated into visual and technological language, transforms identity into a flow of data that continues to live in digital spaces.
In this reflection, science and Buddhist philosophy are paths toward the same question: What is reality?
Technological devices and generated images are investigative tools that bring together scientific practices and philosophical thought. During childhood, due to asthma, Lu Yang spent long periods in hospital, witnessing extreme moments of the cycle of life and death. From this experience emerges a central vision in their research: the body is a temporary vessel of consciousness. This element runs through the entire DOKU series, in which the body is transcended, multiplied and transformed into digital presence, opening to a dimension in which consciousness can exist independently of physicality.
Identity is modifiable, gender irrelevant: Lu Yang’s work contributes to the debate on the fluidity of gender representation, presenting genderless characters, proposing a reflection in which freedom corresponds to the possibility of moving beyond the dichotomy between masculine and feminine. Identity is treated as an open and transformable process.
An Immersive and Contemplative Environment
For the Venice exhibition, Lu Yang presents the film DOKU The Illusion on a monumental LED screen. The space is an immersive environment, a cybernetic sanctuary in which the audience enters the work through mirrors, moving images and integration between live footage and artificial intelligence. The visitor finds themselves within a mutating visual system, in which perception is constructed through reflections and overlays.
Lu Yang
Born in Shanghai, Lu Yang lives and works in Tokyo and has established themselves internationally through immersive environments that utilize computer-generated video, multimedia installations, sculptures and virtual performances, and research between art, science and spirituality.
In 2022, they were selected by Cecilia Alemani for the 59th Venice Art Biennale “The Milk of Dreams”, and were named Artist of the Year by Deutsche Bank. Their work has been presented on the High Line in New York and included in the exhibition Worldbuilding curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist at the Julia Stoschek Foundation in Düsseldorf and at the Centre Pompidou-Metz.
The film DOKU The Illusion is the fourth chapter of the saga, following The Self (2022), The Flow (2023) and The Creator (2025).
Curated by Claire Staebler, the exhibition is part of the Hors-les-murs program taking place at the Espaces Louis Vuitton in Tokyo, Munich, Venice, Beijing, Seoul and Osaka, fulfilling the commitment of Fondation Louis Vuitton, a public interest institution dedicated to contemporary art, to create international projects and make them accessible to a wider audience.
Espace Louis Vuitton
Calle del Ridotto 1351
May 8, October 4, 2026
Free admission daily 10:30 AM – 7:00 PM
Plan Your Visit
Article by Laura Scarpa.
