Patikulamanasikara

Patikulamanasikara
2022
Virtual Reality, Unity, 3D Animation, Color, Stereo, Realtime Projection, 5’00”

Whether through the manipulation of avatars in virtual games, or in the relationship between Vtuber and the person behind the Vtuber, virtual technology has transformed the way people perceive the body. The way digital technology simulates our body rewrote we imagine the boundaries of our body as well as our subjectivity.

“Patikulamanasikara”, this interactive VR installation places the viewer’s point of view inside a “virtual body”, synchronously allowing the viewer to control this “virtual body” with a VR touch controllers through inverse kinematics. Yet, this “virtual body” is not an avatar but rather a made-virtual metaphor of the viewer’s flesh, skeleton, and visceras. In this artwork, the viewer seems to temporary access this virtual body. However, following the passing of time, ultimately, the viewer loses the power to control this “virtual body”.

Just as in the artwork title, the idea behind creating this work takes after a traditional Buddhist practice : “Patikulamanasikara”, reflections on repulsiveness. What is coined as the “contemplation of impurity” is as conducting an anatomical dissection by intent of thought, the Buddhist disciple takes what makes up his own body, the organs, fluids and filling tissues as the object of his contemplation. With this practice, the disciple develops a feeling of abjection towards the body, breaking away from the preoccupation of the flesh.

The artwork “Patikulamanasikara” builds a metaphor for the mutual reference and involvement of humans’ inner anatomy and virtual technology, as “the beating heart becomes the number of frames per second that the image flashes, and every gestures turn into he calculation of inverse kinematics”. It sends the experience of the viewer to circulate between virtual scape, body, and perception. At the same time, the practice of Patikulamanasikara reflects a certain understanding of the body. The artwork explores the body under the viewpoint of cyborg and post-humanism, providing another way to think about how the body is constructed, even imagined.

Credit:
VR Interactive Software Developer | Lin Hung
Sound Designer | Chen Lin-Shuang
Filmmaker | YUAN STUDIO Hsu Po-Yen
Special Thanks | Aymei, Chang Wen-Woan, Chang Yu-Cheng, Fan Chiao-Ssu, Liu Wen-Hao,
Lu Wei, Ray He

Exhibition News:
25.05.2022-29.05.2022
FutuRetro-18th Athens Digital Arts Festival, Kotzia Square, Athens, Greece
(Photo by ADAF Greece Curatorial Team)

Exhibition News:
24.09.2022-13.11.2022
Spaceship Earth- 4th Asia Digital Art Exhibition, Beijing Times Art Museum, Beijing, China
(Photo by Wang Fu Sheng)