IT

At the Espace Louis Vuitton in Venice, artist Lu Yang presents the immersive installation – curated by Claire Staebler – DOKU The Illusion, a feature-length film that reflects on the themes of reality and its virtual doubles, combining modern cybernetic languages with a spirituality steeped in Buddhist philosophy.

In a world where the boundaries between reality and illusion are becoming increasingly blurred, the Chinese artist Lu Yang (Shanghai, 1984) has created DOKU The Illusion; this is the fourth instalment in the DOKU narrative series, a project launched in 2019 and centred on an avatar created by digitising the artist’s face. The installation at the Espace Louis Vuitton in Venice takes the form of an immersive environment, dominated by a monumental screen; in this space, futuristic elements intertwine with references to a spiritual and religious dimension, and the film explores the relationship between the real and the virtual, in a lengthy process of deconstruction and reconstruction of the spirit and essence of reality and of human beings themselves.

THE FILM DOKU THE ILLUSION
The film DOKU The Illusion features the artist’s avatar, DOKU, who, having split into two, embarks on a daring journey of personal development and self-discovery within a virtual universe heavily inspired by video games. At the wheel of a red vehicle – a symbol of freedom – DOKU moves through a continuous flow of fantastical places and unreal worlds that follow one another in rapid succession, creating a fast-paced narrative. In this hallucinatory universe, the journey of the avatar and his accompanying double takes the form both of a narrative epic and a path of reflection and maturation aimed at cultivating spiritual and philosophical insights – almost an initiatory journey that echoes Buddhism’s quest for enlightenment. This process unfolds entirely under the banner of reconciling dual opposites: identity and its double, peace and war, beauty and unease, life and death.
From a formal perspective, Lu Yang recombines multiple visual languages drawn from the worlds of anime, manga, video games and various film genres – such as horror, science fiction, action and road movies – to develop a coherent and hyper-contemporary visual grammar capable of bringing together radically diverse elements. Similarly, the soundtrack spans across various genres, in a musical blend that combines, amongst others, pop, rock, metal and traditional sounds. Both in its visual and musical components, the film was created using materials generated by artificial intelligence, blended with live-action footage and game engines, reaffirming once again the project’s distinctly contemporary nature, reinforced by Claire Staebler’s curatorial sensibility, which captures the spirit of the present age.

LU YANG’S EXHIBITION AT ESPACE LOUIS VUITTON
The constant tension between spirituality and modernity that characterises this work is also evident in the immersive installation. Visitors are greeted by two statues of Buddha holding the wheel of life with a small screen showing a video of a sacred dance; once inside, the space takes on the appearance of a unique place of worship, complete with church pews, candles and red spider lilies, typical of Buddhist ceremonies; yet the metallic silver walls, red neon lights and the large mirror covering the entire ceiling bring the space back into a distinctly contemporary dimension, lending it a surreal and alienating atmosphere, where the viewer’s dual image mirrors the splitting of the film’s avatar.
In this sort of hybrid sanctuary, which immerses the audience in an environment with a sacred yet simultaneously technological and unsettling aura, Lu Yang’s work emerges as a thought-provoking moment of reflection on the complexity of the modern world and its illusions, seeking a possible reconciliation through a spirituality that becomes a universal sentiment, in order to reinterpret those tears in the fabric of an ever-elusive reality.

Elia Castello

8 May – 4 October 2026
DOKU The Illusion
curated by Claire Staebler
Espace Louis Vuitton
Calle del Ridotto 1351 – Venice 
https://it.louisvuitton.com/ita-it/negozio/italy/espace-louis-vuitton-venezia