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Guan Yin Help You I, II III (2022)

Guan Yin Help You I, II, and III are a series of three digital rendered images based on my augmented reality (AR) headset-based scenography, Guan Yin Help You. It explores the topics of queerness and religion through my personal experience as a Chinese Buddhist queer, emphasising the importance of expanding queerness and the religious discourse beyond the centralised discussions of Christianity. The dual identity of being queer and Chinese Buddhist is explored through the visual contrast design between the two shrines. Furthermore, I transformed myself into a ‘thousand-hand’ avatar that adopts the iconography of Thousand-hand Guan Yin—a goddess renowned for her altruism in helping with mortal problems. By replacing the original artefacts with sex-related items, I highlight sexual desire as a natural human experience that can also be considered a mortal problem to be ameliorated. Through the image-rendering process of the original AR performance using various software including Unity, Blender and Photoshop, I also explore an alternative relationship between the digital assemblage of AR art and photography.

Guan Yin Help You I.png

Chenfei Xiao. Guan Yin Help You I, 2022. Digital rendered image printed on a gator board, 59.4 x 84.1 x 0.5 cm.

Guan Yin Help You II.png

Chenfei Xiao. Guan Yin Help You II, 2022. Digital rendered image printed on a gator board, 59.4 x 84.1 x 0.5 cm.

Guan Yin Help You III.png

Chenfei Xiao. Guan Yin Help You III, 2022. Digital rendered image printed on a gator board, 59.4 x 84.1 x 0.5 cm.

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