Guan Yin Help You (2022)
Guan Yin Help You is an augmented reality (AR) headset-based scenography artwork that explores the topics of queerness and religion in the light of my personal experience as a queer Chinese Buddhist. As part of my research, I experimented with a new concept of mixed scenography through a combination of software for 3D modelling, animation, sound editing and scene design, using both self-made and internet sources. In this work, I explore my double identity as a queer Chinese Buddhist through the use of contrasting colours in two shrines: one takes the form of an ordinary shrine, while the other is retextured in rainbow colours as a hermeneutical expression of my queer identity. The ‘thousand-hand’ avatar of myself adopts the iconography of Thousand-Hand Guan Yin, a goddess worshipped for her altruism in helping mortals solve their problems. Replacing the original artefacts with sex-related items highlights sexual desire as both a natural human experience and a mortal problem that humans need help solving.

Chenfei Xiao. Virtual View of Guan Yin Help You on Unity engine, 2022.

Chenfei Xiao. Virtual View of Guan Yin Help You on Unity engine, 2022.