Lui & Chang ™, Scenes from Suus 'Oculis Meis (It's eyes) 2019, VR. Courtesy of Lui & Chang TM.
Lui & Chang TM
>> Curated by Michael Xufu Huang
A Virtual Reality project Suus ‘Oculis Meis by artist Judy Lui in collaboration with computer scientist Michael Chang, and curated by Michael Xufu Huang. This project aims to create an environment to provide perspectives of creatures other than ourselves, creating an immersive visual experience on an entirely different scale, enabling viewers to see details around us that we inevitably miss out in everyday lives.
“My work often discusses the issues embedded within the cultural, environmental, societal, and religious background. I try to understand the world through the exploration of these fields. In this term, art has always been an expressive tool for me to both visualize and contextualize my thinking on such subjects. Currently, I’ve been exploring the fields of technology and religion, namely virtual reality and Buddhism and their effects on the body.” - Judy Lui
Birthed in virtual reality, Suus `Oculis Meis is an illuminating, alternative view of the world that we are already familiar with, depicted through perspectives of entities that are not. Upon entering through a VR headset, the viewer will dive into audio-visual environments that are related to and inspired by daily “Earthly” settings, but examined from different viewpoints at drastically different scales (think of veins on a leaf). With eye movements, the viewer will be able to explore through multiple scenes to their hearts’ content.
A distinct aspect of virtual reality as a medium is its total control over vision and hearing. Primarily, the purposes of these senses are survival and navigation. But in the modern world, humans rely on these senses to accomplish so much more. However, even with so much perspective and power, details in experiences are often ignored or missed. Suus `Oculis Meis sheds light on such often neglected instants by creating them in an alternative environment. With visual and sonic clues, viewers will have the chance to encounter and interpret these moments to reveal further meaning.