Lu Yang Creates Virtual Human Music Video for British Band The 1975

Shanghai-based new media artist Lu Yang has used her digital media creation “Doku” to create the music video for “Playing on My Mind” a new track from British band The 1975 off their new album, Notes on a Conditional Form.

The video starts out with the artist’s digital human creation Doku walking towards the camera, while wearing a pair of white trousers covered in Chinese characters. At around the 30 second point of the video, Doku — whose torso is lit up in neon symmetrical patterns — begins dancing to the music in a circular hi-tech arena.

You can watch the music video below:

Speaking about the inspirations behind Doku and the music video in general, Lu Yang says: “In the virtual world, I was able to do things such as choosing my own gender-neutral body and creating an appearance that reflects my own sense of beauty, which are not possible in real life. I consider Doku as my digital reincarnation.”

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Mindful Indulgence: Lu Yang’s Art as Spiritual Entertainment

She goes on to say, “He is me but someone else at the same time. Just like the Buddhist concept of alaya-vijnana [storehouse consciousness], he represents a stream of consciousness which lingers in different worlds and different selves.”

The release comes as part of a 14-part series of videos directed by Ben Ditto in support of The 1975’s fourth album, Notes on a Conditional Form, which was released in May. The project features a multi-national group of 14 artists engaging with AI, robotics and more.