Lu Hsian-fu turns virtual reality inside out

Lu Hsian-fu (盧憲孚) has consistently fused his education in architecture, contemporary arts and interactive communication in his works to explore new frontiers in the high-tech world and to explain the changes in interpersonal relations that technological progress brings about.

His two current works on exhibit at the Juming Museum (朱銘美術館) offer a glimpse into his world, where "future" is the catchword.

Real Virtuality: How to Change Faces (實擬虛境：易【e】容術) is a totem pole-like structure covered with wax models of Lu's face. These models are the result of "virtual cloning," for which Lu scanned his face through a 3D scanner. He then dramatically altered the digital images and had a specialized company turn the computer files into tangible models.

According to Lu, this is what will happen in the future, when people's "essence" can be digitized and become data existing in cyberspace -- a person will have one or more virtual existences, or avatars, in cyberspace.

Once we achieve this type of technology, "we will enjoy greater freedom. We will be able to achieve things we have never dreamt of in the physical world," Lu said in an interview. "On the other hand, our avatars will be in constant danger. They will be subject to other people and their avatars' manipulation or attack," he added.

The various faces of Lu's virtual clones show a spectrum of emotions -- from outrage to rapture. Some faces are carved to resemble Peking opera faces of personalities such as the brave Chang Fei (張飛) and the devious Tsao Tsao (曹操).

Lu also seeks to show that something may go awry when people are transformed into data. Some of the faces are missing a nose, covered all over with eyes, or simply blurred.

Real Virtuality is meant as a revolt against the worldwide trend to create virtual reality.

"Virtual reality imitates the physical world. It uses computers to reproduce what is `out there.' Nowadays, people seem to place an excessively high value on creating perfect verisimilitudes," said Lu. The project is the artist's way of reminding people that it's more important to do the opposite, "to turn what is inside our head outside, to realize what is virtual, abstract or conceptual."

At a time when facial animation technology has recreated nearly perfect human expressions for Hollywood blockbuster movies, Lu does the opposite by turning what he imagines our faces can look like into concrete images.

Real Virtuality: How to Change Faces is the fourth part in his e-series (易【e】系列) at the Museum. Playing with the many different definitions of the Chinese character 易 which sounds like the letter "e," to evoke the idea of electronics, the projects in the series are all thematically based on modern technology.

Bed to the power N = Bed for N People (床的N次方=N人床), Lu's other work at the museum, is the third part in his . The work questions the functionality of objects in relation to their positions.

The dozens of beds in this installation are piled into a pyramid. In making this installation, "I want to show how our familiar beds can be transformed into something totally different. It's easy to pile them up. And since no beds are disfigured or welded together in the process, they can later resume their identity as beds," said Lu.

This demonstrates that the object, bed, is "changeable" (變易), "easy" (簡易) to change, while remaining "unchanged" (不易) at the same time. This variable use of the concept of 易 was inspired by the Han-dynasty scholar Cheng Hsuan's (鄭玄) idea of three 易's. Conforming to Cheng's theory, the form of the beds change, but their essence remains intact.