大悲宇宙 Dabeiyuzhou｜元界的艺术 Art from the Metaverse
“Amitabha“ by Dabeiyuzhou
《阿弥陀佛》大悲宇宙
The metaverse has become widely popularized as the next evolution of the internet. It is not clearly defined but one can imagine it as a virtual space that is infinite and allows audiovisual interactions. This includes VR, AR, and interactive 3D digital spaces. These spaces can be inhabited by anything imaginable and some forms of the metaverse are combined with blockchain technology to trade digital assets through cryptocurrencies. This is why NFTs have also been under the spotlight in the art world. Starting with the vast daily art put out by Beeple and commercialized by top auction houses such as Christie’s and Sotheby’s, the world of NFT is bringing a whole new set of tools for artists to realize. Among the uprising digital artists, Dabei Yuzhou has become one of the most popular artists to join the crypto art movement from China.
作为互联网的进一次发展，元宇宙已变得广泛流行。它没有明确定义，但可以将其想象为一个无限的虚拟空间，并允许进行视听交互。这包括 VR、AR 和交互式 3D 数字空间。这些空间可以容纳任何可以想象的事物，并且某些形式的元宇宙与区块链技术相结合，通过加密货币交易数字资产。这就是 NFT 也一直受到艺术界关注的原因， Beeple 推出大量艺术品，并被佳士得和苏富比等顶级拍卖行商业化，艺术家们意识到NFT 的世界提供了一套新的工具。在崛起的这批数字艺术家中，大悲宇宙已成为中国最受欢迎的加入加密艺术运动的艺术家之一。
About the artist
关于艺术家
Artist Dabeiyuzhou
艺术家 大悲宇宙
Dabeiyuzhou is a digital crypto artist from Fujian that is represented by BCA Network. Known for his Buddhist-themed artworks, Dabeiyuzhou crosses cybernetic and machine-like visuals with traditional cultural elements. This has made him a prominent artist for the younger generation in China also leading to the moniker, “Oriental Cyborg”. His works explore themes of eastern religious concepts, transcendence, mutation, as well as the infinite possibilities of collaboration between humans and computers through digital art and the metaverse. His series such as “Future Fo”, “Text Gene Project”, “Virtual Butterfly” and more accompany his futuristic take on modern culture. He has exhibited at UCCA Beijing, World Blockchain Conference 2021, the 2021 China Blockchain Industry Summit, WWART Expo Shanghai 2021, and has collaborated with NIKE as well as comedian Li Dan.
大悲宇宙是来自福建的一位地下艺术家，BCA Network是他的代理公司。大悲宇宙以其佛教为主题的艺术作品而闻名，将控制论和机器般的视觉效果与传统文化元素相结合。这使他成为中国年轻一代的杰出艺术家，也使他获得了“东方仿生人”的绰号。他的作品通过数字艺术和元宇宙与计算机协作的无限可能性，探索了东方的宗教观念、超越、变异等主题。《未来仏》、《文本基因计划》、《虚拟蝴蝶》等系列作品突显了他对现代文化的未来主义看法。这些作品曾参展UCCA北京、2021世界区块链大会、2021中国区块链产业峰会、2021上海WWART博览会，并与NIKE及喜剧演员李丹合作。
Early days and the influence of Buddhism
早起时代以及佛教的影响
“Like a Secret” by Dabeiyuzhou
《犹如秘藏》大悲宇宙
Growing up, Buddhism and its traditional practices played a crucial part in his early development. His mother was a pious Buddhist. In 2008, Dabeiyuzhou went to Shanghai at the age of 20 to study next-gen game art. In 2010, looking for an escape from the pressures of life he picked up jade carving in Jieyang, Guangdong as part of his urge to build a deeper understanding of Buddhist culture. The artist would work on his jade works for a period of 9 months, ending with his first and last jade carving artwork. Since then, Dabeiyuzhou grew an interest in digital art which would lead his career to success.
在成长过程中，佛教及其传统习俗在大悲宇宙的早年发展间发挥了至关重要的作用。他的母亲是一位虔诚的佛教徒。2008年，20岁的大悲宇宙去上海学习次世代游戏美术。2010 年，为了摆脱生活压力，他在广东揭阳学习玉雕，以期加深对佛教文化的了解。他在玉器的世界中工作 了9 个月，这段生涯以他的第一件也是最后一件玉雕作品结束。从那时起，大悲宇宙对数字艺术产生了兴趣，这也将他印象了一份更成功的事业。
“Boy Bodhisattva” by Dabeiyuzhou
《童子菩萨接送图》大悲宇宙
Buddhism plays a significant role in understanding the art of Dabeiyuzhou. This can also be seen through his name which is a reference to the famous Buddhist hymn, the Great Compassion Mantra, Da Bei Zhou. Many of Dabeiyuzhou’s works feature visual representations of Buddha mixed with sci-fi elements that are displaced in empty spaces that are infinite. The futuristic elements of cyberpunk and the forms of Buddhism are paired in a form that is natural, symmetric, and at times envisioning a sacred feeling.
佛教对于理解大悲宇宙的艺术作品扮演着重要的作用。这从他的名字里也可以看出来，他的名字来自著名的佛教赞美诗《大悲咒》。大悲宇宙的许多作品都以佛像与科幻元素混合的视觉表现为特色，这些元素在无限的空旷空间中被置换。赛博朋克的未来主义元素和佛教的形式以自然、对称的形式配对，一种神圣的感觉跃然其间。
“Religion is a reassurance that makes people fearless when the mind is disturbed. …There are many things that rely on the help of the divine power in the dark, including everything I do now. I always feel that the gods are guiding me. “
“宗教是一种宽慰，让人们在思想受到干扰时无所畏惧。……有很多事情都依赖于暗中神力的帮助，包括我现在所做的一切。我总觉得神在引导我。“
- Dabeiyuzhou 大悲宇宙
The “Future Fo” Series
《未来仏》系列
Beijing UCCA. “Future Fo” by Dabeiyuzhou
北京UCCA. 《末来仏》大悲宇宙
While working in the gaming industry Dabeiyuzhou found his creativity being hindered by the limitations of work. Fed up with it all, he left his job and traveled to Xiamen where he would begin work on the aforementioned jade sculpture. However, during the creation, he realized that the physical creation of the work did not bring him satisfaction as digital manipulation did. With this in mind, he would blend the knife-cut textures with 3D manipulation software to create his “Future Fo” series.
在游戏行业工作时，大悲宇宙发现自己的创造力受到了工作的限制。他 受够了这一切，于是辞去了工作，前往厦门开始创作玉雕。然而，在创作过程中，他意识到作品在物理层面的创作并没有像数字操作那样给他带来满足感。考虑到这一点，他将刀切纹理与 3D 操作软件相结合，创造出他的《末来仏》系列。
Future Fu by Dabeiyuzhou
《末来仏》大悲宇宙
The cold machine-like surface imposed on a visual representation of Buddha alters the context of religion in a contemporary way, creating a form that is translated from the binary code with which it may communicate from. In fact, this was the defining moment of the artist’s artistic composition and realization of his own future universe.
在佛陀的视觉表现上，加载了一种冷酷工业化的表现处理，这改变了宗教的背景，创造了一种从二进制代码转换而来，似乎可以与之交流的形式。事实上，这是艺术家创作和实现自己未来宇宙的决定性时刻。
The “Virtual Butterfly” Series
《虚拟蝴蝶》系列
Virtual Butterfly by Dabeiyuzhou
《虚拟蝴蝶》大悲宇宙
Using an AI algorithm as his collaborator, Dabeiyuzhou gives birth to an alien mix of butterflies each with distinct wings. The colors and patterns interchange with each new iteration, creating a rich database of virtual butterflies. The artist joins the process by providing feedback and selection of the final manifestations. He explains:
使用人工智能算法，大悲宇宙创造了一种异形的蝴蝶组合，每只蝴蝶都有不同的翅膀。颜色和图案随着每次新的迭代而互换，创建了一个丰富的虚拟蝴蝶数据库。艺术家通过提供的反馈和最终表现形式的选择来加入这个过程。他解释说：
Virtual Butterfly by Dabeiyuzhou
《虚拟蝴蝶》大悲宇宙
”After feeding the system some basic data, it will start to simulate these data, and Another set of algorithms will supervise this process and compare the results with the template to determine and guess whether the products obtained to meet the requirements. Finally, I and the computer will screen out the results and become a molecule of the huge butterfly population.”
“在系统里输入一些基础数据之后，它会开始模拟这些数据，而另外一套算法会监督这个过程，将结果与范本进行比对，去判定和推测得到的产品是否符合要求，最后由我与计算机一同把结果筛选出来，成为庞大蝴蝶种群的一分子。”
Active since September 2020, the series has created more than 600,000 butterflies. The neural network AI has been evolving the selection and the artist believes that this process of co-creation at large scales allows for the investment into other artistic directions leveraging technology.
该系列自 2020 年 9 月开始一直在活跃着，目前已经创造了超过 600,000 只蝴蝶。神经网络 AI 一直在改进选择，艺术家认为，这种大规模的共同创作过程可以允许利用技术对其他艺术方向进行投资。
作品：大悲宇宙
"The most intuitive point is that technology has released human labor and creativity. In the ancient times when technology was not yet born, humans could only further improve their physical conditions after learning to make tools, and only then had time and opportunities to think more broadly…. While human beings are creating and upgrading technology, technology is also quietly transforming human beings. This is a mutual process, and it is also a chaotic and rising state: your consciousness will be changed by algorithms."
“最直观的一点是，技术释放了人类的劳动力和创造力。在科技尚未诞生的远古时代，人类学会了制造工具之后才能进一步改善自身的身体条件，也才有时间、机会去思考更广博的议题…人类在创造、升级科技的时候，科技也在悄悄地改造人类，这是一个相互的过程，也是一个混沌的、不断上升的状态：你的意识是会被算法改变的。”
- Dabeiyuzhou 大悲宇宙
Selling on Sotheby’s with “The Beach with Poems”
在苏富比拍卖作品《有诗的海滩》
Dabeiyuzhou’s “The Beach with Poems” was recently sold through Sotheby’s Metaverse "Natively Digital 1.2” for $140,000. This was a historically significant event for China as it was the first time Chinese digital artists had taken part in the Sotheby's auction.
大悲宇宙的作品《有诗的海滩》近日在苏富比的元宇宙“Natively Digital 1.2”以14万美元的价格售出，这对中国来说是一个具有历史意义的事件，因为这是中国数字艺术家首次参加这种类型的苏富比拍卖。
Sotheby's. "The Beach with Poems" by Dabeiyuzhou
《有诗的海滩》大悲宇宙
The work, “The Beach with Poems” is created in part due to the “Text Gene Project”, a special interactive undertaking for the artist. The process follows a form of garbled poetry in which participants can submit a sentence composed of up to 7 Chinese words to be added to a text gene library. The words are randomly arranged into new sentences in the form of modern Chinese poetry through technology. The artist then selects the newly generated sentences and vocabulary to compose the sonnet. He then may choose the content from the library of sentences to produce a graphical work.
作品《有诗的海滩》的创作部分归功于“文本基因计划”，这是针对艺术家的一项特殊互动作品。该过程遵循一种乱码诗歌的形式，参与者可以提交最多由 7 个中文单词组成的句子，以添加到文本基因库中。这些词通过技术以现代中国诗歌的形式随机排列成新的句子。艺术家随后选择新生成的句子和词汇来组成十四行诗。然后他可以从句子库中选择内容以产生图像作品。
The purpose of the “Text Gene Project” follows his artistic exploration of the collaboration between machines and humans. At the same time, the project further looks into the complex grouping of human consciousness that runs parallel to others. Every participant of the system provides insight into the collectiveness of human behavior like ants in a colony working together. Akin to this phenomenon, this collection of Chinese language creation becoming more complex leading to the artist’s initial question:
“文本基因计划”的目的是遵循对机器与人类合作的艺术探索。同时，该项目进一步研究了与其他人平行的人类意识的复杂分组。该系统的每个参与者都可以洞察人类行为的集体性，就像蚁群中的蚂蚁一起工作一样。类似于这种现象，中国语言创作的收藏变得越来越复杂，导致了艺术家面临最初的问题：
“The collaborative work of ants produces a "super-individual" of ant colonies with decision-making ability. Then if it is to use more complex language with effective information to collaborate with more complex people, then What will happen? I am also very curious…"
“蚂蚁的协同工作产生了具有决策能力的“超级个体”蚁群。那么如果是用更复杂的语言和有效的信息来与更复杂的人进行协作，那会发生什么呢？我也很好奇……”
To take part in Dabeiyuzhou’s “Text Gene Project”, please visit his website
有关大悲宇宙的“文本基因计划”，请访问他的网站
Translation 翻译 Rona Xia
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