Li Yao, currently based in Chicago, is a VR/XR artist, a designer, and an organizer for new media art events. Li’s work addresses how our perceptions of reality are shaped, both by the architecture we inhabit, as well as the interfaces we connect to. Li’s recent on-going project, Perfect Melon, in collaboration with Jas Brooks and Gabby Luu, is a VR installation and performance that incarnates a fictional corporation. The purchase of a company-produced soft drink initiates membership into a consumer community cultivated and entirely mediated by the corporation. Li has exhibited in various venues including Altered Festival, The Wrong Biennale, Ars Electronica, and Mykono Multimedia Festival. He received his MFA in Art and Technology Studies from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2018, and his BFA in Fine Arts from the School of Visual Arts in 2016.
2022
Water Flows Through My Closet (2021--2022)
Ai-generative project exploring bathroom experience
Keywords: Water, Toilet & Plumbing, Prints
Ai-generative project exploring bathroom experience
Keywords: Water, Toilet & Plumbing, Prints
2021
Peeing. Online. Together ( On-going ):
Collective Urination on Clubhouse
Keywords: Water, Toilet & Plumbing, Event
Collective Urination on Clubhouse
Keywords: Water, Toilet & Plumbing, Event
Perfect Melon ( On-going ):
VR multisensorial Performance
Keywords: Water, Doomsday, Performance, Event, Virtual Environment, Installation
VR multisensorial Performance
Keywords: Water, Doomsday, Performance, Event, Virtual Environment, Installation
Swim ( On-going ):
VR project on swimmer, and swimming pool
Keywords: Water, Toilet & Plumbing, Internationality, Animation, Virtual Environment
VR project on swimmer, and swimming pool
Keywords: Water, Toilet & Plumbing, Internationality, Animation, Virtual Environment
( At Least ) Three Ways of Seeing Anxiety In China ( 2021 )
Poster for Dr. Jennifer D. Lee’s Tenure Review Presentation
Keywords: Graphic Design
Poster for Dr. Jennifer D. Lee’s Tenure Review Presentation
Keywords: Graphic Design
2020
Commiserate Chicago ( 2019- 2020 ) :
New media art festival
Keywords: Collaboration, Event, Graphic Design
New media art festival
Keywords: Collaboration, Event, Graphic Design
World Class/Happy Daze ( 2020 ) :
Poster design for faculty lecture with Jennifer D. Lee and Jennifer N. Kidwell
Keyword: Event, Prints, Graphic Design
Poster design for faculty lecture with Jennifer D. Lee and Jennifer N. Kidwell
Keyword: Event, Prints, Graphic Design
2018
Bunker ( 2016- 2018 ) :
VR installation on Cold War architectures and modernity’s paradox.
Keywords: Doomsday, Virtual Environment, Installation, Prints
VR installation on Cold War architectures and modernity’s paradox.
Keywords: Doomsday, Virtual Environment, Installation, Prints
Interplanetary Soul ( Yo Love’s Got Me ) ( 2018 ) :
Collaboration with Chicago Funkadelic Musician Andre Gibson.
Keywords: Collaboration, Animation
Collaboration with Chicago Funkadelic Musician Andre Gibson.
Keywords: Collaboration, Animation
Westwold Needs Asia ( 2018 ) :
Poster design for Jennifer D. Lee’s Penultimate Review Presentation
Keywords: Event, Prints, Graphic Design
Poster design for Jennifer D. Lee’s Penultimate Review Presentation
Keywords: Event, Prints, Graphic Design
Live: Lu Yang Master Exorcism ( 2018 ) :
Poster design for Lu Yang’s artist talk at SAIC
Keywords: Event, Prints, Graphic Design
Poster design for Lu Yang’s artist talk at SAIC
Keywords: Event, Prints, Graphic Design
2017
Swimming Lessons ( 2017 ) :
Animation made in the VR experience of Swim to protest my frustration with Unity’s navigation agent and the pre-screening angst
Keywords: Water, Animation, Virtual Environment
Animation made in the VR experience of Swim to protest my frustration with Unity’s navigation agent and the pre-screening angst
Keywords: Water, Animation, Virtual Environment
2016
My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done?
( 2016 ) :
Time-based installation on familial obligation
Keywords: Water, Domesticity, Installation, Sculpture
( 2016 ) :
Time-based installation on familial obligation
Keywords: Water, Domesticity, Installation, Sculpture
Work It ( 2016 ) :
Hourly performance on artistic labor and the futility of studio practice
Keywords: Performance, Prints
Hourly performance on artistic labor and the futility of studio practice
Keywords: Performance, Prints
Hallway ( 2016 ) :
First Unity project of a surrealist dreamscape
Keywords: Domesticity, Virtual Environment
First Unity project of a surrealist dreamscape
Keywords: Domesticity, Virtual Environment
2015
Red Oil Wontons ( 2015 ) :
Serial glitch prints and installation on food and lingual translation
Keywords: Internationality, Installation, Prints
Serial glitch prints and installation on food and lingual translation
Keywords: Internationality, Installation, Prints
Warden/ Prisoner ( 2015 ) :
Video installation and architectural study on toilets
Keywords: Water, Toilet & Plumbing, Video, Installation, Sculpture
Video installation and architectural study on toilets
Keywords: Water, Toilet & Plumbing, Video, Installation, Sculpture
Morse Code Painting series ( 2015 ) :
Abstract oil paintings embeded with Morse code messages
Keywords: Painting, Video
Abstract oil paintings embeded with Morse code messages
Keywords: Painting, Video
Hell Screen ( 2015 ) :
Neon light Installation prototype inspired by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa‘s short story, Hell Screen ( a.k.a 地獄変 Jigokuhen )
Keywords: Domesticity, Installation, Sculpture
Neon light Installation prototype inspired by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa‘s short story, Hell Screen ( a.k.a 地獄変 Jigokuhen )
Keywords: Domesticity, Installation, Sculpture
2014
SUSPENSION ( 2014 ) :
Mixed media installation on surveillance in the domestic environment
Keywords: Domesticity, Video, Installation, Sculpture
Mixed media installation on surveillance in the domestic environment
Keywords: Domesticity, Video, Installation, Sculpture
2014 and before
