While the new media artist Lu Yang was studying at the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou in the 2000s, she drew up a series of works dealing with mind control. Many were deemed too sensitive, even borderline unethical, and remain unrealized. But with the help of the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum in Japan, Ms. Lu was able to obtain dead frogs that had been used in a medical dissection to produce one of the works. The result is a six-minute video called “Reanimation! Underwater Zombie Frog Ballet” (2011), in which frogs wired to electrodes dance in water to a funky electronic beat.

当新媒体艺术家陆扬于2000年代初在杭州的中国美术学院学习时，她绘制了一系列有关精神控制的作品。许多作品被认为过于敏感，甚至近乎不合伦理，因而仍未实际做出来。但在日本福冈亚洲美术馆的帮助下，陆扬得到了曾用于医学解剖的死青蛙，来创作一个作品。其结果就是2011年的《复活！僵尸青蛙水下芭蕾！》(Reanimation! Underwater Zombie Frog Ballet)。这段六分钟视频中，青蛙被连接到电极上，随着强烈的电子节拍在水下跳舞。

Since graduating in 2010, the Shanghai-born Ms. Lu, 30, has produced a series of boundary-pushing multimedia works that explore neuroscience, mortality and religion.

自2010年毕业以来，今年30岁、出生于上海的陆扬已经创作了一系列突破界限的多媒体作品，探索神经科学、死亡和宗教。

In “Uterus Man” (2013), she collaborated with musicians, manga artists and others to create a project centered on an anime-style character called Uterus Man who rides a “pelvis chariot” and skateboards on a winged sanitary pad.

在2013年的作品《子宫战士》(Uterus Man)中，她与音乐人、漫画家及其他人共同创作了一个项目，以一个叫做“子宫战士”的动漫风格的人物为中心，这个人物驾驶“骨盆战车”，并把护翼卫生巾当成滑板踩着。

In “Moving Gods” (2015), which was featured in the China Pavilion at the 2015 Venice Biennale, Ms. Lu redefines the nimbus — the halo often seen in images of sacred figures — in what is meant to be a “sabotage” of ancient religious icons.

在2015年的作品《移动神佛》(Moving Gods)中，陆扬重新定义了光背——即在神佛的画像中，背后常见的光晕——它意味着对古代宗教偶像的“破坏”。这个作品在2015威尼斯双年展的中国馆里进行过展出。

Her latest work is “Lu Yang Delusional Mandala” (2015), presented in September in a solo show at Beijing Commune. It applies concepts like stereotactic mapping and deep-brain stimulation to simulate a “delusion” in which Ms. Lu destroys her own body and work.

她最新的作品是今年的《陆扬妄想曼陀罗》(Lu Yang Delusional Mandala)，9月曾在北京公社的个展中展出过。它应用了类似于立体定向和深层脑刺激的概念来模拟“妄想”，陆扬在作品中对自己的身体和作品进行了摧毁。

In an interview, Ms. Lu reflected on the human body, growing up in Shanghai and her collaboration with a Japanese asexual artist.

陆扬在接受采访时思考了人体，回顾了在上海的成长，也讲述了与一位日本无性艺术家的合作。

Q: How did you become interested in the subject of the body?

问：你是怎样开始对身体主题发生兴趣的？

A: When I was a child, I spent a lot of time in hospital emergency rooms because I had asthma. So naturally I became interested in the idea of medical treatment and the body. The body is fascinating to me because it is totally objective. There is no right or wrong. That’s why in my work I don’t indicate the value or the aim of things. I use a very cold and calm approach.

答：从我还是个孩子的时候就开始了，因为我有哮喘，我在医院急诊室度过了很多时间。所以我自然而然地对医疗和身体的概念产生了兴趣。身体是很奇妙的，因为它是完全客观的，没有对和错。这就是为什么在我的作品中，不表达事物的价值或目的。我会用一种很冷、很平静的视角。

Another theme in my work is religion. It’s more difficult to get into religion when you’re older because you’re more skeptical. But growing up, my family was pretty religious. I often read my grandmother’s books about Buddhism, which made me really interested in religion.

我作品中的另一个主题是宗教。当你年纪大一些时，就更难信仰宗教，因为会更加怀疑。但在我的成长过程中，我的家庭相当虔诚。我经常阅读我祖母有关佛教的书，这使我对宗教非常感兴趣。

Q: Does your family have a background in art?

问：你的家庭有艺术背景吗？

A: My parents were just ordinary workers at a medical company. Now they’re both retired. I don’t talk about my art with my parents. But I think they’ve probably looked up my work on the Internet. They know I make art, and they know I can make a living. I can depend on myself, so for them that’s enough.

答：我的父母只是一家医疗公司的普通工作人员，现在他们都退休了。我不和父母谈论我的艺术，但我想他们可能在网上搜过我的作品。他们知道我创作艺术，知道我能以此谋生。我可以依靠自己，所以对他们来说这已经足够。

Q: Did you know from a young age, growing up in Shanghai, that you wanted to be an artist?

问：你在上海长大时，从很小的时候就知道自己想成为一个艺术家吗？

A: I always dreamed of being an artist. But after I entered middle school, I didn’t think it would be possible. I didn’t even know what artists did exactly. I only knew that artists could be creative in their work.

答：我一直梦想成为一个艺术家。但在我上中学之后，我还不认为这是可能的。我甚至不知道艺术家到底是做什么的。我只知道，艺术家们可以在他们的作品中发挥创造力。

I was able to get into the China Academy of Art because I really liked to paint. I was growing up at about the same time that Chinese contemporary art was beginning to emerge, so I learned about contemporary art early on. When I was in middle school, my classmates were interested in the latest trends, but I wanted to find more special things, so I started going to galleries and listening to Japanese music. Later, in high school, I subscribed to some magazines about contemporary art.

我能够进入中国美术学院，是因为我真的喜欢画画。我成长在中国当代艺术开始萌芽的同一时期，所以很早我就了解了当代艺术。我在中学的时候，同学们都对最新的流行感兴趣，但我想寻找更特别的东西，所以我开始去画廊并且听日本音乐。后来，我在高中时订阅了一些有关当代艺术的杂志。

Q: What were some of your early influences?

问：有哪些东西对你产生了早期影响？

A: I used to like Western rock music, but I don’t really listen to it anymore. I was also exposed to Japanese culture at an early age. In Shanghai, a lot of television channels played Japanese cartoons, so they had a big influence on our generation. My favorite thing today is still mainstream culture, like sci-fi movies with really good computer-generated effects and other really good Japanese animated movies. I don’t really like art-house films.

答：我以前喜欢西方摇滚乐，但现在不怎么听了。我小时候也接触了日本文化。在上海，很多电视频道都播放日本卡通片，对我们这代人影响很大。我现在最喜欢的还是主流文化，像电脑特效非常好的科幻电影，还有其他很不不错的日本动画电影。但我不喜欢艺术片。

Q: You often collaborate with other nonvisual artists, like the sound artist Wang Changcun and the composer Du Yun. How do these collaborations come about?

问：你经常和非视觉的艺术家合作，如声音艺术家王长存和作曲家杜韵。这些合作是怎么开始的呢？

A: Sometimes I search for musicians and sometimes they find me. I’ve collaborated with musicians who work in opera, death metal, electronic and pop music, and hip-hop. They are usually acquaintances or people I’ve discovered on websites like SoundCloud. The Internet is quite useful, because I don’t really interact with people that much. As long as I have access to a computer, I can make art.

答：有的时候是我找音乐人，有时候是他们找我。我合作过的音乐人有从事歌剧的，有做死亡金属的，还有做电子和流行音乐以及嘻哈音乐的。通常是之前就认识人，或者是我在SoundCloud这样的网站上发现的。互联网很有用，因为我和人接触并不多。只要有电脑，我就能创作艺术。

Q: What are the websites you go to?

问：你通常都上哪些网站？

A: One is Bilibili, a website for watching cartoons. I visit this every day.

答：一个是哔哩哔哩(Bilibili)，是个看卡通的网站。我每天都上。

When I finish a work, I’ll upload it on Vimeo. For me, it’s important what average people online think. They’re not like people in art circles who might be really phony and say, “Oh, I like your work so much.” It’s boring if the only people who see your work are from one circle.

我完成作品后，就会把作品上传到Vimeo上。对我来说，网上普通人的想法很重要。他们不像艺术圈的人，可能会很假地说：“哎呀，我太喜欢你的作品了”。如果看你作品的人来自一个圈子，就很没意思。

Q: Do you identify as a Chinese artist?

问：你认为自己是中国艺术家吗？

A: It’s kind of inevitable that you’re labeled as one. If I have an exhibition abroad, they always say, “This is a Chinese artist.” But that’s why I say that I want to live on the Internet. That way, nobody knows who you are. People online only care about your work and whether it’s any good. They’re not thinking about who the person is behind the work. By living on the Internet, you can abandon your identity, nationality, gender, even your existence as a human being. I rather like this feeling.

答：其实免不了会被贴上这个标签。如果我在国外办展览，他们总会说，“这是一位中国艺术家”。但这就是为什么我想活在网上。那样的话，没人知道你是谁。网上的人只在乎你的作品好不好。他们不去考虑谁是作品背后的那个人。在网上，你可以抛弃身份、国籍、性别，甚至是作为一个人的存在。我挺喜欢这种感觉的。

Q: Can you talk about your 2013 work “Uterus Man”?

问：你能不能谈谈你2013年的作品《子宫战士》？

A: The human embodiment of “Uterus Man” in my work is a Japanese man named Mao Sugiyama, who had his genitals cut off and served them in a meal to other people. When I first heard about him I thought he sounded really weird. But then I noticed that he was a painter and that he had said that he hated gender labels and if he was just a painter then why did he need to have a gender? I was really moved so I got in touch with him. That’s how we started collaborating.

答：我的作品里“子宫战士”的人类化身是一个叫杉山真央(Mao Sugiyama)的日本人。他做了生殖器移除手术，并将切除的部分做成食物给他人食用。我第一次听说的时候，觉得他非常诡异。但后来注意到他是一个画家，而且说过他痛恨性别标签，还说过如果自己只是一名画家，为什么还需要有性别。我非常受感动，所以和他取得了联系。我们就这样开始合作了。

A lot of people think it’s a feminist work, while others think that it’s a superhero story. People project what they’re already thinking. My own opinion is that you can’t choose your gender when you’re born and it only matters in a social context. When you’re contemplating something, you don’t consciously think, “As a man, I think this” or “As a woman, I think this.” That’s why I think society’s gender divisions are pretty absurd.

很多人认为这是一部女权主义作品，其他人则认为这是一个超级英雄故事。人们会投射他们已经有的想法。我自己的观点是，你出生时无法选择性别，性别只有在社会背景下才会成为一个问题。当你在思考一件事时，不会下意识地想，“作为一个男人，我这样想”，或者“作为一个女人，我这样想”。所以，我觉得社会性别的划分很荒谬。

Q: You said you basically live on the Internet and your work is influenced by things you see online. Is there any influence from real-world events or politics?

问：你说过你基本上生活在网上，你的作品受到你在网上看到的东西的影响。现实世界的事件或政治对你有什么影响吗？

A: The older generation of artists really like to make works concerning politics or the nation. But I think there are limitations to this creative method. If you don’t understand politics, or if you’re not from that country, you can’t understand the works.

答：老一代的艺术家真的很喜欢创作与政治或国家有关的作品。但我觉得这种创作手法存在局限性。如果不了解政治，或者不是来自这个国家，就无法理解作品。

I don’t really understand these kinds of things myself. I’m really scared of going to museums, because I don’t understand a lot of the works. There are things that are common to all human beings and even animals. Basically, I spend my time chasing after those universal things we all have in common.

我自己实际上就不了解这类东西。我很害怕去博物馆，因为不理解其中的很多作品。有一些东西是所有人类，甚至动物，共通的。所有人类，甚至动物，存在共同之处。我的时间基本上都花在研究那些我们所共有的，普世的东西上。