Cleo Ding
'The Eight Immortals (°ËÏÉ)' 2025. Digital 3D render, 20 minute loop with sound; 3 vertical screens.
Artist statement
This animated video work reflects on the concept of immortality in Chinese culture as it exists in the contemporary post-digital age and the transformation of Chinese cultural identity facilitated by technology, globalisation and immigration.
The Eight Immortals are a legendary group of xian (immortals) in Chinese mythology from the Ming dynasty who were all humans who transcended as a reward for consistently humble, generous and kind acts. They are famous for journeying across the sea to the ¡°Conference of the Magical Peach¡± with their talisman, depicted in this looping animated work. Their power of immortality is now artificially harnessed through the internet, glitching previous definitions of culture and commodification and transcending lived experience into a real and perceived digital permanence.
The abstraction within the modelling and collaging of 3D photogrammetric scans of my body replicates the process of transformation in the ever-evolving Chinese diaspora.
Photograph: Anna Kucera
Acknowledgement of Country
аIJʹÙÍø School of Art & Design stands on an important place of learning and exchange first occupied by the Bidjigal and Gadigal peoples.
We acknowledge the Bidjigal and Gadigal peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land that our students and staff share, create and operate on. We pay our respects to Elders past and present and extend this respect to all First Nations peoples across Australia. Sovereignty has never been ceded.
