Kenta Yamazaki | Chou Tung-Yen / Very Theatre 'In the Mist' 'Beyond the Mist'
Chou Tung-Yen/Very Theatre's VR work 'In the Mist' and XR work 'Beyond the Mist' install the experience of gay/bi male desire in the viewer.Summary
This article reviews two works by Chou Tung-Yen/Very Theatre presented at YPAM 2025 Fringe: 'In the Mist' (霧中─イン・ザ・ミスト) and 'Beyond the Mist' (霧を抜けた先に), both of which use VR goggles to install the experience of gay/bi male desire in the audience. 'In the Mist' is a 360-degree VR film where the viewer witnesses sexual acts in a gay sauna as a voyeur, confronting the failure of desire exchange, especially if the viewer is female. 'Beyond the Mist' is an XR experience where the viewer inhabits an avatar with the same face, wandering a cruising ground. However, the avatar is perpetually wearing white briefs, rendering sexual fulfillment impossible, creating a state akin to a 'zombie' wandering without achieving the desire of life/sexuality. This discomfort mirrors the awkwardness of encountering an acquaintance in such a space. Ultimately, the experience forces a return to reality and the limits of time, mirroring the limits of life. The reviewer concludes that these works are not mere scandalous voyeurism but vividly capture the nuanced, lived experiences of gay/bi men in cruising spaces, encompassing feelings like complicity, shame, loneliness, and relief.
(Source：artscape)