The Exhibition
Art Night is the largest, free contemporary arts festival in London. This year, Happily Contained by Miao Ying is one of 12 special projects curated by the Hayward Gallery. Miao Ying is known as the 'Artist of the Internet', and with Somewhere Else, she recreated her vision, in virtual reality, for this one-night-only installation.
The Experience
Happily Contained is an interactive transmedia installation that questions our perceived reality, who creates it and why. Visitors arrived to the Embassy Gardens Marketing Suite, which had transformed as part of the installation. The Marketing Suite was designed to feel eerie and disquieting at times, as it mirrors how tech companies push branded lifestyles with targeted advertising, by tracking and monetising their users' data.
The Artist
Miao Ying was born in Shanghai, China. She holds an MFA in Electronic Integrated Arts from the School of Art and Design at Alfred University and a BFA in New Media Arts from China Academy of Fine Arts. Miao Ying's works are about mainstream technology, contemporary consciousness, new modes of politics and internet aesthetics.
The Night
Happily Contained premiered at the Embassy Gardens Marketing Suite in London in July 2018. Over 1,000 people were able to try the experience that night.
Art Night and dsl collection co-commissioned Happily Contained, with generous support from Phillips, Ecoworld Ballymore, HTC Vive and MSI Computers UK.
