Stepping into the intricate world of Yu Pan is like entering a realm where visual communication transcends traditional boundaries. A true multidisciplinary artist, Pan seamlessly weaves together diverse media—ranging from graphic design and sound to performance art—to create experiences that are both visually striking and deeply thought-provoking. His creations often explore profound philosophical and cultural issues, inviting viewers not just to observe, but to engage in a reflective journey that challenges perceptions and encourages deep introspection.
Pan’s work frequently examines the intersection of spirituality and modern existence, influenced by his upbringing in Buddhist culture, which he believes permeates all things. Across diverse topics and mediums, each element is carefully selected to convey complex narratives and ideas. Drawing from a rich tapestry of cultural symbols and traditions, he reinterprets them through a contemporary lens, creating artworks that resonate on multiple levels. His projects are often site-specific, utilising the historical and cultural significance of a particular location to enhance the work’s content.
One of Pan’s most notable projects is Conditioning and Not Being Mended, Mong Varanasi (2023), which explores psychological conditioning through a modernised expression of Buddhist culture and the spiritual lens of contemporary youth. In a prior project, Infinite Reciprocating Without Fulfilment (2023), he examined the temporary nature of emotions by exploring the intersection of people and objects in everyday life. Pan takes this further in Conditioning and Not Being Mended, Mong Varanasi, where he argues that viewing sadness and anxiety through the lens of ego traps us in the present. By adopting a higher perspective, Pan suggests we experience the present as merely a fleeting moment between past and future, as humans constantly reshape both. How, then, can we find peace amid the chaos of the present and enter our own “Mon-Varanasi”?
Pan’s exploration of these ideas is characterised by his use of liminal spaces—thresholds between reality and imagination. He reflects, “Since we came into this world, our socialisation process began automatically. Growing up, we accelerated this process through modern tools, but this brought a lack of awareness of our own minds. When we quiet our minds and dialogue with our hearts, many emotions are blocked, allowing us to focus solely on ourselves.” He reflects on his childhood experience of listening to Medicine Buddha’s mantra songs, recalling the twelve vows that represent the Buddha’s love for rescuing all beings. Pan integrates these teachings with modern tools of socialisation, constructing video-based artworks that focus on solving contemporary issues while staying rooted in spiritual traditions.
In this work, Pan employs mixed media, including photography, digital art, and motion graphics, to reflect the cyclical nature of regulation. His juxtaposition of modernised Buddhist religious symbols with contemporary visual elements creates a tension between the old and the new, tradition and modernity. Having once felt trapped in anxiety and tension, Pan now seeks to help others overcome similar negativity and find peace within themselves, encouraging viewers to contemplate the nature of the self and its potential for change.
In contrast, The Original Vows of Binddha Sutra (2020–2022) delves into the culture of idolatry through the seemingly mundane act of rubbish sorting. This project blends traditional Buddhist iconography with contemporary art practices to create a unique visual language that critiques passive conformity and subjective will, bridging the gap between modernity and tradition. Pan mischievously replaces traditional Buddhist sculptures with golden images of recyclable bins—an act that might be seen as irreverent in Buddhist teachings. However, Pan emphasises that symbols, once worshipped by the masses, can transcend their physical forms. The focus shifts to the underlying “dogma,” which in this case is a call to raise awareness about waste separation.
In this project, Pan uses installation and performance art to create an immersive experience that is both contemplative and provocative. In a moving image piece, Pan invites a Buddhist monk to chant The Original Vows of Binddha Sutra at a rubbish collection point. The monk sits on a “lotus flower” constructed from discarded wood, chanting with closed eyes, while curious onlookers gather. Pan removes all ambient sound, replacing it with bird calls—a noise often ignored or blocked out in daily life. This evokes a sense of detachment, as viewers may see the video from the perspective of someone unfamiliar with “rubbish classification,” as though the events on screen are irrelevant to them. The project opens a dialogue between the ignorant and the unknown, the visible and the invisible, the cult and the conscious, inviting viewers to reflect on how traditional religious culture can be applied to modern life.