DE SARTHE is pleased to announce its ninth annual de Sarthe Residency (deSAR), featuring resident artist Lau Wai. Transforming the gallery into an open studio, Lau will create new artworks in the space and invite the public to witness their creative process during normal gallery hours.

Lau’s practice investigates the destabilization of human identity in the face of rapid technological advancement. Inspired by the hidden labor of CGI actors behind digital facades, Lau has created their own digital replica, W.A.I. with motion and facial capture as a means to explore how technology reshapes our identities. During the residency, Lau will produce multi-channel and single-channel new video works and a single-player digital game. The videos will feature the life of the original person behind W.A.I. and the "humanizing process" of their digital clones, while the interactive game will position the audience as masters of W.A.I.’s fate, controlling the character as she attempts to escape or face being homogenized. Lau’s creative process offers visitors a real-time look into the digitization of humanity, prompting questions about our very existence as we enter a digitized future. As the line between the physical and digital realms blurs, how do we define our existence? Will we eventually be consumed by our own creations? Do we truly possess autonomy and self-consciousness?

Residency: July 8th–September4th, 2026

Exhibition: September 5th–26th, 2026

Gallery address: 2/F, Block A, Vita Tower, 29 Wong Chuk Hang Road