Avatopology 2.0: 9% Grin, 33% Groove
Avatopology 2.0: 9% Grin, 33% Groove is a solo exhibition by Frank WANG Yefeng examining digital characters, online labor, distributed authorship, and the unstable idea of an “original” image. The project began with a blurred photograph of Yefeng and developed through a relay of image translations by 33 digital creators recruited through Fiverr. Each participant received only the preceding contributor’s work and reinterpreted it through their own visual language, producing nine animations and nine avatars through a six-stage process that moves between two- and three-dimensional forms.
The exhibition’s title refers to the nine animations and 33 contributors, while the remaining 58 percent points to the often-unseen labor, resources, and relationships that support collective digital production. Drawing on systems such as “Pass the Parcel” and “Exquisite Corpse,” the work explores how images circulate, change, and acquire new meanings across networks. The installation also includes objects connected to the collaborators’ musical, literary, and cultural interests, along with two paintings that layer visual traces of the collaborative process. Together, these elements bring the project’s online exchanges into the physical gallery and consider how digital systems can create opportunities for connection while obscuring labor, agency, identity, and participation.
When: Friday, September 4 through Saturday, December 5, 2026.
Opening Reception: Friday, September 4, from 6–9 PM.
Panel Discussion: Friday, September 4, from 6:30–8 PM, during the opening reception.
Panelists: Lucas Blalock and Triton Mobley will discuss how rapidly developing technologies challenge established ideas about art and human experience, including the social and cultural conditions that shape technological systems and artistic practices.
Artist: Frank WANG Yefeng, a transdisciplinary artist who lives and works in New York and Shanghai. His practice addresses digital networks, technology, collaboration, and shifting forms of identity.
Participating Creators: Abraham G (Nigeria), Ainuddin D. (Indonesia), Akar Studio (Indonesia), Aleksandra (Ukraine), Anastasia (Netherlands), B. Raccoontoon (Indonesia), Bousselham Kh (Morocco), Chino the goat (Argentina), Dmytro Matiikiv (Slovakia), Doomesia (Indonesia), Ekaterina (Istanbul), Fahmi S. (Indonesia), Frein (Argentina), Gálbano Lealdo (Brazil), Hashmi (Pakistan), Hodaart (United Kingdom), Josh S. (Nigeria), K. Gabor (Hungary), Katia M (Italy), Leah V (South Africa), Leslie Jost (United Kingdom), Lua (Nigeria), Mahdi R (United States), Melvin M (Indonesia), Mh Rakib (Bangladesh), Rauf Valiyev (Azerbaijan), Rozaq (Indonesia), Shane D (United States), Vilan (Indonesia), Wandererkitty (Turkey), Whendies (Indonesia), Zeeshan Mahmood (Pakistan), and Zentangle (Sri Lanka).
Curator: Joyce Chung, with curatorial assistance from Cole Roberts.
Installation: Tim Belknap.
Poster Design: RELATED DEPARTMENT.
Venue: Main Gallery, Asian Arts Initiative, 1219 Vine Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107. The opening reception and panel are listed at the Gallery at the same address.
Tickets: Free—Pay What You Wish.
Support: The exhibition is supported by the Teiger Foundation, Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Artadia, and New York Foundation of the Arts.