Rhett Tsai (Yuxiao Cai) is a new media artist and experimental-game developer based in Hangzhou, China. He was born in 1995 in Ningde, China. Currently, he is a lecturer of Open Media Department at China Academy of Art.
Based on China’s unique Internet ecosystem and media society, Rhett’s interests include art and technology, cyberculture based on China, smart cities, and hypertext. His work spans multiple fields including experimental game, virtual reality, computer animation, and sound to express his critical reflection on the media society here and now. His current focus is on the use of video games as a method to tap into the diaspora, wandering, and nostalgia of individuals living under multiple historical narratives.
As an artist who uses games as a tool for his work, his work won the HUA Award for the Lumen Prize 2023 and was the finalist for the IGF(Independent Games Festival) 2023 and was exhibited at the IGF Pavilion of the GDC(Game Developers Conference).
As a new media artist, his works have been exhibited at various international art festivals and film festivals, such as The Wrong Digital Art Biennale (Online), Festival ECRÃ (Brazil), Internationales Digitalkunst Festival (Germany), Utopian Dystopia Festival (India), International Intermedia Art Festival (China), Kortrijk Design Week (Belgium), FutureLab (China), Machinima Festival (Milan), San Francisco Frozen Film Festival (USA) and so on. Rhett’s works have also been exhibited at international venues such as China National Museum of Art, Macao Museum of Art (Macao), West Bund Museum (Shanghai), Duolun Museum of Modern Art (Shanghai), Times Art Museum (Beijing), OCAT Institute (Beijing), etc. As one of the eight selected leading international contemporary artists, his works were invited by the inaugural Binance NFT Marketplace Premium Event for Contemporary Art Auction to participate in the auction. Rhett’s works are collected by Times Art Museum (Beijing), Duolun Museum of Modern Art (Shanghai), and CAA Art Museum (Hangzhou).
Rhett holds his MFA degree in the Centre for Chinese Visual Studies at China Academy of Art, and BA degree in Open Media Department at China Academy of Art.
