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Meet UterusMan: The Androgynous Superhero Fighting Against Bad Genes And Gender Stereotypes

We hit up Japanese grotesque cartoonist Shintaro Kago to introduce Chinese artist Lu Yang’s latest freak project—UterusMan.

Some may see Lu Yang’s work as cringe worthy. The Shanghai-based artist often creates characters with grotesque, sub-human deformities. The last time we checked up on Yang, she had just completed her short-film The Beast, a tribute to popular anime saga Neon Genesis Evangelio.

As the young emerging Chinese artist continually sites her love for Japanese culture and its influence on her work, Vice invited Japanese grotesque cartoon artist Shintaro Kago, to introduce her latest project, UterusMan, in the video above.

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The UterusMan project is an elaborate narrative conceived by Lu Yang, featuring a superhero fighting to save a future world from an evolution crisis. Over the course the year, the project will be released as a 3D animation, online game, and various other forms developed through open-source collaborations. We caught up with Lu Yang to learn more about exactly what and who UterusMan really is:

UterusMan character design.

The Creators Project: Tell us a little about what inspired you to create UterusMan.
Lu Yang: I've always thought that the shape of the uterus looks like a human figure with arms stretched open and legs crossed. So when I designed UterusMan, you can identify different parts of the uterus on different parts of his armor. From an ambiguous sexual view, this superhero with unusal powers may look like a man, but the source of his powers actually springs from the generative capability that belongs to a woman. This is an ironic design that sort of satirizes and questions the principle of biological reproduction in our world.

In case you needed a refresher in human anatomy, this is what a uterus looks like.

How does UterusMan fight against his enemies?
UterusMan can use various tricks to fight enemies. Some of these tricks are attributed to genetic and hereditary properties, such as changing the enemy into a weaker and lower-level evolutionary species, and then attacking. Or causing hereditary diseases or changing the enemy's sex to lower its fighting ability, and then attacking.

The Pelvis Chariot, when perfectly united with the UterusMan, becomes the ultimate war craft and battle weapon.

Does the UterusMan project reflect any issues in our current state of the world?
UterusMan’s identity deals with the hidden issues of sexual orientation, genetics, reproduction, and problems with evolution. It's a vauge concept that is hard to explain with words but can be experienced personally, allowing for different interpretations by the audience.

Any latest updates or plans for the project that we can look forward to?
UterusMan’s full-length 3D animation and official character book, with cover art created by hhuuaazzii, is slated to release at my solo show in Shanghai this coming spring. I have began to work with French company V-Cult this month to develop the online game using HTML5 and WebGL technology. Music is a crucial part of the project. The current trailer features EDM+dubstep music by Beijing-based duo Squareloud, and they will continue to create an electronic hip-hop soundtrack for the upcoming 3D animation.

Image courtesy of Lu Yang.