As an artist, Rui Hu works with computer graphics, moving images, installation, and game and virtual simulation technologies. His practice and research explore the issues of time and temporality from a multitude of perspectives, such as causation, prediction, decision, and language.

He is the recipient of the Best Experimental Animation Award at the 60th Ann Arbor Film Festival, a Jury Special Mention at the 25FPS Festival Croatia, a finalist of the IFVA Award from the Hong Kong Arts Centre, a UCLA Clifton Webb Scholarship, and a SAIC New Artists Society Award. His work has been shown in exhibitions and screenings at art spaces, institutions, festivals, and conferences, including the International Film Festival Rotterdam; UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing; Objectifs Centre, Singapore; Times Museum, Guangzhou; Three Shadows, Xiamen; IFVA at the Hong Kong Arts Centre; Wuhan Biennale; Siggraph Asia; ISEA, among others. Texts on his work can be found on Artforum, Artforum China, Ocula, Killscreen, etc.

He received a M.F.A. in Design Media Arts from the University of California, Los Angeles and a B.F.A. in Film with a minor in Computer Science from New York University. Prior to joining Duke Kunshan, he was an Assistant Professor of Practice in Computational Media and Arts at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou) from 2020-24.