Ruiqi Zhang
张瑞麒

He (b.1994, Liaoyang, China) is a multi-media artist. He holds an MFA in Kinetic Imaging from VCUarts and a BFA in Visual Communication Design from LAFA. Ruiqi’s practice work presses on sensitivity to digital technology when engaged in different dimensions of related issues such as online identity, media discourse, and post-internet modernity.

email: info@zhang-ruiqi.com 
ins: ruiqi_zhang_
CV
links 
Ruiqi Zhang
张瑞麒

He (b.1994, Liaoyang, China) is a multi-media artist. He holds an MFA in Kinetic Imaging from
VCUarts and a BFA in Visual Communication Design from LAFA. Ruiqi’s practice work presses on sensitivity to digital technology when engaged in different dimensions of related issues such as online identity, media discourse, and post-internet modernity.

email: info@zhang-ruiqi.com
ins: ruiqi_zhang_
links
CV

Monument Emitter (work in progress)
3D rendered video, 04:00, 2023

“When they trumpeted the meliorative power of beauty, they were stating the belief in its capacity to shape human thought and behavior“ (William H. Wilson, 1989). This work indicates the broad representative symbols that represent the ideals of civic virtue show up within the City Beautiful movement during the 1980s - 1900s in the USA. A consequence of digital collapses and oozing objects reveals the rigid narratives about community consciousness over beauty and the extension of social control attempts. The empty monument plinths were converted into particle emitters while associating lawn sprinklers and fountain water droplets that connect the historical reality and bourgeois tastes. The addon textures remind a series of abstract concepts such as order, dignity, and harmony, to formulate a fleeting experience of separation from language.

vimeo

The Burning Tower
4k video, 17:32, 2020

The Burning Tower
, briefly reviews the prospects of the new generation of communication technology and the development process of the Internet, and explores the complex relationship between conspiracy theories, rumors and network infrastructure. The film is composed of four interrelated segments and is produced using sound works by sound artists Matt Dowdy & Liza Pittard. The idea of the story was inspired by news reports, trying to imagine a possible process behind the burning of the 5G cell tower. The short film follows the perspective of a male (virtual 3D character) and the narrative of a female (an anchor) to investigate the first hypertext project, the Xanadu project, the new 5G protocol, and the route of the submarine optical cable. The provocative texts written by the artist are arranged in segments such as ASMR programs, mobile chats and desktop screen recordings, constantly trying to rationalize the absurd behavior of burning towers.

vimeo

Manifesto: Art Downgrade
single channel video, 04:22, 2019

Manifesto: Art Downgrade
is a composite concept that combines art and economics, from the research of image production related to the popularity of low-cost smartphones and the slowdown of economic growth in China. Mass production by China's online rural community and developed network infrastructure have created greater market wealth and contribute to emerging Internet cultures. This work advocates evaluate alternative perspectives and decentralization of urban narrative in contemporary art creation. By splicing green screen materials from the Internet and selfie clips made by mobile phones, the manifesto aims to evoke the creative impulse and imagination of ordinary people, to express their voice by using the integration of open-source media, mobile technology, and daily labor in creation.

vimeo

Galaxy Equivalent Parallel Objects
digital video, 25:32, 2019

Galaxy Equivalent Parallel Objects is a fictional autobiographical film about the artist's artistic concepts, childhood anecdotes, and online identity construction strategies. This work explores the contemporary narrative influenced by mobile technology, that restored the viewing experience of people browsing short-video social media through continuous visual and audio stimulation and ever-changing content editing. Self-portraits from different social media filters, found footage from Kwai, consumer product advertisements, vintage animation loops, and dictated family history are collaged in the film, to challenge people’s ability to read complex information.

Inspired by the article Movies and Objects—Is There an Object-Oriented Film Theory? (电影与物——是否存在一种以物为导向的电影理论?) , this widescreen film exams the decentralized creation method and the unconscious montage. By offering the ostensible intellectual questions and irrelevant answers, the dialogue raises questions about how we build connections among disordered footages, and how short-video social media algorithms imperceptibly shaped our way of watching.

vimeo