This talk revolves around certain "characters" that are on the brink of losing balance, with more branches forming as they face extreme environments. Imagine eating chicken wings while the chicken itself is next to you, leisurely pecking at worms in the soil. At this moment, you’re surprised to discover that all the wings on your plate are from the left side. This is because, in response to the immense food demand, scientists have used chicken stem cells to grow wings in a petri dish. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill once suggested that in the future, humans might no longer need to raise an entire chicken just for chicken breasts or wings, avoiding the waste of resources on feathers, beaks, and other parts.

Today, this wild idea has become a reality. Supporting this fantasy is the dissection and reorganization of massive experimental data on chickens. In the world of data, one begets three, and three beget infinity. Chicken data can now be transplanted to produce beef, pork, and other meats to meet human needs, meaning that chickens and eggs might no longer have any real biological connection. Imagine that in the future, the only place you could see a complete chicken is in the metaverse. A child might point at a diamond-shaped creature on the ground, nodding its head and covered in feathers, and say, "Dad, look, it’s a chicken." I follow the direction of the finger and say, "Yes, that’s a chicken."

Observing many such "characters," including ourselves, we are all in this extreme environment, branching out wildly. It's a mutual interaction in both directions. Therefore, I aim to serve as an observer and attempt a "violent dissection" of one or several "characters," completing a dull yet inevitably doomed process.

About the Speaker: Zhu Changquan

Zhu Changquan

< B.1989 >

Zhu Changquan was born in Shandong in 1989. He graduated from the Experimental Image Studio, School of Inter-media Art, China Art Academy in 2014. He won the Special Award of the 5th Huayu Youth Award in 2017.

Zhu Changquanʼs creation came from the analysis of peopleʼs daily lives. He wants to analyze the influence of a variety of potential factors in daily behaviors to reveal the rules underneath. He believes that the effectiveness of image does not originate from its significance carried, but due to their potential strength, which can release the audiencesʼ own experience. Also, it can work more consciously in this big social machine. He thinks development of anything is not single linear, “All-factors Image Narratives” is the artistʼs understanding of image creation, which is to generate a new narrative form with images and everyday objects in the space through drama, animation, installations and painting.