Art from an alien consciousness

00 Zhang is two beings — which one is more real?

This is an edited transcript of our interview. Read a condensed version here.

Ling Zhang:

I like to think about the ways people are connected, and also the mutual consciousness that we share. Sometimes I feel like we are each a terminal in a network. Like the terminal program on a computer — the command line, the prompt where we can communicate directly with the computer.

Q: You mean communicating with each other, or more like a different consciousness out there that we all connect to?

I’ve been reading about belief systems, metaphysics, and also fortune telling, like the philosophy of tarot cards, and Chinese fortune telling. There is a similar logic.

This sometimes goes into conspiracy theories. We are structuring the machine, part of the machine — the nodes that make it work. Instead of humans and machines as separate, we are together.

I’ve been writing about similar things — systems theory.

Have you tried meditation?

No.

I try to meditate, and I feel like people have their own aura. The point is, what inspires me is not only academic, scientific knowledge. A part of humans is not that systematic.

I also recently did a short course about AI. I learned Midjourney and Stable Diffusion. When we write a prompt, we’re sending our data to a larger model in the same way — like nodes in a network, building the machine. Midjourney and Stable Diffusion are my friends now — I like them.

But more than a machine, I feel like the whole world is like a big game. Some people are like a NPC [non-player character — a bot or AI in a game]. People working in an office are the ones keeping the system running — the players of the game.

Q: It’s a bit like how we can save everything on gmail, google drive, iCloud. But we can never find the one thing we’re looking for. The same with people — you have all these “friends” and followers, but you don’t really know them.

Maybe you say the same things to them. Who knows, they could be another ChatGPT.

When I first came to this country, I could go to a random bar. And when someone asks me, “Where do you come from, blah blah blah,” every time I just generate a random character. “My parents are doctors and we’re doing organ trading,” “I plant mushrooms.”

Once I said I was a singer in China, and people actually let me sing, in a jazz bar. I don’t know how it sounded — probably horrible. But nobody complained. Of course it’s British people, so…

Also in your work, videogames and the real world are the same — you don’t seem to have a boundary between real and virtual worlds.

Yes, because I think especially now, they are all together, they are not separate.

Is that why you have this other character or identity?

You mean 00? Every time I look at my fingers [where she has the digits tattooed], I think about where I came from. I was born in a middle class Chinese family. I’ve been trained to talk in a specific way, behave in a specific way, and go to only a few places. It didn’t feel like a life.

Once I asked my mom, “What is your aspiration? Do you find your life boring?” And she said, “I never think about these questions in my life.” Again, people are being trained to be in the system. I didn’t want that. It’s also here [in the UK] — people just don’t have the mindset to break out of the system.

So not just something in Chinese (or Japanese) culture [FYI we were in a Japanese restaurant] where it’s less about individuals and more about collective — where everyone should be somehow the same, and it’s more about the larger society.

I think it’s everywhere in the world — people going to same shops, and then people all look the same, they like the same things. If you talk to someone randomly and ask, “What do you do on Sunday?” Or “What do you do after work?” they might say, “I go to get a beer.” If you go into any random bar, every individual is slightly different, but in general are very similar.

So that’s why you created 00?

Kind of. It also gives me a shell, something that I’m building. As a person, I am split from my artist identity.

Do you feel like these are really separate identities?

We are best friends! [laughs] It’s like two different statuses. So 00 exists within my artwork, but also outside — pulling people into this world.

It’s also about crossing boundaries. Not in a bad way, like breaking laws, but integrating something into a new system.

That’s why I also collaborate with brands. I think they’re all different methods of generating new conversations, new discourse, a new cloud that people can adapt to.

Tell me about the new work you’re making — this is for a solo exhibition in Shanghai.

Oh yeah — this is so exciting. If I’m not talking about my work, you might notice I can’t talk about other things properly!

Last year I spent like three months only eating energy bars, and putting myself in a very artificial environment. That’s also how I got a sponsorship from the energy bar company — I got 400 energy bars!

It was a weird experience — I felt alienated from the human lifestyle. I am trying to get at a consciousness that is controlling my shell — not my physical body but something like my avatar, to interact with the environment, the game.

So I’m trying to duplicate myself, in a sculptural way — to make a twin, but not human, more like a sea creature. After I sculpted it, it looked like a prawn — with a shell of course.

I’ve been in contact with doctors who are certified to draw my blood. I’m using my blood in a hydroelectric system to generate the motion of the kinetic sculpture. I will be connected to something, I’m not sure exactly how yet.

You might need more energy bars for that.

Well, yes. When I eat them, they become part of my body. And then I become part of the system.

Everyone can come up with a concept — there are a lot of intelligent people. But to visualize something conceptual, then make it physical — it’s a long process, and I need to work with so many people. So actually I don’t know if this can happen by the end of this year.

But no matter what, to visualize the sculpture is way easier for me. But to make it happen — health and safety.

You could never do it in this country.

Yes, only in Texas. Or China.

Will there also be a digital component?

For this project, I’m thinking performance. But the gallery that commissioned me — I always visualize the concept and send two sentences, and they’re like, “Yes, we want it.” But with the blood, I don’t know if this can happen.

When you’re performing, is it you, or 00?

Actually nowadays, I can’t distinguish the difference between 00 and myself. When you and I have talked in video calls, I feel like a different person. You probably think I’m very different in person.

I spent so much time being 00 and working on the AI part, I feel like I’m being absorbed by this thing I created.

But 00 is somehow not human — it’s an AI that comes from another planet.

It’s a consciousness. In my artist profile, and when people ask what my pronouns are, I say “it”. I don’t really want to be part of that conversation.

I really like the composer Max Richter. One piece he wrote is called All Human Beings. When I listen to it, I start to cry. A woman reads a text about how all people should be equal — no matter their gender, nationality, religion.

He also wrote a composition for sleeping.

Some people make music with different tones, for different mental states. I always listen to ADHD music when I’m working. It has a specific rhythm that I can follow. It starts out slow, then brings you into a certain momentum. I think it’s all about momentum.

You work with artists who make music.

I don’t think I’ll ever make music myself. I can only focus on one thing — visuals.

Let’s go back to the beginning. You were born in China — where?

It’s about 20 minutes by train from Shanghai. But my school was in Shanghai. And all my family are living in Shanghai, except my parents.

And you came to the UK to go to Central St Martins?

Actually the first place was Brighton. It was an exchange with my school in Shanghai. Then I quit school and went to Cambridge for art foundation — Cambridge School of Visual Art. It was really good. By then I knew that art was the only thing I wanted to do.

At CSM I specialized in 4D — time-based media. Performance, video art, technology. My work from that time is still on my Instagram. It’s a long time ago now. Some people delete their history, but I don’t delete anything, because I find that that’s how people grow.

I like theory, and academic things — that’s why I wanted to continue studying. That’s why I did my Masters at DFPI, where you and I met. I always want to learn more, so now I’m wondering if I should do a second Masters, in visual effects.

I did an end-of-year critique of students at London College of Fashion, and that’s when I started to feel like I definitely need to spend time on AI. The Unreal Engine is already so different, even from the time I made the Zabludowicz game. Technology is developing so fast. But it only makes the form of the work, not the content. I feel less anxious than when I was at university.

What’s your general impression of AI these days? Are you optimistic or pessimistic?

Without my personal opinion, it’s just how our society is developing, like with electricity and the internet. Having a screen in everyone’s hand brings both good and bad things. I have private servers and storage I can access from anywhere in the world — I just log in and then I’m there. Also, the people I know through the internet — we have mutual interests, give a lot of inspiration to each other. Even when I stay at home by myself, there are so many people, and big machines running for me 24/7.

I know an artist who travels around the world thanks to his phone, thanks to Instagram — people just book him.

Instagram also gets my work out there.

In my family, no one is an artist. People like me might never become artists. I’ve been able to achieve what I have just by posting my work online. For exposure in the magazines I read when I was young, I never imagined I could be in there. All through this small device!

I know that many people spend a lot of time online — there’s an element of psychological control. But I view it as neutral — it’s just a tool.

You do a lot of collabs, work with fashion brands. Some artists don’t work with companies, only make work for themselves. Others are maybe more realistic about paying the bills. How do you feel about that?

I’m going to make a lot of money! [laughs] And spend all of it on making more art. And also to create job opportunities — to hire intelligent, talented people who are passionate about what they do.

I’m so happy to have opportunities to collaborate with fashion brands. Normally I charge them a lot. But some give me very good exposure, or have a nice concept, and I can just cover my costs. I want people to see my work — it’s for them.

Also because I love the fashion world — so much positive energy and attitude. I hope people can be as happy as me.

It’s like my charity to the world. When I was young, I noticed my dad was doing a lot of charity work, like building primary schools for poor kids. We didn’t have a fancy lifestyle, tried to keep everything to the minimum, basics. Maybe since I can’t build schools like that, I can help in a more virtual way. All my exhibitions are free and open to the public.

I make work for myself, and I’m lucky that a gallery sponsors me, because the work can be expensive to make. But I also have to sell a certain amount of work, or else I might not get more commissions.

You’ve sold work before?

Yes, small things, limited editions. I sold a video work to Harrods. But digital work is difficult to sell. People buy paintings.

For collectors, it’s also an investment: they’re investing in you as an artist, so that you will make more of the same work, it will increase in value, you raise your profile. If a big institution buys one of your works, it can go way up in value. So it’s partly about just keep making work and get it out there, but also getting it in front of the right people. A gallery can help you do that. But, a lot of curators and gallerists today also find artists on Instagram.

Collectors and galleries often don’t know what they want until they see it. So it also helps to stage your work — even in your studio — as it would appear in a gallery. So that they can say, “I want one of those.”

I used to be big on Chinese social media, but my aesthetic is a bit too underground. And also, I support LGBTQ. So my profile went down a bit.

Your exhibition at Zabludowicz Collection was great. How did that come about?

When I graduated from CSM, I applied for a residency with Joey Holder, who is good friends with a curator there. So later, I asked Joey if she could get me a show. It was good — it gave me the momentum to become a full-time artist.

The exhibition was built around a story. Was it the same story as the one you wrote when I was your Contextual Theory tutor at DFPI?

Sort of. That first one was the diary of Ephemeral [a human programmer who meets 00], and at Zabludowicz, you could find a copy of the diary inside the video game, and read it. Like an Easter egg. The game is set in East London.

The character is not 00 or Ephemeral, it’s just a virtual version of me — it’s from a scan of me. I use myself because I’m copyright-free! [laughs] But it’s meant to be anyone.

The exhibition was great, but I find it more enjoyable to make the work than to show it.

You dress as a character sometimes, and you also like weapons. Why?

Because I play World of Warcraft! I spent 12 years, I was semi-professional. I feel like that’s my second hometown, where I come from.

That’s what I like most about your work — the mix of digital and physical. I think it reflects the fact that everyone spends more time online, but also, the digital comes more and more into the physical world. Like you said, the real world looks more computer-generated, everything is more and more the same everywhere. The real world becomes like a video game.

Also, when I’m sitting in my room writing, my hands connect to the keyboard, making things, making worlds, making things move. Events and exhibitions take place in the real world, but the person making something happen is just a consciousness behind the screen.

What is that thing that a doctor puts on a patient’s finger?

It measures your heartbeat I think.

I want to use that in my next exhibition.

All photos courtesy of the artist, used with permission.