Lianjiang Zhu
- All Images © Lianjiang Zhu
Looking for Adonis (2023)
Single-channel video, wall posters, participatory recording in Shoreditch, London
25 mins 20 seconds
Looking for Adonis begins with the artist’s own portrait, which is repeatedly processed, substituted and reproduced until its ethnic markers and traceable identity are stripped away. Under continuous revision by technical systems, the original body is transformed into an encoded “fictional face”. This digitally generated neutrality exposes the latent violence of image technologies within political contexts: bodies are rendered manageable, interchangeable and detached from their circumstances. The work does not depict the act of searching itself; instead, it reveals how, within contemporary conflicts, images are deployed prior to the subjects they claim to represent. The sequence of image generation becomes a form of identity coding, yet this identity is one that can be mobilised, redirected or overwritten by power, technology and media circulation.
In the recorded public encounters, viewers confront a face rewritten through technical processes and respond with fear, indifference, alertness or confusion. The subject is continuously rewritten between visibility and opacity, exposing the vulnerability of individuals as they are positioned, misread and substituted within intertwined technological and political systems.
Single-channel video, wall posters, participatory recording in Shoreditch, London
25 mins 20 seconds
Looking for Adonis begins with the artist’s own portrait, which is repeatedly processed, substituted and reproduced until its ethnic markers and traceable identity are stripped away. Under continuous revision by technical systems, the original body is transformed into an encoded “fictional face”. This digitally generated neutrality exposes the latent violence of image technologies within political contexts: bodies are rendered manageable, interchangeable and detached from their circumstances. The work does not depict the act of searching itself; instead, it reveals how, within contemporary conflicts, images are deployed prior to the subjects they claim to represent. The sequence of image generation becomes a form of identity coding, yet this identity is one that can be mobilised, redirected or overwritten by power, technology and media circulation.
In the recorded public encounters, viewers confront a face rewritten through technical processes and respond with fear, indifference, alertness or confusion. The subject is continuously rewritten between visibility and opacity, exposing the vulnerability of individuals as they are positioned, misread and substituted within intertwined technological and political systems.
Looking for Adonis (2023)
Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle Photo Rag 308gsm, 100% cotton
Mounted under acrylic (optional)
29.7 x 42 cm
Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle Photo Rag 308gsm, 100% cotton
Mounted under acrylic (optional)
29.7 x 42 cm
Looking for Adonis (2023)
Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle Photo Rag 308gsm, 100% cotton
Mounted under acrylic (optional)
29.7 x 42 cm
Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle Photo Rag 308gsm, 100% cotton
Mounted under acrylic (optional)
29.7 x 42 cm