https://zeyuanren.com Zeyuan Ren Sun, 01 Oct 2023 10:45:05 +0000 https://zeyuanren.com en https://zeyuanren.com/Home Sat, 29 May 2021 10:42:24 +0000 Zeyuan Ren https://zeyuanren.com/Home Forthcoming &amp; Current January 6 - February 7, 2026 Gazing Back, three-person show at Anggrek Agency, Zurich June 27 - October 7, 2025Photographic Geomancy, group show at Fotografiska Shanghai, Shanghai&nbsp; (Curated by Yining He)“In multidisciplinary artist Ren Zeyuan’s video work Coast to Coast (Preamble), the landscape once more defies legibility, this time not for reasons of topography but for those of contagion. Produced in the summer of 2022, while the artist was stranded in the United States under harsh quarantine measures, the film consists of a meandering personal reflection delivered from San Francisco - the closest point on the North American coastline to the artist’s homeland on the other side of the Pacific. Atmospheric shots of a rugged coastline - windswept rocks, abandoned baths - are stitched together to produce a meditation on geographic indeterminacy, a measure of the distance between past and present, survival and ruin, coast and distant coast.”&nbsp; (text by&nbsp;Avani Tandon Vieira on Stirworld) June 5 - 7, 2025 Besides the Screen 2025 (screening), University of Nottingham Ningbo, CN December&nbsp;4-7, 2024Alternative Film Video 2024 (screening), New Belgrade July 13 - October 7, 2024Photographic Geomancy,&nbsp;group show at Guangdong Times Museum, Guangzhou&nbsp; (Curated by Yining He) “The ‘Photographic Geomancy’ exhibition examines the connections between Chinese contemporary art practices, local geographical knowledge, global ecological discourse, and artists’ embodied experiences in the field. This research-based exhibition features the works of 22 artists who use photography and video as primary mediums to reconstruct visual narratives with geography. Using "geomancy" as a metaphor, the exhibition demonstrates how artists respond to complex issues related to aesthetics, culture, ecology, and geopolitics associated with Chinese geography through the method of fieldwork.” “The latter work, presented through video, depicts Ren’s experience of drifting along the West Coast of the United States during the pandemic. The coastline, in everyday perception, seems to be an external time gradually swaying toward stillness. However, in this essayistic film, such external time is forced to shift into an internal time measured by the individual life.”&nbsp; (text by Qiuzi Guo) May 3, 202414:30 – 16:00 / 67′ + Q&amp;A Alchemy Film and Moving Image Festival (screening), Hawick “Seven films sculpt meaning from the space between worlds – from the spiritual to the folkloric, the colonised to the diasporic, the meteoric to the transcendent.In Coast to Coast (Preamble), Zeyuan Ren finds himself in active search of a narrative framework in which his longing for home can manifest: stranded as a Chinese international student on the USA’s west coast due to prohibitive quarantine measures during lockdown, he too communicates in dialogue – deploying a lyrical, second-person address to ruminate on liminality in the context of historical and geographic specificity.” (text by&nbsp;Michael Pattison)March 30 - April 28, 2024 Resilence, group show at Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, Beijing“Against the backdrop of continuous global turmoil, individuals and communities have been subjected to unprecedented spiritual and existential trials. In the face of such severe challenges, the artists explore with perseverance, open their inner worlds without reservation, and engage in positive dialogues while tearing themselves apart from the realities of the environment.” September 30, 2023 – January 7, 2024 de Young Open 2023, group show at de Young Museum, San Francisco August 4-24, 2023RISD MFA Photography Class of 2023 Too Close, thesis group show at Microscope Gallery, New York (Curated by Thea Quiray Tagle) “Navigating everything from the alienation inherent to online dating apps to meeting the demands of grueling graduate programs, younger artists have transmuted this general milieu of destabilization into their work – and the 2023 cohort of RISD MFA Photography graduates provides evidence of this. Self-selecting the words Too Close for the title of their New York group exhibition, these artists have each created bodies of work that oscillate between the polarities of distance and proximity, and linger in the tensions therein.Moving through land- and seascapes differently, Zeyuan Ren’s Coast to Coast (Preamble) is an essayistic video installation on the artist’s temporary displacement from China to the US that uses the Sutro Bath Ruins in San Francisco as a place for self-reflection. As the crumbling remains of a pleasure site on the US Pacific Coast, this now-tourist attraction traffics in nostalgia for times past, in ways that allow the artist to (dis)identify with their own liminal position in the here and now.”&nbsp; (text by Thea Quiray Tagle) March 3-11, 2022 Couterpoints, group show at Red Eye Gallery, Providence&nbsp;(Curated by Kerr Cirilo, Kai Wasikowski) “Maps cover the Earth’s surface in circular lines, allowing us to travel vast distances from point A to point B in minutes, hours or days. Point maps plot data to visualize locations in space. A mapped point is identified by either a value or a subject. These positioning systems established accurate degrees of longitude by recording the timing of simultaneous lunar eclipses from two different locations. Mapping, in this sense, was realized through separation and defined by distance. Knowing where you are demands a conscious orientation toward where you are not. Systems of points and counterpoints are realized through triangulated acts of recording.”&nbsp; April 10 - June 26, 2021The Journey from/to Here: Residencies at Gazetteer-Novel at Jiazazhi Library, Ningbo (Curated by Fen Lei) “If ‘being present’ represents perspectives, encompassing the physical, experiential, mnemonic, and emotional realms, then 'journeying afar' embodies techniques, ranging from writing, drawing, audiovisuals, to lens-based arts. Every day, people are intertwining their lives into the multifaceted perspectives and multiple techniques, actively participating in and shaping the present.” https://zeyuanren.com/Wayfinding-to-the-Past Sun, 01 Oct 2023 10:45:05 +0000 Zeyuan Ren https://zeyuanren.com/Wayfinding-to-the-Past 2023-ongoing Wayfinding to the Past is an ongoing work that attempts to excavate and reinterpret the accumulation of (hi)stories along the San Francisco coastline. <img width="8256" height="6192" width_o="8256" height_o="6192" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/80c0504ced49c0a3a5650848dce22d9850e8e8242a70e57384e9aeac9000fa78/layers-copy.jpg" data-mid="192364812" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/80c0504ced49c0a3a5650848dce22d9850e8e8242a70e57384e9aeac9000fa78/layers-copy.jpg" /> <img width="8256" height="6192" width_o="8256" height_o="6192" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/71184ce28481bee3335d50009c37f4dc251aef4e651bb923ce9141a2e41b8d5e/Two-Visitors-copy.jpg" data-mid="192364824" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/71184ce28481bee3335d50009c37f4dc251aef4e651bb923ce9141a2e41b8d5e/Two-Visitors-copy.jpg" /> <img width="6192" height="8256" width_o="6192" height_o="8256" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/91ad83bd0676c420bfc0c5ca0530cd0d5b98f5b487f8171831a5fbf9aeccda61/A-Portal.jpg" data-mid="192364811" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/91ad83bd0676c420bfc0c5ca0530cd0d5b98f5b487f8171831a5fbf9aeccda61/A-Portal.jpg" /> <img width="6192" height="8256" width_o="6192" height_o="8256" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/bcac31d7f89f7237b4e6f464bbf65b8f5e8ca23d0ef23ca321eb1d548bf8d0d0/mnemonics-ss-copy-2.jpg" data-mid="192364821" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/bcac31d7f89f7237b4e6f464bbf65b8f5e8ca23d0ef23ca321eb1d548bf8d0d0/mnemonics-ss-copy-2.jpg" /> <img width="6192" height="8256" width_o="6192" height_o="8256" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a78351ead101d8d53a7995a2731a841b2201027290d1fc69b343706583396720/Lifting-copy.jpg" data-mid="192364819" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a78351ead101d8d53a7995a2731a841b2201027290d1fc69b343706583396720/Lifting-copy.jpg" /> <img width="6192" height="8256" width_o="6192" height_o="8256" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a755bd032ea4385fb3b548824dcead28896bb1aa4ad32e05d31aa7ecd04de533/pillar-s-edited-copy.jpg" data-mid="192365000" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a755bd032ea4385fb3b548824dcead28896bb1aa4ad32e05d31aa7ecd04de533/pillar-s-edited-copy.jpg" /> <img width="8256" height="6192" width_o="8256" height_o="6192" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2fe494b53ad1604d9f19eb16b6f32bb3765612a1fb6c5b248ff4721a4e1405e7/The-Path-You-Came-From2-copy.jpg" data-mid="192364823" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2fe494b53ad1604d9f19eb16b6f32bb3765612a1fb6c5b248ff4721a4e1405e7/The-Path-You-Came-From2-copy.jpg" /> <img width="6192" height="8256" width_o="6192" height_o="8256" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a22850a371b4d2ad90c7b914f5c191bb8b0002687d72a616fb4a3da5411355da/Side-View-copy.jpg" data-mid="192364822" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a22850a371b4d2ad90c7b914f5c191bb8b0002687d72a616fb4a3da5411355da/Side-View-copy.jpg" /> <img width="2500" height="3333" width_o="2500" height_o="3333" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/41b5b89f41002dacab7b35d9e3d2fc3f77a74559cfd544f79e165aee456cb773/-UntitledA-Proxy-of-Homecoming.jpg" data-mid="204342017" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/41b5b89f41002dacab7b35d9e3d2fc3f77a74559cfd544f79e165aee456cb773/-UntitledA-Proxy-of-Homecoming.jpg" /> https://zeyuanren.com/Coast-to-Coast-Preamble Sun, 13 Nov 2022 23:11:09 +0000 Zeyuan Ren https://zeyuanren.com/Coast-to-Coast-Preamble 2022-2023 In the summer of 2022, the intricate quarantine policy in China compelled me to forgo the plans to return home. Departing from the East Coast of the United States, where I resided, I headed to San Francisco—the closest point on the other side of the Pacific from my homeland, tracing a potential sense of belonging. The essayistic film Coast to Coast (Preamble) oscillates between personal encounters, remnants of the past, and several proxies, examining the ambiguous temporality on the coast and my own condition of being inbetween during that period. It is the prelude of a long-term project Coast to Coast, which will be divided into several chapters to address subjects, including the oceanic epistemology from ancestors, the image(ry) of the vessel, and the historical legacy of optical navigational devices along the Chinese coast. <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4361656e107980c7a89c52c2436705e11b991b3aea8c39e6dff645859d4921ed/Coast-to-CoastPreamble_1.jpg" data-mid="184369342" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/4361656e107980c7a89c52c2436705e11b991b3aea8c39e6dff645859d4921ed/Coast-to-CoastPreamble_1.jpg" /> <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b7bc8e0a34e27eba1ccd87416752afbdfeb65dab78a554a8d3ba173711a0cc73/Coast-to-CoastPreamble_2.jpg" data-mid="184369343" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/b7bc8e0a34e27eba1ccd87416752afbdfeb65dab78a554a8d3ba173711a0cc73/Coast-to-CoastPreamble_2.jpg" /> <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/cc3b29e5ea1e48f14d0d7b06abdaf881dfb807b41eaf4160b1badd85ffc5ab49/Coast-to-CoastPreamble_3.jpg" data-mid="184369345" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/cc3b29e5ea1e48f14d0d7b06abdaf881dfb807b41eaf4160b1badd85ffc5ab49/Coast-to-CoastPreamble_3.jpg" /> <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/70d952be02bee63fc407d65e6e48ae88f22376402d5b3241cf0608fce18d4f36/Coast-to-CoastPreamble_4.jpg" data-mid="184369346" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/70d952be02bee63fc407d65e6e48ae88f22376402d5b3241cf0608fce18d4f36/Coast-to-CoastPreamble_4.jpg" /> <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/622c3247af104c437bb192c99d4e4b729138551e4f2b45c603c4aa3a6988ce3c/Coast-to-CoastPreamble_5.jpg" data-mid="184369347" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/622c3247af104c437bb192c99d4e4b729138551e4f2b45c603c4aa3a6988ce3c/Coast-to-CoastPreamble_5.jpg" /> <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/679e5b23bff503a80269ef177109d155eff4c72b147b2a8e78d9bb6778e89620/Coast-to-CoastPreamble_6.jpg" data-mid="184369348" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/679e5b23bff503a80269ef177109d155eff4c72b147b2a8e78d9bb6778e89620/Coast-to-CoastPreamble_6.jpg" /> <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6a0b2e2fdd2763b5b6ad00acce0bfff1c87ed1768f0ea58afc27d94699c299c1/Coast-to-CoastPreamble_7.jpg" data-mid="184369349" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6a0b2e2fdd2763b5b6ad00acce0bfff1c87ed1768f0ea58afc27d94699c299c1/Coast-to-CoastPreamble_7.jpg" /> <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1ea6bd29dd4d73291ce2aee46f96c8a00d90ec5cadc6639db3cfec43964eb9d2/Coast-to-CoastPreamble_8.jpg" data-mid="184369350" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1ea6bd29dd4d73291ce2aee46f96c8a00d90ec5cadc6639db3cfec43964eb9d2/Coast-to-CoastPreamble_8.jpg" /> <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/63ddc23aede6f270c08a0269f9e842b67aeb98e78742dba64a1d8b8d8879a900/Coast-to-CoastPreamble_9.jpg" data-mid="184369351" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/63ddc23aede6f270c08a0269f9e842b67aeb98e78742dba64a1d8b8d8879a900/Coast-to-CoastPreamble_9.jpg" /> <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b661d39eee0eef9aad91bbb120ca447f231d34af50e0a56accd9911de9fc9706/Coast-to-CoastPreamble_10.jpg" data-mid="184369352" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/b661d39eee0eef9aad91bbb120ca447f231d34af50e0a56accd9911de9fc9706/Coast-to-CoastPreamble_10.jpg" /> <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1f78ad2782b958e491f6dab51c41c1947e5fc2abbbc6f001d7e0439ae73d0f02/Coast-to-CoastPreamble_11.jpg" data-mid="184369353" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1f78ad2782b958e491f6dab51c41c1947e5fc2abbbc6f001d7e0439ae73d0f02/Coast-to-CoastPreamble_11.jpg" /> <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ee95fafd5fcaa486b66ce475512a6e136d4777a6ad07cd5372843806cecaf45c/Coast-to-CoastPreamble_12.jpg" data-mid="184369354" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ee95fafd5fcaa486b66ce475512a6e136d4777a6ad07cd5372843806cecaf45c/Coast-to-CoastPreamble_12.jpg" /> Coast to Coast (Preamble), 2022-2023 10’20’’ | DCP 2K / ProRes | 1.77:1 | color, stereo | Chinese Mandarin and Ningbo dialect with English subtitles Coast to Coast (Preamble), 2022-2023(1:35 minute clip from 02:50, full video available on request) <img width="8256" height="6192" width_o="8256" height_o="6192" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/636095b552d8bf4ae0782b0792ff8280a0b93b9929fcfecc2448594cd09404fc/Installation_1.jpg" data-mid="187651650" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/636095b552d8bf4ae0782b0792ff8280a0b93b9929fcfecc2448594cd09404fc/Installation_1.jpg" /> <img width="5988" height="7983" width_o="5988" height_o="7983" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b484ea4dcf8bfd1437b25c362e8d1611fb22cb6c75f421b967f490af6deba14e/Installation_2.jpg" data-mid="187652788" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/b484ea4dcf8bfd1437b25c362e8d1611fb22cb6c75f421b967f490af6deba14e/Installation_2.jpg" /> Coast to Coast (Preamble), 2023 Single-channel HD video installation (sound &amp; color), 10’05’’Wireless headphones, painted plywood, detached English subtitles on vinyl, 18’’x50’’x18’’ installation view from “Too Close” group show at Microscope Gallery, NY, US *narration excerpts* “With the assistance of a telephoto lens, you recall how your ancestors might have done the same, weaving through seawater, learning, and gaining experience until the advent of the canoe. You wonder if they, in the confused seas, also created a mnemonic device, or mode of mapmaking, sensing and memorizing the swell patterns in certain moments—bending, reflecting, disturbing, and refracting, then carrying with oceanic knowledge, onward to the sporadic groups of islands in the distance. When was intuition suppressed?&nbsp; Would it dock at the port of your hometown? The unarrived lighthouse is blinking to you from the opposite shore with regularity. Could the photons refracted and bent through the prisms be caught by the camera obscura?” <img width="3000" height="2250" width_o="3000" height_o="2250" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6eded27a8d60d0d7f9e1827a519e0941f9b6da4a287c0b75e51cd7aeca8e98a6/installation-view1.jpg" data-mid="235798810" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6eded27a8d60d0d7f9e1827a519e0941f9b6da4a287c0b75e51cd7aeca8e98a6/installation-view1.jpg" />Coast to Coast (Preamble), 2025Single-channel HD video projection situated in an air-raid shelter, 10’20’’ 2023&nbsp; A bench with detached English subtitles from the essayistic film, as part of a video installation, was exhibited in a gallery in New York City. After deinstalling, I transported it back to a beach in Rhode Island. Untitled (Unshipped) documents the happenings around the bench. <img width="2000" height="1500" width_o="2000" height_o="1500" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2df0c5e772554e6011e6c34028cfad3346d9f96c2d53a154de5dac7ac55a517a/1-1.jpg" data-mid="214675562" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2df0c5e772554e6011e6c34028cfad3346d9f96c2d53a154de5dac7ac55a517a/1-1.jpg" /> Untitled (Unshipped), 2023Performance, single-channel SD video (color, silent), looped by CRT monitor, 8’10’’installation view from “Photographic Geomancy” group show at Guangdong Times Museum, Guangzhou, CN <img width="1204" height="904" width_o="1204" height_o="904" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1015f408ad882173d09ba4561c68412da3557f879a41b08d9785865f3d22045e/1.jpg" data-mid="199599732" border="0" data-scale="52" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1015f408ad882173d09ba4561c68412da3557f879a41b08d9785865f3d22045e/1.jpg" /><img width="1195" height="896" width_o="1195" height_o="896" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8ae4a9c8fcf1796eb26c27d0e24ac953f2069dc920a3d8de6fdd8c1a116e52ec/2.jpg" data-mid="199599733" border="0" data-scale="52" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8ae4a9c8fcf1796eb26c27d0e24ac953f2069dc920a3d8de6fdd8c1a116e52ec/2.jpg" /><img width="1205" height="904" width_o="1205" height_o="904" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c4690a336d86fe87c941fd40e71becb5be53794d07e36a360fd8e63367f5865b/3.jpg" data-mid="199599735" border="0" data-scale="52" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c4690a336d86fe87c941fd40e71becb5be53794d07e36a360fd8e63367f5865b/3.jpg" /><img width="2874" height="2156" width_o="2874" height_o="2156" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b9243505ed0ce1c14eab2854448cb56094c14993ab2fd40eb8203f2dab50bea7/1.png" data-mid="208262719" border="0" data-scale="52" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/b9243505ed0ce1c14eab2854448cb56094c14993ab2fd40eb8203f2dab50bea7/1.png" /> &nbsp; https://zeyuanren.com/Thus-Waves-Come-to-You Tue, 15 Mar 2022 04:36:52 +0000 Zeyuan Ren https://zeyuanren.com/Thus-Waves-Come-to-You 2022 As the sun set and the moon rose, the sea gradually faded until it ‘vanished’ completely, leaving me standing on the darkened shore as if in a closed darkroom. The moonlight in the distance acted as a safelight, dim yet reassuring, allowing my pupils to adjust. I set up my tripod, position the external flash lights, adjust the camera settings, and connect the cable release — akin to the steps I carefully completed the developing. <img width="11648" height="8736" width_o="11648" height_o="8736" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7c3f0b5551dbd1e39092445080ccf95c7ede84fa2a099c299015ec68c7efc7da/Waves-1-copy.jpg" data-mid="150296052" border="0" data-scale="90" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/7c3f0b5551dbd1e39092445080ccf95c7ede84fa2a099c299015ec68c7efc7da/Waves-1-copy.jpg" /> <img width="11648" height="8736" width_o="11648" height_o="8736" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/29955b62129df1d3ece049b4709108f0bd71242fb2e12e2ae20aaa884a3efa8b/Waves-2-copy.jpg" data-mid="150296055" border="0" data-scale="90" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/29955b62129df1d3ece049b4709108f0bd71242fb2e12e2ae20aaa884a3efa8b/Waves-2-copy.jpg" /> <img width="11648" height="8736" width_o="11648" height_o="8736" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/cb8ff8835f570dadc825facd559bee538bcea1c1c5c7e0b9043beef3bedacbc2/Waves-3-copy.jpg" data-mid="150296056" border="0" data-scale="90" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/cb8ff8835f570dadc825facd559bee538bcea1c1c5c7e0b9043beef3bedacbc2/Waves-3-copy.jpg" /> <img width="11648" height="8736" width_o="11648" height_o="8736" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b6b80c92962941296da11cbd36ff5acdc592551b2569e94f6f080c1b40e01ebc/Waves-4-copy.jpg" data-mid="150296057" border="0" data-scale="90" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/b6b80c92962941296da11cbd36ff5acdc592551b2569e94f6f080c1b40e01ebc/Waves-4-copy.jpg" /> <img width="11648" height="8736" width_o="11648" height_o="8736" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8b57308131334597d04d5ad4cf87756920db0a007ecef944a5c7735f5248fd9f/Waves-5-copy.jpg" data-mid="150296060" border="0" data-scale="90" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8b57308131334597d04d5ad4cf87756920db0a007ecef944a5c7735f5248fd9f/Waves-5-copy.jpg" /> <img width="6693" height="4462" width_o="6693" height_o="4462" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3be94a0a78d8bd6e66e7d84c28035b3f178cb59ed73bcfe6e8cbc7964a994270/WechatIMG526.jpeg" data-mid="150766455" border="0" data-scale="90" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/3be94a0a78d8bd6e66e7d84c28035b3f178cb59ed73bcfe6e8cbc7964a994270/WechatIMG526.jpeg" /> Thus Waves Come to You, black-and-white photographic film transparency, lightbox, speaker, 2022installation view at the UCCA Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing, CN https://zeyuanren.com/A-Kind-of-Displacement Sun, 30 Jul 2023 04:11:53 +0000 Zeyuan Ren https://zeyuanren.com/A-Kind-of-Displacement 2021 I carried four buckets of pure water to the seashore in Newport, emptied each one into the sea and then refilled them with seawater, brought them back to the studio, and completed a displacement. A Kind of Displacement, performance, singel-channel HD video (color, sound), 6’08’’, 2021 https://zeyuanren.com/Have-You-Been-Here Sun, 30 Jul 2023 04:07:16 +0000 Zeyuan Ren https://zeyuanren.com/Have-You-Been-Here 2019 The Portuguese explorer Fernão Mendes Pinto mentioned Portas de Liampoo (Shuangyu Port under Ningbo Prefecture during the Ming Dynasty) several times in his autobiographical memoir Pilgrimage. The East Asian smuggling trade center of the 16th century no longer exists, while the location of the port continues to be debated among historians. As a part of my research on its orientation, I visited two islands of Zhoushan, where the islanders shared the legends about the Portuguese in the area and led me to the possible traces. Based on a personal travelogue which is questioned for its authenticity and two folklores, this project reexamines the moment of creation, assembly and retrieval of fact through photography and performance, reflecting on the process of historical production. In the journey of proximity to the enigmatic maritime trade history, I pose the question to the probable participants—have you been here? <img width="3341" height="4449" width_o="3341" height_o="4449" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5f9d7fa1049a2997db557045f4d8870bc04809428c097ca4155caa46cc504fd9/b.jpg" data-mid="186463312" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5f9d7fa1049a2997db557045f4d8870bc04809428c097ca4155caa46cc504fd9/b.jpg" /> <img width="3893" height="4867" width_o="3893" height_o="4867" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d2f5e69e2ae45b46d5fdb8131d7dec48570849d7c2b4e73034eba3846071202a/Window.jpg" data-mid="186463313" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d2f5e69e2ae45b46d5fdb8131d7dec48570849d7c2b4e73034eba3846071202a/Window.jpg" /> <img width="4878" height="3902" width_o="4878" height_o="3902" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d6aaa9848f2d1e4fdd4c848e9f620b9b785248e1bb6dc7fabd4315fa336c7f17/Hillside.jpg" data-mid="186463315" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d6aaa9848f2d1e4fdd4c848e9f620b9b785248e1bb6dc7fabd4315fa336c7f17/Hillside.jpg" /> <img width="4365" height="3493" width_o="4365" height_o="3493" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ca48dd0ae718cda1516aa212797451a5f92b8f9af0836b8c3218f1f09c80cd20/Skull-1.jpg" data-mid="186463317" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ca48dd0ae718cda1516aa212797451a5f92b8f9af0836b8c3218f1f09c80cd20/Skull-1.jpg" /> <img width="3832" height="4790" width_o="3832" height_o="4790" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d85de244bcb4178cc905514462dfee34de1d1a075db82d8bead5f22616ad30d1/Wharf.jpg" data-mid="186463314" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d85de244bcb4178cc905514462dfee34de1d1a075db82d8bead5f22616ad30d1/Wharf.jpg" /> <img width="4339" height="3472" width_o="4339" height_o="3472" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c6b724b1d64db576ac2549c217106e05d3554f25286476ee1589464fa2f10538/Shell.jpg" data-mid="186463328" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c6b724b1d64db576ac2549c217106e05d3554f25286476ee1589464fa2f10538/Shell.jpg" /> <img width="3884" height="4855" width_o="3884" height_o="4855" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7366d65ce876326c2a5aad560fb63bb6d37e837fde4c0f86c93666e94b06da0a/Stone2.jpg" data-mid="186463326" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/7366d65ce876326c2a5aad560fb63bb6d37e837fde4c0f86c93666e94b06da0a/Stone2.jpg" /> <img width="4892" height="3913" width_o="4892" height_o="3913" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/601a2892c7dff972817cfc96ea12aead247a06062bee917889753ed96935201d/Cave.jpg" data-mid="186463324" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/601a2892c7dff972817cfc96ea12aead247a06062bee917889753ed96935201d/Cave.jpg" /> <img width="2660" height="3324" width_o="2660" height_o="3324" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c2f56a04df4ac0884330431271005ebd421a703a09070466e5eceb619a18cce8/stele-1.jpg" data-mid="186463325" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c2f56a04df4ac0884330431271005ebd421a703a09070466e5eceb619a18cce8/stele-1.jpg" /> <img width="4885" height="3907" width_o="4885" height_o="3907" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d8fceee5cd28754177d1999e5f1b4c85f976aabcc99456f27113f514881c4b90/Gesture1.jpg" data-mid="186463318" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d8fceee5cd28754177d1999e5f1b4c85f976aabcc99456f27113f514881c4b90/Gesture1.jpg" /> <img width="4888" height="3910" width_o="4888" height_o="3910" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/69ffb84efd5122da672ae1520ee227356fb3cb76e1dae3517d0cf4fd091f5e54/Gesture2.jpg" data-mid="186463319" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/69ffb84efd5122da672ae1520ee227356fb3cb76e1dae3517d0cf4fd091f5e54/Gesture2.jpg" /> <img width="3892" height="4865" width_o="3892" height_o="4865" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6be278e1f54fdc47e71c6020cb94238dc0f812d304a529be565d6743c32db499/Drawing.jpg" data-mid="186463320" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6be278e1f54fdc47e71c6020cb94238dc0f812d304a529be565d6743c32db499/Drawing.jpg" /> <img width="3000" height="3750" width_o="3000" height_o="3750" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e114c3aa40f4ddb95975e254f3aabafbd61ed3902176d0b76493ca40ce5a15ab/Crack.jpg" data-mid="211997387" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e114c3aa40f4ddb95975e254f3aabafbd61ed3902176d0b76493ca40ce5a15ab/Crack.jpg" /> <img width="4884" height="3907" width_o="4884" height_o="3907" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c0e7a861c5cd6037223b07f53f82dc3c9c11d59deda4e8d55d65fc795e15ce8e/Tunnel.jpg" data-mid="186463322" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c0e7a861c5cd6037223b07f53f82dc3c9c11d59deda4e8d55d65fc795e15ce8e/Tunnel.jpg" /> <img width="3000" height="2400" width_o="3000" height_o="2400" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2afff2f5291327c525da8e900818400f8108813c2f31e691b281b40379ab2bc4/Ruins-110x88cm.jpg" data-mid="216803101" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2afff2f5291327c525da8e900818400f8108813c2f31e691b281b40379ab2bc4/Ruins-110x88cm.jpg" /> <img width="4856" height="3884" width_o="4856" height_o="3884" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3a5cef9655d83c2e4836cd15ec328e6e67f6c8f965412c8f014c94b34c291c36/Sand-and-Stone.jpg" data-mid="186463327" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/3a5cef9655d83c2e4836cd15ec328e6e67f6c8f965412c8f014c94b34c291c36/Sand-and-Stone.jpg" /> <img width="8256" height="6200" width_o="8256" height_o="6200" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9acff4f2156a42816e3db99c778c939a84ccf836f3d6d23d19eac223bfe0094d/1-copy.jpg" data-mid="186465981" border="0" data-scale="90" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9acff4f2156a42816e3db99c778c939a84ccf836f3d6d23d19eac223bfe0094d/1-copy.jpg" /> Have You Been Here, archival inkjet prints (framed), 2019installation view from “Rebuild Conception” group show at L.A.P Gallery, Wuhan, CN <img width="5973" height="4480" width_o="5973" height_o="4480" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8a73cef1a65c172f8e4069d05ecad07073335b673eed48e67a17ca14f4d1c0c5/1.jpg" data-mid="186465984" border="0" data-scale="90" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8a73cef1a65c172f8e4069d05ecad07073335b673eed48e67a17ca14f4d1c0c5/1.jpg" /> Have You Been Here, three-channel HD video (color, sound), 13’55’’, 2019installation view from “Arrival” group show at Sol Koffler Gallery, Providence, RI <img width="3000" height="2250" width_o="3000" height_o="2250" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a085b3af4736cd2f5e1075a706dffd65cdf8234a79caa97e1732b6fa6f68f741/2.jpg" data-mid="216834674" border="0" data-scale="90" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a085b3af4736cd2f5e1075a706dffd65cdf8234a79caa97e1732b6fa6f68f741/2.jpg" />Have You Been Here, UV inkjet printed soft film in lightbox with aluminum frame&nbsp;installation view from “Photographic Geomancy” group show at&nbsp;Guangdong Times Museum, Guangzhou, CN https://zeyuanren.com/Book Sun, 30 Jul 2023 04:09:22 +0000 Zeyuan Ren https://zeyuanren.com/Book Coast to Coast (thesis book) Edition of 30,&nbsp;May 2023 English and Chinese12.7x17.78cm, 124 pages, softcover, perfect bound This essay contains four bodies of work created during my graduate studies, all of which take place on either the West or East coasts, incorporating performance, photography, and video. In the first half of the paper, I examine how the theme of “displacement” is established in my initial works, and highlight the significance of the state of “being displaced” in my process of imaging and (re)understanding the ocean. At the core of the thesis, I investigate the wave-piloting of Marshall Islanders and a particular cartographic model, the “stick chart,” which is a mnemonic device embedded with the voyager's somatic memories, personal experiences, and travel stories. The video essay Coast to Coast(Preamble) combines travel shots with the retrospective narration of my encounters along the Pacific Coast, serving as a visual capsule awaiting retrieval by my future self—an embodiment of my own ‘stick chart.’ I perceive myself as a storyteller who engages in ‘mapping’ rather than merely ‘using’ a map, as a way of unearthing and retrieving those unarchived objects and latent narratives.—in this, I retrace my steps and those of my ancestral predecessors, who once lived their lives in proximity to and guided by the ocean. excerpt avalable: https://volume-1.org/S-2023-Coastal-Mnemonics For more information, including inquiries about purchasing, please contact rendering.jpg@gmail.com <img width="3000" height="2250" width_o="3000" height_o="2250" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/334eb3a4c4ed65dd968c503fdcd883bbc69698631d13ffeea4787969df02e9e2/Coast_Book_Mockup_2-copy.jpg" data-mid="186467629" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/334eb3a4c4ed65dd968c503fdcd883bbc69698631d13ffeea4787969df02e9e2/Coast_Book_Mockup_2-copy.jpg" /> <img width="3000" height="2250" width_o="3000" height_o="2250" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1b1ffe72a38556a55b1c4503d0f62b32ce96b25bc86fcc6bb0002ba9dcbb50d5/Coast-to-Coast_Mockup_1-copy.jpg" data-mid="186467628" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1b1ffe72a38556a55b1c4503d0f62b32ce96b25bc86fcc6bb0002ba9dcbb50d5/Coast-to-Coast_Mockup_1-copy.jpg" /> <img width="2375" height="1781" width_o="2375" height_o="1781" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/98d25ca6a50999b1708a72a4063402f372c63279a29526fa548c736fd1437d26/Coast_Book_Mockup_3-copy.jpg" data-mid="186467630" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/98d25ca6a50999b1708a72a4063402f372c63279a29526fa548c736fd1437d26/Coast_Book_Mockup_3-copy.jpg" /> <img width="3000" height="2250" width_o="3000" height_o="2250" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/be86cf51c655b7315225fb08be02eebbcb322515def4118d3a25b87a48abc851/5.jpg" data-mid="186467632" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/be86cf51c655b7315225fb08be02eebbcb322515def4118d3a25b87a48abc851/5.jpg" /> <img width="3000" height="2250" width_o="3000" height_o="2250" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c0be69b5e000f6920cccd614fa0ba5cb6608bc27436f3160f778ea86e0291642/4.jpg" data-mid="186468786" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c0be69b5e000f6920cccd614fa0ba5cb6608bc27436f3160f778ea86e0291642/4.jpg" /> <img width="3000" height="2250" width_o="3000" height_o="2250" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5b740c0b410c7275d71ce38a1bc1097a77e135ef15d028f955dfb929e71afa98/6.jpg" data-mid="186467633" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5b740c0b410c7275d71ce38a1bc1097a77e135ef15d028f955dfb929e71afa98/6.jpg" /> https://zeyuanren.com/About Sun, 30 May 2021 10:54:47 +0000 Zeyuan Ren https://zeyuanren.com/About Ren Zeyuan (b. 1997, Ningbo), currently lives and works in Hangzhou. He holds an MFA in Photography from Rhode Island School of Design. Spanning lens-based media, installation and performance, his practice is rooted in the composite experiences of displacement between coasts, ruminating on liminality in the context of historical and geographic specificity. His recent research concerns the imaginary lines charted by the West in the waters of the Yangtze River estuary during the 19th century, and the concrete representations of imperial optics. Ren's works have been exhibited and screened at venues including Fotografiska Shanghai, University of Nottingham-Ningbo, Guangdong Times Museum, Alchemy Film and Moving Image Festival, de Young Museum and Microscope Gallery. He was the finalist of the Three Shadows Photography Award and the UCCA Lab X Perrier Emerging Artist Program. say hi: rendering.jpg[at]gmail.comCV avialable upon request