Zhongping Chen studied at the Royal College of Art in Communication. Before the RCA, she worked as an interface and user experience designer with an installation practice. Drawn to concepts that surpass the restrictions of culture, class, and status, she explores ubiquitous themes that pervade all societies and strives to reach marginalized audiences. Zhongping is equally influenced by everyday objects, events, and people as well as by art and poetry. In her own work, she aims to communicate with audiences in a productive and engaging way — speaking for the voiceless, challenging prescribed norms, and making sense of a world growing in complexity.
Zhongping explores a range of methods and perspectives to produce research-based projects that communicate the core questions she seeks to pose to the world — questions which she hopes can further understanding and connection. In her practice, she endeavors to question contemporary issues in a direct way, and through this questioning, she aims to evoke critical discussions through relatable content. Drawing from her background in surface design and an interest in architecture, Zhongping aims to provide her audience with a clear and ordered atmosphere through the use of symbolic elements created by geometric structures, solid lines and simplified colours. She creates work that encourages interaction with her visual pieces.
In her recent experimental work “Infinity Turnnel,” Zhongping fabricated a series of experimental installations based on the same prototypical structure’s realization in different kinds of wood and paper. Through cutting, bending, restructuring, and laser cutting she transformed the piece into different shapes and patterns to explore and challenge the possibilities based on the specific form. Each structure presents a significantly different atmosphere and visual experience to the audience.
Zhongping created a device that allows plants to be humanised and communicate with people via social networking and sound technology according to their needs. The language used in the messages can be personalized to suit the type of plant, and each plant had a ‘voice’ to match the plant type, such as Scottish Moss, which had a Scottish accent.
The device is made of soil-moisture sensors that are connected to a circuit board, sound devices, and Arduino Yun. They measure the level of moisture in the plant’s soil and transmit a signal to Arduino Yun and the sound device according to a specific threshold. This results in a 140-character text message expressing the plant’s needs which can be shared to their network of friends on Twitter.
Zhongping’s work integrates a shift between multiple-techniques and disciplines, including sculpture, interactive installation, hardware engineering, moving image, and sound design. Each discipline is essential in forming a cohesive line of thought as well as reflecting individual perspectives and modes of interpretation unified in the audience’s mind. The works also complement and contrast one another, highlighting a range of unexplored possibilities that direct Zhongping’s current and future practices.
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