Written Interview with Jiaoyang Zhang (13 Dec 2021, 00:08 London / 14 Dec 2021, 08:08 China)

Jiaoyang Zhang (13 Dec 2021, 00:08 London / 14 Dec 2021, 08:08 China)

404 Not Found (2021) by Jiaoyang Zhang

 

Over the month leading up to the end of 2021, I had the pleasure of corresponding with China-based designer, Jiaoyang Zhang, about their artwork, 404 Not Found (2021). Zhang talked about a dilemma they faced as a Chelsea College of Art student forced to study and research remotely in China, where firewalls in mainland China prevented them from joining an online class or restricted access to YouTube videos or design websites used by tutors and easily accessible outside of China. Zhang seemed to experience inconsistent connectivity issues associated with 'zoom-fatigue' (Amponsah, van Wyk, & Kolugu, 2022). Zhang's work 404 Not Found is a response to these digital challenges in their academic experience. Zhang's work 404 Not Found is a response to these digital challenges in their academic experience. 

Zhang also shared the importance of social phenomena for their creative work, as well as the designer’s current interest in the issue of involution in China. According to Fan Wang and Yitsing Wang (2021) for the BBC World Service, state ‘[…] “involution", or "neijuan" in Chinese - literally translated to an inward curling - refers to a social concept where population growth does not result in productivity or improved innovation. Today, the term is broadly used to express a feeling of burn out’. Zhang uses her work to explore the cultural, and economic factors that lead to the social phenomenon of involution while encouraging designers to embrace more empathy towards the hidden meaning in social phenomena in their problem-solving thinking.  

- What do you make work about?
- How to you go about making your work?
- What do you think about when making your work?
- Do you still make work?

'404 Not Found' is a project to show the dilemmas faced by Chinese students from overseas
institutions when studying and researching in mainland China in the age of online education. Higher education practitioners can learn about the challenges faced and the opportunities for new education models. 

My work was inspired by my experiences taking online courses in mainland China during the pandemic. My tutor used to think we had a bad attitude when we constantly came and left during our online language course last summer. The connection problems were actually caused by the firewall in mainland China, which prevented the classroom in the UK from communicating with the mainland Chinese site even with VPN. Resources such as Youtube or design websites easily accessible in the UK are '404 not found' in China. Particularly in disciplines such as design, where culture and politics often play a part, it impacts the objectivity of the research sources.

As part of my undergraduate design studies in China, students were often asked to view more to enhance their aesthetic awareness and skill. However, the first problem was where to view it? With the Chinese firewall tightening, more and more websites related to design and art are being blocked, possibly because the political and cultural contents are in conflict with the government's advocacy. It is quite a shock to those who are exploring the creative realm but are unable to see what is happening and what is being discussed in the international community.

These difficulties are divided into three areas: information gathering, cultural restrictions, and connection. I have also used three Chinese tropes as metaphors in this work. My goal is to inform higher education practitioners overseas about this issue, understand why it exists, and consider suggestions for making it better. Additionally, I would like to create a consensus among higher education practitioners in China to push for appropriate policies.

After completing my Graduate Diploma at Chelsea last year, I continued my MA studies at
Camberwell. In the new term, issues related to this theme continue to come up. Half of my classmates could not travel to London for the first term due to the pandemic. Separating
on-campus and online teaching makes it impossible to synchronize progress and causes staff pressure. The pandemic is not optimistic, and I believe it will become the norm, so we need to think through and discuss how to effectively set up the new educational model in this scenario.

- How was studying and finishing your degree during the pandemic?
- What impact did it have on your studies and the work you make?

Despite the epidemic affecting many people around me, I was probably lucky that my studies went ahead as planned. I attended the Chelsea campus in London when the epidemic was easing and didn't go back to China for the summer to prevent being unable to return and continue my studies here.

The policy of isolation indeed affected my studies. I could not adjust quickly to full-time study on campus since I had more freedom to arrange my schedule when taking more flexible online courses. However, I think the epidemic has given me more time and space to communicate with myself and even with those social phenomena that have developed. Usually I don't go out much and often come up with the best ideas when alone, so I was not affected significantly by isolation.

- Based on your experiences, do you have any problem-solving advice for other artists & designers?
- What are your immediate concerns or interests, both personally and professionally?

Most of my work explores social phenomena, especially those related to my personal experiences. For the first ten years of my life, I was exposed to a limited cultural environment as the daughter of a very traditional Chinese family. As I got older, I became more open-minded. I had been exposed to more cultures and the gap in between caused me to start thinking about the what and why of it. Sometimes I begin by thinking about what parts of my personality were shaped for what reasons, and I do the same for my profession. As I am sensitive to change, it's easier for me to identify problems, and my empathy enables me to empathise more fully with the context as I investigate.

In my current project, I am concerned with the issue of involution in China. I found that this year's buzzword was quite unknown outside of China during my research. Although my tutors and I discussed it, they didn't quite grasp what it meant. This phenomenon has impacted young people in China, affecting universities, companies, and even society as a whole. Having experienced this vicious spiral, I deeply understand the anxiety, and it was part of the reason I decided to study abroad. As we say often, 'there is always involution where the Chinese are,' it didn't help. These encouraged me to explore the cultural, economic, and other factors that formed it and communicate this insight.

Similarly, I want designers to have more empathy in solving problems to think about the hidden meaning of a phenomenon. It may be the perspective of a woman in the LGBTQ community. Though it is clear that there is no absolute equality and that solutions will not come overnight, it is still important to know why and to take steps to make tomorrow a little better than today. 

ABOUT Jiaoyang Zhang

Demo video of the website is: https://youtu.be/pVA1WdZw2A8.

Instagram: @joii3o 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jiaoyang-zhang-b9573b208/?originalSubdomain=uk

References

Amponsah, S., van Wyk, M. M., & Kolugu, M. K. (2022). Academic Experiences of “Zoom-Fatigue” as a Virtual Streaming Phenomenon During the COVID-19 Pandemic. International Journal of Web-Based Learning and Teaching Technologies (IJWLTT), 17(6), 1-16. http://doi.org/10.4018/IJWLTT.287555