Tianyi Zhang

Tianyi Zhang was born in 1999. After graduating from her undergraduate degree in Environmental Design in China, she began to study and research art photography. She is currently studying photography at the Royal College of Art.

Throughout her work, Tianyi takes the 'appearance problem' created by capitalism as a starting point and opens a discussion on the widespread objectification of women in a consumer society and the fact that women are consumed under the control of capitalism through an exploration of the questioning of the popularity of aesthetics. In addition, the question of the status of women today and the existence of questioning of women in society will also be expressed through contemporary art photography.

This work is based on a continuation of one of my women's projects.

What has happened since Beauvoir until now is not exactly what she predicted: women will increasingly achieve equal rights and a position of respect. On the contrary, the world feminist movement, like the world proletarian movement, has been full of detours and twists and has risen slowly, still looking at women through the lens of men as well as the world.

In the Dubai film “Girl To Buy”, the sex trade appears to be a giant chain of capitalist manipulation in which the industry in which women pay for their labour is infinitely distorted. They are treated like objects to be judged by men for their value and even for their life and death. "What’s your price?" This phrase seems to define the status of women in society.

So, what’s your price?

Betel nut is a chewable food that can be mechanically chewed to produce a pleasurable effect, but after being extracted for pleasure it becomes a residue that can still be recycled.

The work is presented in a video and ready-made format, allowing the viewer to experience the process, to participate in the work, to interact with the images as they are chewed and gobbled up, and to feel the inner changes that occur during the process.