Ye Zhang 张晔 | Tomato

Ye Zhang is a digital designer and artist based in London and Shanghai, He has the undergraduate degree from Shanghai Donghua University, currently studying at the Royal College of Art. He uses video installations and graphics to create narratives, also using real objects and digital connection to explore the identity and social issues. His work has been exhibited in London and Shanghai.

In his practice, Ye focuses on the intimate connection between people and their surroundings, his work re-examines the connectedness of physical and digital space and experiments with different materials and multi-dimensional narratives to connect with people.

He is also part of the Snap Inc. x RCA design lab project, working on the critical use and application of AR technology.

What am I looking for? Like this message I received on Grindr, it is simple and straightforward, but often makes it difficult for me to answer. Is it the intimate connection we have with others, the feeling that we are validated, or the constant contradictory behaviour of our inability to unify our bodies and minds? I am constantly talking to people and the answer becomes more and more complex in these conversations; the constant cycle of desire in the social sense as the output of our bodies affecting ourselves, leading to the unification of our consciousness and our bodies. I as a listener and storyteller will explore how the remnants of desire scattered throughout the crowd can be collected and transformed into a visual and auditory presence that can be felt, in order to construct a central point to form positive emotional feedback within the group.