Skip to main content
Contemporary Art Practice (MA)

Zhaoqi Yu

Surplus-enjoyment
Launch Project
Surplus-enjoyment

Surplus-enjoyment is a unique concept that explores the relationship between man-made landscapes and non-real spaces, experiential memory and the subconscious. It responds to fears of non-place and mediated space by depicting a space without people but with objects, a liminal space with no concept of time. This is presented through a moving image and game, facilitating an immersive experience that allows the viewer to constantly enter the dream world in order to gain pleasure. As Jacques Lacan's theory of "residual pleasure" suggests, surplus-enjoyment is focused on exploring whether virtual spaces can provide a way to escape or relieve the stresses and difficulties of real life, or whether they can only provide a temporary respite and may even exacerbate existing problems. In the words of the creators of Surplus-enjoyment, "we wanted to explore the idea of creating a space that is both familiar and strange, a place where memory and emotion converge, and where the boundaries between reality and fantasy become blurred". This is achieved through the use of the UE4 engine to recreate the fearful dreams of childhood, interweaving memory and emotion by shaping the inorganic state of pre-life. Ultimately, the concept of surplus-enjoyment highlights the potential for virtual spaces to offer a unique and immersive experience, one that can provide an escape from the stresses of real life and facilitate a sense of pleasure and well-being. However, it also raises important questions about the limitations and potential risks of virtual spaces, and the need to consider real-life solutions alongside virtual ones.


Surplus-enjoyment
Surplus-enjoyment
Surplus-enjoyment
Surplus-enjoyment

Medium:

Moving Image

Size:

3′10″
Yu Zhaoqi celebrated her 24th birthday by building a birthday cake on the beach.
Launch Project
Happy 24th BirthdayYu Zhaoqi celebrated her 24th birthday by building a birthday cake on the beach, the repetitive process of collapse and rebuilding symbolizes self-consciousness, the repeated collapse of beliefs. The betrayal cannot be changed, but the sky will always light up and the sea will recede. A wish never to lose any of the friends again.

Medium:

Moving Image

Size:

18′00″
I'm just a little white rabbit
Launch Project
I'm just a little white rabbit

The rabbit is an animal with a great capacity to tolerate pain, even when it breaks a bone, and even when it falls from a height and breaks its internal organs, it does not scream and just waits quietly to die. The rabbit symbolizes people who have been hurt, but do not have the courage or ability to fight back, and violence and oppression are prevalent in society, even verbal or online violence has the ability to hurt others. In Yu Zhaoqi's work, she sees herself as the rabbit in the video, with the carrot symbolizing money, status, or the criteria by which people are categorized by social values. The carrot is both a figurative representation of the rabbit's desires and an instrument of oppression. The sculpted rabbit is forced to be part of the audience as I'm just a little white rabbit, which looks on indifferently at the rabbit being beaten in the video. Yu Zhaoqi states in her own words: "The world's default standards and values oppress me and keep me moving forward, and I don't dare to turn around and talk to the people who are beating me. I don't dare to turn around and confront those who are hammering at me, I don't even know where the road ends. But once in a while I can stop and look around, but the carrots keep knocking at me and I have to wretchedly get up and keep going ......"

I'm just a little white rabbit

Medium:

Moving image

Size:

2'53''

Yu Zhaoqi, currently based in Qingdao, is an artist and curator whose work extends across painting, installation, and photography. She seeks to construct an interconnected space between landscape and nature, leveraging these mediums as a platform for investigating and opening up new avenues within the field of contemporary art and curation. Concurrently, she underscores the synergy and innovative potential of art-technology interactions and aesthetics. Her commitment to new media art encompasses the realm of digital art spaces that utilize advanced technology for display purposes.

In 2022, she launched the Golden Alchemist Gallery (GAG), a brand dedicated to the construction of digital art spaces. GAG functions as an integral platform for art production, IP incubation, and curatorial ecology. It aims to forge connections between global art enthusiasts and artists, fostering a dynamic and interactive art community.

Degree Details

School of Arts & HumanitiesContemporary Art Practice (MA)Public SphereRCA2023 at Truman Brewery

Truman Brewery, F Block, Ground, first and second floors

Yu Zhaoqi's practice focuses on personal emotional experience, consciousness and the links between nature and society.

Yu Zhaoqi's practice focuses on personal emotional experience, consciousness and the links between nature and society. In the last year, she has often used the virtual medium of art, building a virtual space through modelling and combining her personal experiences and feelings to create different atmospheres in the virtual space. In her process, she doesn't only seeks to express her personal emotions, but also to create a link with the audience through her artworks. She attempts to create an immersive experience in the virtual space, creating shared memories and emotional resonance through the participation and interaction of the audience. This immersive experience is not only visually stimulating, but also involves the senses of touch, hearing and other senses. Yu Zhaoqi is adept at using the technical means offered by the virtual art medium to create a multi-layered sensory experience. Through subtle sound effects, tactile simulations and interaction with the works, she seeks to transport the audience into a new perceptual space in which they can interact and empathise with the works. In Yu Zhaoqi's practice, decentralisation and symbolisation are very important in her attempts. She attempts to abandon the centralised structures of traditional art, allowing the audience to discover their own unique perspectives and feelings in the works. At the same time, she uses symbols and symbolism to present a deeper meaning by linking her personal emotional experience to the wider society and nature. Through her innovative use of the virtual art medium, her works are not only an expression of personal emotion, but also a bridge of communication with the viewer to create and experience together. Through immersive artistic experiences and symbolic expressions, she opens up emotional channels in virtual space, allowing viewers to empathise and connect with her artworks.

Pijin Culture Development Co., Ltd

Pijin Culture Development Co., Ltd is an art technology platform that integrates art creation, IP incubation, and curation ecology. It connects global art enthusiasts with artists, striving to build a unique and evolving art community.