Last chance to catch Dead Cat Bounce in the UK TOUR DATE ANNOUNCEMENT 12/10/24 at Soft Ground @artscatalyst as part of @noboundsfestivaluk Photos of the performance of Dead Cat Bounce - an oratorio about finance and catastrophe @nottm_contemp supported by @radarlboro featuring the Loughborough University Choir . By @tom_platinum_morley Dead Cat Bounce is a collaboration between @garyzhexizhang and Waste Paper Opera (@klara_kofen and @james_c_oldham ) exploring financial alchemy and the unmaking of reality in the time of catastrophe. Staged within a sculptural installation, the performance takes the form of an oratorio, a mode of baroque performance in which instruments and voice are used to tell a sacred narrative. Dead Cat Bounce was commissioned by @artscatalyst and @medialabmatadero , developed at @wysing.arts.centre @london_performance_studios and premiered @somersethousestudios , and performed @eprjcts with the support of @birminghamoperaco We are thankful to Arts Catalyst for their support on this tour. The tour has been made possible by @aceagrams , #marchustrust and #hinrichsenfoundation Music /Chorus Master – James Oldham Libretto & Design – Gary Zhexi Zhang / Klara Kofen Cast and crew at the performance at Nottingham Contemporary:
 @gabriellaliandumusic – The Historian @meilimusica - The Prophet Jeremiah @geoffalaplage – The Real Estate Agent of Miami Klara Kofen – Mark I Gary Zhexi Zhang – Mark II #SarahFarmer – Violin. @chihiro119ono - Viola @uuoomusic - Trumpet @aarondiazify – Sousaphone @judy_brush_ – Keyboards @cmbiragraham – Percussion. We are really excited to be joined by @angharaddavie on violin in Sheffield. #riskmanagement #oratorio #catastrophe #opera

Stills from THE TOURIST (2023) Single-channel video, 26min Looking forward to presenting a new work at @a_g_y_u in Toronto next week, in conversation with @jamazach and @clarahalpern , who made it all possible. The Tourist tells the story of Zanzibar, China and Ali Sultan Issa, a man at the centre of an uneasy marriage between afrofuturism and sinofuturism. It explores a shifting geopolitical atmosphere from the cosmopolitan optimism of the "Bandung Spirit" to the uncertain alignments of today. Issa and his comrades led a diplomatic romance with communist China in the 1960s, seeking to build Zanzibar in the image of the PRC, and becoming, for a short while, the “Cuba of Africa”. Issa was not only a leading Zanzibari socialist; he would also become its pioneering capitalist. In his "second revolution", he opened the island's first luxury resort hotel, spearheading the path which would define its fortunes as a tropical tourist paradise. Gary Zhexi Zhang, The Tourist, 2023, is commissioned by the Art Gallery of York University (AGYU), Toronto and curated by Clara Halpern, assistant curator, exhibitions, through their digital art stream.

🕳️ 𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵? 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘧 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥𝘺 𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘐 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 (𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘳) METAMERS Opening 6pm 22.02.24, @epflpavilions , Lausanne How real is a hallucination? Metamers are different states of physical reality which produce the same phenomenal experience. Upon waking, the philosopher Zhuangzi wondered: was he Zhuangzi dreaming he was a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming it was Zhuangzi? The founder of psychophysics, Gustav Fechner, theorised mind and body—which he extended to the inanimate world—as a curve which is convex from one view and concave from another, and sought to scientifically measure their duality. Contemporary neurological evidence demonstrates that far more of our reality is made in the mind than we may like to believe: we live in a world that dreams of us, far more than we can dream of it. A psychological and acoustic descent into anonymous, subterranean environments, METAMERS is an extended hallucination, invoking exchanges between the history of perception and that of industry, war and primordial memory. Time flows, but without spatial constancy; like a dream, ambiences breathe through one another across icons, portals and rhymes. A frog watches, but we do not know what its eyes are telling its brain. Made with dreamy collaborators: director of photography: @ferguscarmichael sound and musical direction: @cmbiragraham Commissioned by curator @giulia__bini in the frame work of the @enterthehyperscientific residency Collaborator: Prof. Michael Herzog, Laboratory of Psychophysics, EPFL

“One pink map seemed to be everywhere during Shanghai Art Week. Titled ‘Annotated Shanghai,’ the bilingual guide charmingly described the city’s art spaces and their quirks. It quickly became a cult object, with many wondering who made it.” Critic Cathy Fan @cathyfxy wrote warmly about this “pink mania” that swept through the city during the art season on @artnet , describing it as “the best navigation tool for exploring the city’s many compelling alternative spaces, especially for a visitor like me.” Indeed, Annotated Shanghai was a gift. Last November, editor You Yiyi @youyiyi , writer Nie Xiaoyi @3_ears , and designer Scene Peng @scenepeng together made the bilingual Annotated Shanghai in their leisure time, drawing on personal experience and a deep familiarity with the city’s unwritten anecdotes. This Thursday evening, Minor Space will host a sharing by Scene Peng and Nie Xiaoyi, in conversation with artist and writer Gary Zhexi Zhang @garyzhexizhang , reflecting on the making of Annotated Shanghai, the mapping of Shanghai’s art ecology, and the passion and fun in trans-disciplinary collaboration. Come to Deptford, pick up a map and join a conversation. 🎙️About the speakers Scene Peng (1997) designs (&SCENE), publishes (In Good Company Intl.), tastes (JOYFOR), listens (EGRET), lives and works in Shanghai after graduating from CSM and KABK. Nie Xiaoyi, writer, researcher and educator, one of the editors of Qilu Criticism, Curatorial Fellow of De Ying Foundation (2024–2025), tutor in Curating Contemporary Art department, Royal College of Art. She was the senior editor of ArtReview China and LEAP from 2022 to 2024. Gary Zhexi Zhang‘s work explores systemic connections between cosmology, technology and economy. He operates individually, in collaboration and within organisational frameworks. He recently edited a book of fictions, essays and interviews about finance and time, Catastrophe Time! (Strange Attractor Press, 2023).

On Parasocial Media: The Shoggoth and the Skeuomorph The Asymmetry Distinguished Lecture Series 2025-26 Oct 28, 2025 In this lecture, the artist and writer Gary Zhexi Zhang will discuss the internet, AI, and the techno-politics of persona through an account of “parasocial media”. Online identity formation and the infrastructures of consensus reality have evolved dramatically across the platform era and into the world of ubiquitous language models. The boundaries between persons and personas, characters and identities, fandoms and botnets, dissolve into a psychosocial spectrum connecting live-action role-play and dissociative identity disorder to NPC culture, chatbot love and AI psychosis. Mark Fisher discussed psychedelic reason as the dismantlement of the “Human OS” on the neuronal battleground, invoking not only the social but the psyche as a mutable terrain of collective emancipation. Contemporary technologies have answered only part of Fisher’s call, unfettering the techniques of human sociality not from but through the prison-house of language, at social scale. Zhang will examine the infrastructural conditions of networked psychic collectivity, what he calls the “internet of egregores”, and the economic forces that choreograph them. He will also discuss the role of role-play, from an affordance of mediated identity to the skeuomorphic labour of AI. Finally, Zhang will explore what it means to be ‘person enough’ at a time when personalised affect is cheaply mass-produced and widely demanded. Jolting between the early internet and contemporary global techno-acceleration, Zhang explores the ramifications of a dissociative realism whose temporalities and intimacies unravel both our world and our selves, to borrow Fisher’s words, like an escape kit without an instruction manual. @asymmetryartorg @wennyytteo @authentic_duck_fish @courtauldres parasocial thanks to @mayabkronic @moe_fang_adept @t1ngyu3 @sadie_patel_ suhail malik @klara_kofen @aslakaamot @anapren @bognamk

Organismo 2026 Open Call: Last Resorts. How Climate Imaginaries Come to Matter. Facilitated by the BC3 Basque Centre for Climate Change with the Spanish Office of Foresight and Strategy, and with Gary Zhexi Zhang and Jacob Bolton as artistic voices –pulso–. Politics of anticipation. Decisive actors. Narratives. This case study will explore the various imaginaries that populate prevailing ideas of climate futures, looking into the politics of anticipation. How are ideas about climate futures produced and circulated, and which versions of the future are being prepared for? Who is included in them? What temporal registers are suited to the task of anticipating and equitably preparing for climate futures? Apply to Organismo 2026 Open Call until November 9. More info in the link in bio. // Convocatoria abierta de Organismo 2026: Last Resorts. Cómo los imaginarios climáticos adquieren relevancia. Facilitado por el BC3 Basque Centre for Climate Change junto con la Oficina Española de Prospectiva y Estrategia, con Gary Zhexi Zhang y Jacob Bolton como voces artísticas –pulso–. Políticas de anticipación. Actores decisivos. Narrativas. Este estudio de caso explorará los distintos imaginarios que configuran las ideas dominantes sobre los futuros climáticos, analizando las políticas de anticipación. ¿Cómo se producen y circulan las ideas sobre el futuro climático, y para qué versiones del futuro nos estamos preparando? ¿Quiénes están incluidos en ellas? ¿Qué registros temporales son adecuados para anticipar y prepararnos de forma equitativa ante los futuros climáticos? Envía tu solicitud a la Convocatoria Abierta de Organismo 2026 hasta el 9 de noviembre. Más información en el enlace de la biografía.

A look back at visual artist and writer Gary Zhexi Zhang (@garyzhexizhang )’s three-month residency at La Becque as part of our Principal Residency Program. “During the residency, I began work on ‘Multipolar Technoculture’, a non-fiction book project exploring emerging technological narratives in contemporary China and their global ramifications. As the center of gravity in research and production shifts beyond the West, the book asks how new logics of technoculture are shaping our world. At La Becque, I developed the book’s initial framework, created a silkscreen series, and published a zine reflecting on the challenges of writing amidst a moving historical current.” — Gary Zhexi Zhang Full residency report available online. Credits 1-3: Gary Zhexi Zhang, La Becque, 2025, photo Matthieu Croizier (@matthieucroizier ) 4-10: Gary Zhexi Zhang, Open Studios, 2025, photo Aurélien Haslebacher #labecque #labecqueartistresidency #labecqueresidencedartistes #2025residents #garyzhexizhang #fromlabecquewithlove

Announcing the first lecture in ‘The Asymmetry Distinguished Lecture Series 2025-26’ 🙌 ✨On Parasocial Media: The Shoggoth and the Skeuomorph✨ Speaker: Gary Zhexi Zhang @garyzhexizhang 📆 28 Oct 2025 ⏰ 18:00 -19:30 📍 Lecture Theatre 2, Vernon Square Campus 🔗 Free, booking essential. Click the link in our bio to book. In this lecture, the artist and writer Gary Zhexi Zhang will discuss the internet, AI, and the techno-politics of persona through an account of “parasocial media”. Online identity formation and the infrastructures of consensus reality have evolved dramatically across the platform era and into the world of ubiquitous language models. The boundaries between persons and personas, characters and identities, fandoms and botnets, dissolve into a psychosocial spectrum connecting live-action role-play and dissociative identity disorder to NPC culture, chatbot love and AI psychosis. This is the first event in the 2025-26 Asymmetry Distinguished Lecture Series – Psychedelic Reason. Generously sponsored by Asymmetry, this annual programme of artist talks, conversations and screenings provide a platform for artists, curators and scholars of East and Southeast Asian heritage to share their research and practice with wider audiences, focusing on issues of transculturality and representation in the global contemporary. Convened by Dr Wenny Teo, Senior Lecturer in Modern and Contemporary Asian Art at The Courtauld; Michèle Ruo Yi Landolt, Director at Asymmetry; and Dr Yayu Zheng, Asymmetry Post-doctoral Fellow at The Courtauld. Image: METAMERS, Gary Zhexi Zhang, 2024. © the artist and EPFL Enter the Hyper-Scientific Photo: Remy Ugarte Vallejos @asymmetryartorg @courtauld @wennyytteo

🔍 Discover how practitioners are creating works at the intersection of creative practice and technological innovation – all part of our new Arts and Technologies in China report. 📚 Research by Gary Zhexi Zhang (@garyzhexizhang ) draws on comprehensive fieldwork including interviews and roundtables with 48 practitioners, educators, curators, technologists and leaders. Discover how much art and technology is in demand and digital cultural heritage is flourishing. 🔗 To read the report, head to the link in our bio @britisharts , click on Resources (near the top of the list) and you'll find Arts and Technologies there. 📸 Image credit: Wu Ziyang. Image courtesy of the artist. #UKChina #Insight #Research #Discovery #Development #ArtsProgress #Discuss

Contemporary Art and the Twenty-first Century Lecture tomorrow - Oct 6, 2025, 5.30-7pm Goldsmiths, Professor Stuart Hall Building, LG-02 Followed by convo with Suhail Malik I was given the opportunity to put some takes in order about Contemporary Art for the incoming postgraduate cohort as they enter the Discourse. Come hang out! I think you can just show up off the street too.

Future Margins at the @vamuseum ’s friday late aug edition curated by @lorenzolandicho @triplelumi @carriechan_net and @faunsiatucker on FRIDAY 29 AUG | V&A South Kensington AND ITS FREE!!!! I’ll be on the panel for “Remimagining Tomorrow: Technology, Access and artistic survival in E and SE Asian Communities” with @lorenzolandicho @claralikesart @garyzhexizhang and moderated by @carriechan_net 
Full Schedule on the @vamuseum website:
 ✦ 𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗞𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗕𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘀 𝗯𝘆 𝗣𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗢𝗦 ✦ Displacement, fragmentation, and collectiveness of shifting identity and multilingual chaos. w/ @pharos_huanraosi ✦ 𝗟𝗨𝗡𝗚 ✦ A visceral rupture through the fabric of monotony; convulsing, writhing and electric. w/ @lung.lung.lung.lung.lung.lung ✦ ‘𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆’ 𝗯𝘆 𝗝𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗯𝗼 ✦ Jianbo, unplugged. w/ @jianboforever , @vv_illhelm , @malachisiner ✦ 𝗩𝘂𝗹𝗰𝗮𝗻 ✦ Splintered Electronics. w/ @kino4sure , @fyn_haselixir , @vulcan.____ ✦ 𝗛𝗢𝗠𝗘 𝗔𝗚𝗘 / 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗪𝗢𝗨𝗟𝗗𝗡’𝗧 𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗟 𝗔 𝗧𝗩 𝗯𝘆 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗮 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻 ✦ Vietnamese Buddhism through the entrails of Experimental AI and manipulated 90s TV. w/ @blurbnation , @jasan_waldura , @caleb.w.sharpe ✦ 𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸? 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱, 𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗻 𝗩𝗶ệ𝘁 𝗔𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 ✦ Sound and photography reframe silence in the archive. w/ @anvietarchives , @kama_sutramy , @phambinho ✦ 𝗥𝗲𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗼𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗼𝘄: 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆, 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗦𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗶𝘃𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻 𝗘𝗦𝗘𝗔 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 ✦ Technology, survival and future-making in ESEA communities. w/ @lorenzolandicho , @claralikesart , @garyzhexizhang ✦ 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝘀 𝗔𝗻𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗿 𝗯𝘆 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗮 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗴 | 馮允珊 ✦ Cross-cultural, open source painting inspired by 土地公. w/ @bettinafws ✦ 𝗢𝘂𝘁𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗼𝘅: 𝗘𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗔𝘀𝗶𝗮 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 ✦ What does it mean to belong? w/ V&A curators Dasom Sung & Donata Miller-Obebe ✦ 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗳𝘂𝗺𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽 ✦ Cha Chaan Teng Memory & culture in a bottle. w/ @888.cct

A long time in the making! It’s finally here 🖤 ’Under the Cloud’ is a new book published by @serpentineuk Arts Tech and Assembly (& supported by @britishcouncil ) edited by @xingru_longiris @zike.h that presents a compilation of research on the real-world implications of national technological policy on Guizhou. The province is one of the eight national ‘big data hubs’ under the ‘Data in the East, Computing in the West program,’ the Chinese strategic approach to data that aims to leverage the distinct advantages of each region toward technological growth. Between 2021-2023 several groups of artists, curators, media theorists, and anthropologists travelled to Guizhou. The groups, led by curator Iris Long and artist Zike He, visited key sites of computational infrastructure that have emerged in over the last decade. ‘Under the Cloud’ documents these explorations into the real-world implications of techno-industrial policy. Written in English and Chinese, it includes artist interviews and contributions by researchers, artists and science fiction writers.  Collaborators include @xingru_longiris , @eva__jaeger , @cao_fei , @garyzhexizhang , @zike.h , @liuchuangstudio , @xin_liu_studio , @holmaaas , @xu.haomin , @_lu_xun_ , @zhengyue_xu , @wying.yu , @wenxinzhang , @chenwich , @kevinl0427 , @elplanetashaw , @loquepasa , @hallucitalgia , @hiresbootleg , Stanley Chen Qiufan, Shi Qing, Tim Zuo, Zhou Tao and Zhang Yiyi.