Ran Zhou 周然

Thank you for this huge surprise 🙏@conditionsstudioprogramme @aceagrams

My first solo show in UK will open next Wednesday at @copelandparkse 🙌🙌🙌 Sincerely invite everyone who’s in London come by and say hi! This show holds special significance for me as it marks my personal graduation showcase, including the majority of my works from the past two years, along with some performances I've planned for quite a long time. RIGID | Ran Zhou curated by @zinniawang_zz poster designed by @jiang_yunshan PV night Wednesday, 27 September, 6–9 pm Exhibition Dates 27 September – 2 October, 10am - 9pm Location Copeland Gallery, Unit 9, Copeland Park, 133 Copeland Rd, London, SE15 3SN Performance Schedule Wed 27 Sept 3-3:30pm Artist Curated Performance I 8-8:30pm Artist Curated Performance I Sat 30 Sept 3-3:30pm Artist Curated Performance II from 3:30pm Guest Performance (TBD) 7-7:30pm Artist Curated Performance II Sun 1 Oct from 3pm Guest Performance (TBD) __________________________ "Rigid" is the first solo exhibition in the UK by artist Ran Zhou. Uniting metal sculptures, photographs and works on paper as well as a series of curated and invited performances; Ran Zhou imagines a multi-layered space containing different absence of body - how is it torn back and forth between the body's inherent rigidity and the dominant extension of the body by technology? Through an imaginary mise-en-scène, Zhou suggest the subtle sense of privacy and gaze that operates immanently within the cycle of socialised body control and power dynamics. Together with the audience, it gazes upon the opened leg on the gynecology exam chair, the exposed sagging armpit and atrophy of triceps muscle when clothes are changed by caregivers, the unreachable back when alone; and lands on a series of absurd fantasies of our bodily extensions. As part of Ran Zhou's reflection on post-Covid trauma, “Rigid” continues Zhou's exploration of the pharmocopornographic body, where themes of ageing, disease, sex and the absurd converge.

Back to social media from summer vacation, I’m thrilled to share that my DOLL+ film has been selected and partly awarded in many film festivals in the past a few months! Shout out to my producer @moorethomases for everything you’ve done for it! The next screening will be in London in September with @darkroom_festival and October in Austria with @youkiofficial -Poster designed by @steven_conner_design - New works are in progress - stay tuned🦦

Project Launch & Open Call for Participants For full details in Chinese, please see our WeChat public account. Language in Action: A Peer Learning Retreat is a one-week interdisciplinary co-living research program initiated by Baopu·FELT, unfolding alongside our residency and exhibition program. Bringing together practitioners across art, design, curating, writing, and related cultural fields, it begins from questions of regional knowledge, anthropology, fieldwork, and cross-context exchange. Through lectures, panel discussions, internal screenings, site-based walks, and collective discussion, this edition focuses on the shifting relationship among language, text, and the body, approaching translation in its broadest sense as a form of situated agency. Across artistic practice, anthropological method, and field research, participants often move between multiple positions at once: translator, translated subject, and mistranslated subject. Each edition invites one initiator to frame key questions around the seasonal theme, while bringing together Guest Speakers, Research Fellows, and a small number of Participants through an open call. This first edition is initiated by Li Xinyi 李心怡 @xinyi.li , with the framework developed through the contributions of Xu Binghuang 许冰煌 @binghuang_yun and Zhou Ran 周然 @ran___joe . Initiator: Li Xinyi 李心怡 @xinyi.li Coordinator: Zhou Ran 周然 @ran___joe 
Guest Speakers: Mao Chenyu 毛晨雨, He Yining 何伊宁 @yining_he_ , Jenny Chio 邱垂珍 (online) Research Fellow: Zhang Beichen 张北辰 @beichenzhangphoto , Overcooked 越烤越糊 (烤 @grilledmuffinyay , 糊 @tonghuuu ), Zheng Andong 郑安东 @andongzheng , Liu Yang 刘阳 @luya_liuyang @101_huangbian , Chen Yiqing 陈益青 @chevretchen , Long Yitang 龙奕瑭 @long_yitang , Chen Yu 陈昱, He Zike 贺子珂 @zike.h , Ni Kun 倪昆 @ni_kun2006 , Chen Lihong 陈李虹 @llionglong , Lai Yongxin 赖永馨 @yongxin.lai , Chen Yindi 陈寅迪 @cyd_chen , Jiaoyang 骄阳 @jiaoyang.zip 
Online Panel: Li Yuhang 李雨航 @yuhangggggg , Yang Dimeng 杨迪梦 @demo.0.o , Yang Yunchang 杨云鬯 , Lingxi Project 灵犀计划 (Jin Xueni 金雪妮 @emilyxnjin , Liu Xiaorong 刘笑容 @sharonxyza ) 
Field Workshop: heeh (He Huiqi 何卉奇 @huiqi_he_ , He Tianding 贺天丁 @monalisa007 )
Teaching Assistant: Scarlett Xu 徐仪

黔东南狂欢日即将开始..🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷 RSVP link in the bio 活动语言：中文 活动流程 Schedule 14:00 - 15:30 | 黔东南的田野回声 heeh -何卉奇 & 贺天丁 / 特邀嘉宾：周然（抱朴FELT主理人） 内容： 活动的第一部分将基于 heeh 在“抱朴FELT”驻地的田野经验。探讨为什么对于当下紧迫城市生活的人们，黔东南多民族地区的“松弛”经验如此重要？那些由共同劳动、舞步歌声和集体神话编织成的社会关系，不同时空观意味着什么？在艺术家们“在地转向”和“艺术返乡“的浪潮中，我们如何建立真诚的田野连接？ 特别环节：刺绣母本 - 最后，由周然带领，近距离观察黔东南不同民族的刺绣母本。 15:30 - 17:00 | 纸与本地传说工作坊 heeh 何卉奇 & 贺天丁 内容： 第二部分工作坊我们将使用长纤维构树纸浆，重现古法造纸的手法，制作花草纸。通过纸张和“山歌对歌”的即兴共创（devising）方法，来保留记忆中的故事与传说。 17:00 - 19:00 | 间隙：自由活动与觅食 19:00 - 20:30 | 午夜真心话 围炉嘉宾： 抱朴FELT @baopu.felt 、栏杆外 @para_railing 、重音社 @accentsisters Accent Sister 内容： 杯酒下肚，不谈套话，只谈生存。第三部分围炉夜话，我们邀请在国内和纽约的艺术机构创办人们，一起聊聊当代艺术的“在地转向”究竟意味着什么？从小团队的角度出发，聊聊在大城市“打拼”与在小城市“拓荒”的优缺点。通过游戏与提问，交换彼此的运行经（血）验（泪）。 20:30 - Late | 夜宵时间：酸汤火锅与米酒 我们准备了贵州酸汤锅底、豆腐与时蔬等基础食材！热气腾腾的火锅最适合消化严肃的讨论。伴着清甜的米酒，在 Accent Sister 延续这个微醺和对话的夜晚。

我们邀请你来 Accent Sister 参加一场关于贵州黔东南驻地的聚会，这将是一场持续到半夜的狂欢... 在山地的语境中，历史与神话从不是被束之高阁，而是被“唱”进空气与山林之间，被“绣”进布面的褶皱中。这一场半日聚会将从艺术家组合heeh在贵州凯里和黔东南地区的田野分享开始，从见闻感受的言说，到一起触碰构树纤维的质感 ，再进行一场“神话对歌”的即兴游戏, 完成一组关于感官与想象力的“多声部”神话叙事。当夜幕降临，米酒清香与酸汤火锅升腾起雾气，我们最后以一次关于海外背景艺术家们、艺术与机构、生存与田野的“真心话”，温柔收束一日狂欢。 座位有限，请务必提前报名🔗 链接在bio link 里 Myths sung into mountain air, histories embroidered into cloth. Join us at Accent Sister for an evening with artist duo heeh — fieldwork stories from Guizhou, hands-on paper-making, an improvised myth-singing game, and late-night secret talks in the steam of hot pot with rice wine. Find registration link in the bio 活动语言：中文 活动嘉宾： @monalisa007 @huiqi_he_ @para_railing @ran___joe @baopu.felt Poster Design: @illustrajing

New form - -

New form-

A belated hello to 2024 and everyone survived from 2023 Following many changes in my life, hard decisions have been or are about to be made. Here's a quick update: - I am moving back to Vancouver from London due to immigration concerns. Thank you to everyone I’ve met in the past 3 years. You made my life gold. - Spending time with my family will be my main focus in the coming months. Everything else can wait. -To reassure both myself and those who care about me, I will be returning with new works soon. Art is a commitment for life. Stay tuned and wish you all good health. Best, Ran

This is a damaged scene from our performance. I kept it as a part of the installation. Yesterday someone told me it reminded them of their grandma. “She wears two braids. That tube is like a bone. she passed a way after falling and breaking her bones. It’s really like… use very little stuff that encapsulates a lifetime.” Thank you for sharing this with me.