Today we’d like to introduce you to Wenran Zhao

Hi Wenran, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?

I got interested in filmmaking and documentary during my high school years and therefore went to Hong Kong to study new media art. In my college years, I was introduced to digital and new media arts, which led to my current creative practices. I engaged with the digital world during college: coding, electronics, 3D and 2D graphics, digital fabrication, etc. It was there that I realized that in the digital world, armed with the right skills and technology, one could ‘play god’, as “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” (Arthur C. Clarke)

But the real world doesn’t work like that. Transitioning to my MFA at the Rhode Island School of Design in Digital + Media, I began to interact more with tangible materials—textiles, wood, clay, and found objects. Each material demands a different approach: they taught me to listen and adapt to their intrinsic qualities. Each material carries its texture, character, and timbre that artists have to learn to work with. With such an understanding, I started exploring the potential of ambient interfaces that bridge the analog and digital worlds in unconventional ways.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?

Pursuing fine art is never a smooth road, but I have been generally lucky along the way, which I’m very grateful for. My time in Hong Kong was a winding path–during which has happened protests, Covid, and post-Covid depressions. I have questioned myself lots of times if doing fine art is the right decision to make, and eventually understood that ‘s where my passion lies.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?

As an interdisciplinary artist, I work with code, language, technology, and textiles. I look at the ever-evolving technology–touch screens, XR, Artificial Intelligence, and many more–in an anachronistic way, with my artworks augmenting objects or artifacts with custom software. Most of my works are interactive, exploring the textures of technology and revealing its political and cultural relevance to contemporary societies.

One of my most recent projects is Thread in the Air, which is an electronic textile piece incorporating responsive audio and projection on textiles. In the digital world projected on a physical tactile surface, words emulate the structure and movements of threads and cloth–they would sway, fold, or tear–responding to the audience’s touch. “To weave is to speak,” the identical etymology of “textile” and “text” in ancient languages seems to remind us of the intertwined relationship between the two notions. In the moment of being touched, narratives are experienced in a non-linear way, text and textiles merging into an integrity. Threads in the Air is an embodiment of how threads and fabrics shape words, thoughts, and narratives.

How do you define success?

It’s really hard to define success–especially when it comes to the arts. I would say some one’s successful if they are content with what they’re doing, and keep their heart filled with curiosity and enthusiasm.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://theunthoughts.com/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/karliedoesnotexist

Image Credits

¡wénrán zhào!