STARTS Prize Exhibition

The Plant Intelligence Plan

Tianyi Zhang (CN)

| | |

Honorary Mention STARTS PRIZE ’22

„This work brings us closer to an awareness of the plant kingdom and how all beings need each other in order to exist and coexist.“
Auszug aus dem Statement der Jury

The Plant Intelligence Plan - Tianyi Zhang (CN)

The Plant Intelligence Plan – Tianyi Zhang (CN)
photo: Robert Bauernhansl
The Plant Intelligence Plan - Tianyi Zhang (CN)

The Plant Intelligence Plan – Tianyi Zhang (CN)
photo Florian Voggeneder
The Plant Intelligence Plan - Tianyi Zhang (CN)

The Plant Intelligence Plan – Tianyi Zhang (CN)
photo: Florian Voggeneder

Mit ihrem Projekt The Plant Intelligence Plan widmet sich Tianyi Zhang der Intelligenz von Pflanzen. Sie nutzt biotechnologische Werkzeuge und Materialien, um die ökologischen Beziehungen zwischen kommerziell gezüchteten Nutzpflanzen und Tieren wiederherzustellen. Mit ihrem Projekt plädiert Tianyi Zhang für einen sorgsamen und respektvollen Umgang mit Pflanzen und meint damit nicht bloß einen besseren Schutz des irdischen Ökosystems, sondern den Aufbau einer neuen Ordnung der menschlichen Zivilisation. Die Beziehung zwischen Menschen und Ökologie soll von Grund auf neugestaltet werden – Tianyi Zhang fordert dazu auf, unseren Anthropozentrismus zu überwinden und gleichberechtigte ökologische Beziehungen zu allen Lebewesen und Pflanzen zu knüpfen.

Credit: Zhang Tianyi

Credit: Zhang Tianyi

Credit: Zhang Tianyi

Credit: Zhang Tianyi

Biography

Zhang Tianyi (CN) is a Beijing-based artist, currently a PhD in Art and Technology research at the Central Academy of Fine Arts (Beijing). She holds a master’s degree in Art and Technology from the School of Design of the Central Academy of Fine Arts and studied at the École Supérieure d’Art du Nord-Pas de Calais, France. Her creative and research interests are mainly in Ecological Art and BioArt. Her ecological artworks use interdisciplinary research as a creative method and regard technology as an important opportunity for ecological restoration. She is keen to explore new ecological restoration methods by combining machines and ecology, as well as new languages of Ecological Art. Based on the above Ecological Art practice, she discusses the relationship between humans and ecology in the latest scientific and technological context and the equal ecological relationship of non-anthropocentrism.

Credits

Artist: Zhang Tianyi
Photography: Zhang Tianyi
With support from: School of Design of the Central Academy of Fine Arts
Special thanks to: Chen Xiaowen, Fei Jun, Song Xiewei

The STARTS Prize has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 956603.