From Cut to Action, 2026, single-channel video projection, 7m 52s.
I often become absorbed in my own interests and projects, sometimes at the expense of paying attention to the people around me. To address this, I invited several friends to spend a day helping me make a film while wearing GoPro cameras that recorded their perspectives throughout the process.
Reviewing the footage afterwards, I discovered that each participant inhabited a world of their own, frequently turning to their phones and engaging with content that was often unfamiliar to me. The work reflects on contemporary forms of attention, friendship, and communication, asking how people remain connected while simultaneously inhabiting separate worlds.
I am driven to investigate the gap between social performances and genuine human relationships, particularly within contemporary environments shaped by digital media, self-presentation, and increasingly mediated forms of interaction.
My works are participatory films and social experiments. I construct situations in which participants are invited to reveal, negotiate, or challenge their relationships with one another, exposing the core of social dynamics from within. Although these situations are constructed, they are informed by everyday encounters and often overturn familiar social conventions, creating moments of honesty, discomfort, humour, and friction.
In an age where we are more globally connected than ever, genuine connection often feels increasingly difficult to sustain. Influenced by Byung-Chul Han’s writings on the disappearance of the Other, my work explores how meaningful relationships might emerge when people are encouraged to move beyond habitual politeness, self-curation, and social performance.
@kaigezheng1042
I often become absorbed in my own interests and projects, sometimes at the expense of paying attention to the people around me. To address this, I invited several friends to spend a day helping me make a film while wearing GoPro cameras that recorded their perspectives throughout the process.
Reviewing the footage afterwards, I discovered that each participant inhabited a world of their own, frequently turning to their phones and engaging with content that was often unfamiliar to me. The work reflects on contemporary forms of attention, friendship, and communication, asking how people remain connected while simultaneously inhabiting separate worlds.
I am driven to investigate the gap between social performances and genuine human relationships, particularly within contemporary environments shaped by digital media, self-presentation, and increasingly mediated forms of interaction.
My works are participatory films and social experiments. I construct situations in which participants are invited to reveal, negotiate, or challenge their relationships with one another, exposing the core of social dynamics from within. Although these situations are constructed, they are informed by everyday encounters and often overturn familiar social conventions, creating moments of honesty, discomfort, humour, and friction.
In an age where we are more globally connected than ever, genuine connection often feels increasingly difficult to sustain. Influenced by Byung-Chul Han’s writings on the disappearance of the Other, my work explores how meaningful relationships might emerge when people are encouraged to move beyond habitual politeness, self-curation, and social performance.
@kaigezheng1042