Meet Zheng Wu | Filmmaker & Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Zheng Wu and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Zheng, let’s start by talking about what inspires you?
My work critically views social and political issues and is always involved with photography, philosophy, and poetry. My work explores the relationship between traditional filmmaking and contemporary video art. Having engaged in different art forms as diverse as narrative short films, experimental films, video art, photography, and art installations.
I am most inspired by some film works and some performance artworks from the 90s.
Especially the works of the fifth and sixth-generation directors in China.

These include Chinese director Wang Xiaoshuai’s early film Frozen, Lou Ye’s Summer Palace, and the documentary The Other Bank.
In about five years ago, I started to watch and research Chinese movies that were made between 1990-2010. This is the 20 years that China has changed the most and also the golden age of Chinese cinema. The director of that generation experienced WW2, the culture revolution, economic reform, and some protest events, which make most of the films have incredibly strong features of that age. The movie FROZEN is one of the films made at that time. The story is about a young performance artist who decides to make suicide his last work of art. On the longest day of the year, he plans to melt a huge block of ice with his body heat and die of hypothermia. He calls this protest against the coldness of society “Funeral on Ice.” The way that the filmmaker shot the film and the boldness and wildness delivered in this film deeply intrigued me.

Besides, I got inspiration from some performing artists a lot.
Such as Belgian artist Francis Alÿs. Paradox of Praxis 1 (1997) is the record of an action carried out under the rubric of “sometimes making something leads to nothing.” For more than nine hours, Alÿs pushed a block of ice through the streets of Mexico City until it completely melted. And so for hour after hour, he struggled with the quintessentially minimal rectangular block until finally it was reduced to no more than an ice cube suitable for a whisky on the rocks, so small that he could casually kick it along the street. Life is like pushing stones uphill, with so much absurd.

And artist Zhang Huan, Tehching Hsieh, etc. Tehching Hsieh leaves the biggest impression on me. His series of One Year Performance inspired me a lot. The only protagonist of his works is “time”. He defamiliarizes life and repeats it constantly, like a penance, which generates huge energy.
These all inspired me and deeply influenced my thinking about creating art.

My own film Quarantine Cleansing Project is a story to explore the relationship between time, our current world, viruses, and even the meaning of our life. The outside world of Lei’s cage is chaotic, messy, and extremely busy with a lot of things going on. I want to create a closed space for modern people just to meditate and think. And quarantine might be the best time to create this space. I hope this film can inspire you to rethink the meaning of time and life.

I think the film has the power to change the world, and this power is so great that it is unimaginable.
At the same time, film is also a tool for me to express myself, to express to the world, to express myself with different people, and to express myself.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?

My work critically views social and political issues and is always involved with photography, philosophy, and poetry. My work explores the relationship between traditional filmmaking and contemporary video art. Having engaged in different art forms as diverse as narrative short films, experimental films, video art, photography, and art installations.

Born and raised in China. My’s family has always been a multicultural co-existence, which helps develop her multi-perspective thinking and shapes her into a person who values individuality and innovation. The more I experienced, the more I found out the commonality among people from different backgrounds and she became more open to music, movies, and traditions different from her own. Wu believes that film, as the creative expression of the cultures and the current society, is the best carrier to exert her diverse interests and build influence on society.

I am most proud of my work and the way I view the world.
I not only create art as a director but also as a Production Designer and a freelance artist. Unlike others, I am always exploring new ways of storytelling, and I like to combine documentary, installation art, and even performance art with traditional narratives. I think our world is so complex, and I want to explore this complexity in my work and use my creativity to reach it.

The process is difficult. Niche art has not been able to integrate into the mass market, and trekking from China to the U.S. as a female Asian artist has been a challenge every step of the way. What I have learned is that one must be bold and also dare to face challenges while maintaining a good mindset. Be bold to promote your work and be confident.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week-long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc? In your view what are some of the most fun, interesting, exciting people, places or things to check out?

I would take them on a road trip first! I think nature is the best artist. Nature has music, design, and movies in it! I would take them on a trip around LA to see the Joshua Tree and drive all the way to the desert. It would be so much fun.

Then we’ll drive back to LA, eat the local food, see the getty museum and go to the art cinema for a movie, and then go to the Speakeasy for a drink in the evening.

A perfect day!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Jiaying Zou, Xinchen Zhang

Website: zhengwufilm.com

Instagram: zzzhengwu

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zheng-wu-a0998592/