Zelffie - Nothing But Dance

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Music to brainwash and slogans to sell in an absurd game. Who is Zelffie?

Music Video Here.

The Zelffie project is a multi-dimensional art collection based on social media and the Internet. The artist Tianyi Zhang built a virtual idol, Zelffie, by creating music videos, movies, advertisements, virtual events, and social accounts. Through this identity, the artist has exposed topics such as pseudo-environment, propaganda, and social discipline in the current media environment. Nothing but Dance is the artist's response to people's behavior and our media industry, which consumes the public's pain during the global crisis.

The program's form is similar to a musical rhythm game. The player can tap the corresponding keyboard according to the music’s rhythm and arrow prompts to complete the game achievement and achieve a high score. But behind the strong electronic music and dazzling animation, the artist created a doomsday-era self-consoling program. And what the program presents is brainwashing music full of slogans and an absurd game setting which always results a perfect score.


As a post-90s artist, Zhang hopes to present this generation's life and understanding through her works. She has also been thinking about creating a more vivid and multi-dimensional art project that allows more people to be involved in the experiences and discussions. And Zelffie project was created under this thought.

Zhang thinks that idol culture and the entertainment industry are not only an important economic form but also a source of our ideology in our current over-saturated media and social environment. We need to be aware of how these public entertainment machines affect us. Especially in the 2020 global epidemic situation, direct communication between people is restricted, and electronic windows have become our main channel for news and entertainment. Even though these small windows are very close to us, the real landscape within them seems far away. In the apocalyptic era, all disasters and pains are transmitted and fermented on these digital screens and network windows. It seems that whether they are true or not is no longer important. The reality has retreated behind the scenes, and the media has become an entertainment monster. All information now is born to cater to the public’s excitement. It's irrespective of reality and intended above all to entertain. Therefore, Zhang dressed up as Zelffie and joined the carnival.

Tianyi Zhang 'All disasters and pains are transmitted and fermented on these digital screens and network windows. It seems that whether they are true or not is no longer important.'



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