Media Arts Project "Chinese Whisper" In Sanlitun Village, Beijing By German Artist Tobias Zaft

The interactive media arts project "Chinese Whisper" by German artist Tobias Zaft deals with the difficulties of intercultural communication. End Quote

(1888PressRelease) August 16, 2010 - The media arts project "Chinese Whisper" by German artist Tobias Zaft will be shown daily from August 11th to 31st, 2010 from 10am to midnight on the 220 sqm media screen in Sanlitun Village in Beijing. The digital art project focuses on the difficulties of communication and resulting misunderstandings between East and West. A total of nine men and women, (eight Asians and Europeans) convey a series of secret messages and take turns whispering them in each others' ears that are represented by different symbols. These mysterious whisper sounds can be heard throughout the space. The game works similarly to the widely known game of the same name witnessing a gradual change of the meaning of the words. An expected daily average of 30,000 visitors is encouraged to decipher the symbols. Participants who submit the correct solution have the chance to win a signed print work of the artist.

"My work is about encountering the unknown. The cultural and linguistic barriers between Asians and Westerners often lead to grave misunderstandings. Through debating this topic in an artistic fashion, I try to create such an encounter for the spectator through using arts and technology. At the same time, I want everybody to be able to engage with my art, even people who do not normally go to museums or galleries. In the public space arts and spectators collide without preparation - so the viewer is left exposed and must respond in an improvised way. A similar effect occurs when people from different cultures meet showing us the many ways in which arts, culture and language interact. In China's larger cities, the number of public media screens grows rapidly although they are almost exclusively being used for advertising purposes. However, given the rise of this new platform, I see a lot of potential for such artistic projects in the future."

In 2009, Zaft displayed his digital artwork "Ding, Gang Chui" - a Chinese version of "Scissors, Rock, Paper" - on China's largest media façade, the 16 600 square meters Golden Tower in Beijing. In the same year, the artist was invited to participate in the German-Chinese co-operative project "Germany and China - Moving Ahead Together", where he was presenting his light installation "Shaolinsi" and the video installation "Dalou" consisting of 96 flat panel screens. An overview of Zaft's art works is shown currently at the German Pavilion at the World Expo in Shanghai. Zaft's next project will also be shown in Beijing is scheduled to start in September.

Tobias Zaft is a native of Hamburg, Germany, and went to China in 2007 on a two-year full scholarship at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. He currently resides and works between Beijing and Hamburg.

For more information visit: www.tobiaszaft.de
Watch an online video of "Chinese Whisper": http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTk4MTY1MTI0.html

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