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![Diffusion]( "Diffusion")
infoIn “Diffusion,” I delve into the intersection of memory and technology, merging machine learning, personal history, and photography to explore the fluidity of recollection.
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![Diffusion]( "Diffusion")
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![Diffusion]( "Diffusion")
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![Diffusion]( "Diffusion")
infoIn “Diffusion,” I delve into the intersection of memory and technology, merging machine learning, personal history, and photography to explore the fluidity of recollection.
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![Fish Don't Exist]( "Fish Don't Exist")
infoPart of the project "Fish Don't Exist" aims to re-examine the legacy of David Starr Jordan and question the authority of classification systems through machine learning.
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![Diffusion]( "Diffusion")
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![New Youth]( "New Youth")
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![New Youth]( "New Youth")
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![Diffusion]( "Diffusion")
infoIn “Diffusion,” I delve into the intersection of memory and technology, merging machine learning, personal history, and photography to explore the fluidity of recollection.
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![Diffusion]( "Diffusion")
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![Diffusion]( "Diffusion")
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![Judith Butler troubled me, and I troubled us]( "Judith Butler troubled me, and I troubled us")
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Shizhe's interdisciplinary approach critically examines the rigid structures of logic, language, and categorization.
Shizhe Qian is a visual artist molded by the industrial landscape and human warmth of northeastern China. His work delves into the interplay between autonomy and connection, questioning human-centric philosophies and rigid structures of logic, language, and categorization. With a background in physics, theater, philosophy, and art, Shizhe's interdisciplinary approach examines visual representations of our inner world and the physical realm.
His latest project, "Diffusion," explores the intersection of memory and technology through abstract images created with photography, unsupervised machine learning, and automatic jacquard weaving. By transforming personal memories into visual art, Shizhe invites viewers to reconsider how we can reshape our historically constructed narratives. His works usually engage with the abstract, the mythical, and the ritualistic, offering dialogues about our collective genetic memory and the endless possibilities of what we could become.
Websites
personal website
shizheqian.myportfolio.comSocial media
Curriculum vitae
Education
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2022 - 2023Philosophy Leiden University, Leiden
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2020 - 2024Photography Den Haag, Koninklijke Academie van Beeldende Kunsten diploma
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2008 - 2012Physics Ocean University of China diploma
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2008 - 2012Theater Directing Ocean University of China
exhibitions
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2025Bobbi's Summer School: Fruiting Bodies Exhibition space 38CC Delft, Netherlands www.38cc.nl/bobbi-s-summer-school-3--fruiting-bodies Group
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2025
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2025Threads of Loss, Patterns of Return MaMA Rotterdam, Netherlands thisismama.nl/en/events/general/threads-of-loss-patterns-of-return/ Group
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2024Graduation Show The Royal Academy of Art, The Hague The Hague, Netherlands graduation.kabk.nl/2024/shizhe-qian Group
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2024Highlight Delft Delft railway station Delft, Netherlands www.highlightdelft.nl/program/in2023/ir-projector-working-title/ Group
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2023As above so below The Grey Space in the Middle The Hague, Netherlands Group
Projects
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2025
Diffusion (part2) The Hague, Netherlands shizheqian.myportfolio.com/diffusion-part-2 In “Diffusion,” I delve into the intersection of memory and technology, merging machine learning, personal history, and photography to explore the fluidity of recollection. Through a diffusion model, I have trained an AI on my family albums and hometown photos. The model disperses the information within the photograph, introducing 'noise' to erode the image, then gradually removing it to reconstruct new imagery based on visual patterns learned from the dataset. As a result, photographs no longer possess fixed meanings; instead, they become malleable data that allows reinterpretation. Guided by my drawings, the AI helps me create abstract visuals that blend the past with my current reflections. In these visuals, I depict "giants" — the influential figures from my childhood, who enforced their expectations upon me, shaping my identity under their weight. By transforming them into tapestries, those fragments of memory behind the giants are deconstructed into materials and woven into tangible expressions. Yet, paradoxically, these tapestries—traditionally used to preserve stories—are now crafted by an automated machine following predetermined programs. This natural and organic appearance is, nonetheless, achieved through technology which both enhances and distorts our understanding of the past. The diffusion process, with its erosion and reconstruction of images, mirrors my journey of reimagining the past. “Diffusion” reflects on our methods of capturing and remembering the past and also invites you to reconsider how we can reshape our historically constructed narratives.
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2024
Diffusion (part1) Koninklijke Academie van Beeldende Kunsten Den Haag The Hague, Netherlands shizheqian.myportfolio.com/diffusion-part-1 In “Diffusion,” I delve into the intersection of memory and technology, merging machine learning, personal history, and photography to explore the fluidity of recollection. Through a diffusion model, I have trained an AI on my family albums and hometown photos. The model disperses the information within the photograph, introducing 'noise' to erode the image, then gradually removing it to reconstruct new imagery based on visual patterns learned from the dataset. As a result, photographs no longer possess fixed meanings; instead, they become malleable data that allows reinterpretation. Guided by my drawings, the AI helps me create abstract visuals that blend the past with my current reflections. In these visuals, I depict "giants" — the influential figures from my childhood, who enforced their expectations upon me, shaping my identity under their weight. By transforming them into tapestries, those fragments of memory behind the giants are deconstructed into materials and woven into tangible expressions. Yet, paradoxically, these tapestries—traditionally used to preserve stories—are now crafted by an automated machine following predetermined programs. This natural and organic appearance is, nonetheless, achieved through technology which both enhances and distorts our understanding of the past. The diffusion process, with its erosion and reconstruction of images, mirrors my journey of reimagining the past. “Diffusion” reflects on our methods of capturing and remembering the past and also invites you to reconsider how we can reshape our historically constructed narratives.
Commissions
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2024Unseen Echoes Emergence Delft Delft, Netherlands The Emergence team about their project: ‘With our first main project, we seek to develop “Real” Augmented Reality technology. For this we are experimenting with creating a projector that has an Infrared (IR) light source. www.highlightdelft.nl/program/in2023/ir-projector-working-title/ finished
Secondary art-related activities
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2025 - 2025Artist Talk/Presentation: "Creative Reuse - Reshaping narratives", with Cees Martens Publiek Domeindag, Koninklijke Bibliotheek, The Hague
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2025 - 2025Workshop: "Imagine your Memories of Tomorrow" with AI, Bobbi's Summer School, 38CC, Delft