ZELFFIE PROJECT: NOTHING BUT DANCE

1. What did you create?

Nothing but Dance is an interactive video game which is a part of the art project, Zelffie - Perfect Creation.
The Zelffie project is a multi-dimensional art collection based on social media and the Internet. The artist 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.

2. Why did you make it?

As a post-90s artist, I hope to present this generation's life and understanding through my works. I have 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. I think 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, I dressed up as Zelffie and joined the carnival.

3. How did you make it?

In 2018, the artist's team started the construction of the Zelffie project. They built a website, Zelffie.org, for this art collection and spent more than a year sharing zelffie's life on social media. The artist made music, movie clips and commercial advertisements for Zelffie, and made Zelffie participate in celebrity events, such as fashion weeks, festivals, etc. This process attracted many audiences' attention and participation. Till now, the artist has used this identity to create a series of art pieces, such as The Alex's Fabulous Show, Red Carpet Tutorial, and Nothing but Dance.

Nothing but dance is an artistic practice created during the 2020 global epidemic. The artist designed electronic music and dance animations and compiled them into a musical rhythm game endorsed by Zelffie. The game has two versions, the completed electronic version and a future physical interactive version. In the electronic version players can use the keyboard to play the game according to the rhythm and the arrow prompts. The physical interactive version will be supported by body motion sensing, and players will be allowed to dance together with Zelffie.