Eli Zhang’s practice aims for this work to entice the viewers to think about the future. Is our relentless pursuit of a hi-tech future correct and are we on the right path? To explore this issue, Zhang created two works based on the signature product of their hometown: Pickle.
In the first work, Zhang seals a bag of real pickles with resin, representing the idea of the real world. In the second, Zhang collected research regarding the pickle and the pickling process and displayed it on a cut acrylic strip, combined with a key, stored in a metal cylinder in the centre, this tells the viewer anything they wish to know about the background of the pickle.
By presenting the two works together, Zhang hopes people will think about the future and question the works- is the pickle composed of information just as real and formed as the resin suspended pickle? Finally Zhang ponders a time in the future where maybe their resin-preserved pickle could be the last pickle and the only record we have.