Zishi Han: the nocturnal flights of stillness (YDP Residency)

YDP hosts Zishi Han as our 2026 autumn Artist-in-Residence.

Zishi Han is drawn to things that contain and let through, membranes and structures under tension, and forms caught in processes of adaptation and metamorphosis. In his work, materials appear in temporary states, carrying traces of being acted upon and signs of transformation.

Han’s residency at YDP begins with a display of the nocturnal flights of stillness (2026), a recent moving-image work revolving around forces that are sensed before understood. The video will be shown in the Artist’s Lab alongside a low vibrating platform at the centre of the space.

Han approaches the display at YDP as a spatial condition, where architecture, materials and sensory experience become entangled. Ephemeral elements pass through and unsettle otherwise rigid structures. The space becomes an apparatus of power that shapes how bodies move, sense and relate to their surroundings through attraction, dependency and attachment.

Vibration is important in Han’s work. It inhabits a structure while continuously unsettling it from within. This dependence carries masochistic, parasitic intimacy: the host sustains the force that acts upon it while being altered by its passage. Moving directly through the body, vibration can transmit and provoke feelings, transforming it into a field that precedes language.

Over the course of Han’s residency, the platform will become a point of departure for further experiments: a stage, an instrument, or a surface shared by performers, objects and visitors. Performances and small interventions will gradually shift the display.

Zishi Han (b. 1990, Beijing) is an artist based in Frankfurt am Main. His work spans installation, sculpture, moving image, sound and performance. He often develops projects with sustained attention to spatial conditions and material behaviours. Before studying art, Han trained as an engineer and designer, and graduated from Städelschule in 2024.

Display on view 2 October – 19 December 2026 (residency 25 September – 10 December 2026), Artist’s Lab, YDP, 19 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3JA.

Admission is free and open to all

Tuesday to Saturday, 11am–6pm

Find out more info or book your tickets on ydp.co/residencies/zishi-han-residency

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