CHI CHI CHENG 鄭資姿
TEDx Speaker - I talked about things we talk about everyday - food & identity
Art + Neuroscience + Medicine = Resilience - what do you think?
Neuroscience Rep at Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London
Featured in Royal Photographic Society's Woman Science Photographer of the Year Award 2023
Yoga Alliance 400 - I trained with Dr. Yogananth Andiappan, Tamil Nadu, India
I once flu to Tibet with a one-way ticket, 7 years later I founded Consciously Human
I am a multidisciplinary artist from Hong Kong with a background in neuroscience. In our times of social cognition arising from hyper-capitalism, health inequality and divided nations, my goal is to bring neuroscience research to the general public with innovative approaches and impactful stories - for a world with better brain health, mental resilience, and no psychiatric medicine.
My art questions "Are we mad, or our world is?". I invite you to question, however, what does it mean to be mad, and what can we do about it - both within us and in the world we exist in.
My current research interests are:
1. Neuroscience and Ideologies: how neurobiology may help us navigate the space between hospitality and hostility
2. The landscape of resilience in times of social cognition - a biopsychosocial approach
3. The effect of yoga, meditation and fasting on mental resilience and brain health in young adults with psychosis
4. Mindfulness as a potential tool to reduce psychiatric medication intake
5. The role of autophagy in reducing inflammation and increasing brain cells production, neuroplasticity, mitochondrial biogenesis and human growth hormone in patients with neurological diseases
6. The therapeutic potential of ketogenic diet on myeline repair in treating dementia
Taking on an "anthropological” approach with a focus on understanding human conditions both culturally and biologically, I question what it means to be a conscious evolutionary human that challenges the world's status quo, going beyond the surface of tradition and hierarchical structures to investigate the inner workings of the mind and the many underlying issues of humanity. I believe that the answer to humanity lies in the delicate interplay between our external environment (physical, sociocultural, political, economic etc.) and our neurobiology, and the resulting effects on our behaviour, emotions and the way we perceive the world.
1. Neuroscience and Ideologies: how neurobiology may help us navigate the space between hospitality and hostility
2. The landscape of resilience in times of social cognition - a biopsychosocial approach
3. The effect of yoga, meditation and fasting on mental resilience and brain health in young adults with psychosis
4. Mindfulness as a potential tool to reduce psychiatric medication intake
5. The role of autophagy in reducing inflammation and increasing brain cells production, neuroplasticity, mitochondrial biogenesis and human growth hormone in patients with neurological diseases
6. The therapeutic potential of ketogenic diet on myeline repair in treating dementia
Taking on an "anthropological” approach with a focus on understanding human conditions both culturally and biologically, I question what it means to be a conscious evolutionary human that challenges the world's status quo, going beyond the surface of tradition and hierarchical structures to investigate the inner workings of the mind and the many underlying issues of humanity. I believe that the answer to humanity lies in the delicate interplay between our external environment (physical, sociocultural, political, economic etc.) and our neurobiology, and the resulting effects on our behaviour, emotions and the way we perceive the world.
Born a nomad working and travelling across the globe, my art reflects a culmination of years of internal negotiations on human conditions, identity, hospitality & hostility. I hope to invite viewers of my art to confront moments of curiosity and uncertainties through poetic symbolism.
I grew up in the British colonial days of Hong Kong before its return to China in 1997. I spent my early childhood with my Chinese grandparents in China in the 80’s and witnessed the impact of China’s rapid transition. Life requires me to constantly shift in, out and between the countless layers of social and cultural complexities in my homeland.
I am currently pursuing my Master of Science in Applied Neuroscience at King's College London. I studied at Hong Kong Baptist University and Zurich University of the Arts for my Master of Arts in Visual Arts.
I woke up in Tibet, then fell asleep somewhere (I forgot). Today I am agnostic, tomorrow I don't know.
EDUCATION:
Master of Science in Applied Neuroscience, King's College London, 2021 - present
Master of Arts in Visual Arts, Hong Kong Baptist University, 2016 - 2018
Transcultural Collaboration (Graduate program), Zurich University of the Arts, 2016
TEDx TALK:
How I Question My Identity With a Fortune Cookie, speaker, TEDX TinHauWomen, Hong Kong, 2019.
AWARDS & COMPETITIONS:
Woman Science Photographer of the Year Award, Shortlisted, Royal Photographic Society, UK, 2023
Human Rights Arts Prize 2020 - Featured in Goethe Video Award, organised by Justice Centre, The European Union Office to Hong Kong & Macau and Goethe Institue Hong Kong, 2020
RTHK《凝視香港》短片創作比賽 RTHK 30 Seconds for Hong Kong Video Competition, 2019
FILMS:
My Monster, 2023, co-scriptwriter, still photographer, videographer for making-of. Microfilm Production Support Scheme (Music and Professional Category. Awarded Best Art Direction and Best Actor Bronze Award) 《我與怪物》, 2023, 編劇, 第十屆微電影「創+ 作」支援計劃 (音樂篇, 專業組. 獲最佳美術指導及最佳男主角銅獎)
Life Flows, 2022, art and script consultant, Hong Kong International Film & TV Market (FILMART). 人間飄浮, 2022, 藝術與編劇顧問，香港國際影視展.
COMMISSIONED WORK:
Early Bird Catches the Worm, K11 Atelier, Hong Kong, 2018. Commissioned by South China Morning Post
RESEARCH & PRODUCTION EXPERIENCE:
Socially Engaged Art Researcher & Producer, Beyond Words, Freespace West Kowloon Cultural District. (part of Hacking Capitalism – Socially Engaged Art Through Alternative Art Economies and Entrepreneurship by Kingsley Ng. More details: https://creativesocialhk.net/prototypes)
PERFORMANCES 表演藝術:
Belonging Fortune Cookies, Artist & Performer, Freespace at West Kowloon Cultural District, Hong Kong, 2019
An Edible Performance, Performer, Visual Artist & Illustrator, Tai Kwun Centre of Heritage and Arts, Hong Kong, 2019
About Khon & I, Performance Participant, Tai Kwun Centre of Heritage and Arts, Hong Kong, 2019
Mirror Factory: Numbness, Choreographer & Performer, Connecting Spaces, Hong Kong, 2017
PERFORMANCE ART 行為藝術:
Kaliasana, Autumnal Equinox, 2020
Un/Titled 無, The Originals Freedom Performance Art Project 正常小孩飛櫈行為藝術展, Sense 99, Hong Kong, 2020-2021
PARTICIPATORY/ SOCIALLY ENGAGED ART PROJECTS:
Belonging Fortune Cookies, Hong Kong Baptist University & Freespace at West Kowloon Cultural District, Hong Kong, 2019
One Ingredient, One Story, 2018, a dining experience with the theme personal stories sharing
MissFortune's Kitchen, 2018 - present, an art & dining experience exploring the theme of Fortune through personal stories sharing
EXHIBITIONS:
Early Bird Catches the Worm, K11 Atelier, Hong Kong, 2018. (Commissioned by South China Morning Post)
What Happens When a Man is Swallowed By a Whale, I Art, Therefore I Am, Koo Ming Kown Gallery, Hong Kong, 2018.
MissFortune's Kitchen, RE:SPIRE - Master of Arts in Visual Art Graduation Show, Academy of Visual Art, Hong Kong Baptist University, 2018.
MissFortune's Kitchen, C&G Apartment, Hong Kong, 2018.
FilmAid Charity Auction, FilmAid, Hong Kong, 2017
Master of Visual Art Show, Hong Kong Baptist University, 2017
The Garden of Silence, Koo Ming Kown Gallery, Hong Kong, 2016-2017
Exquisite Corpse, Connecting Spaces, Hong Kong, 2016
DOGG GGOD, Zurich University of the Arts, Switzerland, 2016
PUBLIC PRESENTATIONS
Speaker, Cultural Literacy Program at Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, 2020
CONTRIBUTIONS:
Photography contributor, exhibition catalogue of Escapologie by Christine Rebet, Musée d'art contemporain de Lyon, France, 2019
Guest Speaker, Starting From Research: Automated Landscape, Tai Kwun Centre of Heritage and Arts, Hong Kong, 2019
INTERVIEWS & FEATURES:
Perspective on Art and Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, 2021
MEMBERSHIPS:
Applied Neuroscience Association