Crowd patterns create ultimate hipster plaid

By Beren Neale
published

Is this the most unusual (and literal) example of crowdsourced design?

This is the ultimate hipster plaid

For too long has plaid been the reserve of the hipster, the lumberjack, and the 1990s grunge revivalist. Beijing artist Zhang Bojun is taking back for the people... in fact, he's made a whole range of cool designs using people from the streets of China as his material.

For the series called 'We' Zhang spent seven years taking photos of people out and about on the streets of China's cities. He then cut out the images of them out of their surrounding and pasted them together to create uniqe patterns.

This is the ultimate hipster plaid

Currently showing in the Ofoto Gallery in Shanghai, the show is described by the curators as for, as well as of, the people.

"There is no obscure and mystifying part of [this] contemporary art... "We" series is easy for anyone to appreciate and understand without over-interpretation and explanation."

This is the ultimate hipster plaid

Although seemingly not politically charged, it's easy to see the blending of individuals into a harmonious whole as signafying something. Could it mean the strength of individuals working together? Or perhaps a subversive take on the notion of individuality in modern China? Tell us what you think below.

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Beren Neale
Beren Neale
Deals Editor

Beren has worked on creative tech magazines and websites at Future Publishing for 13 years. He started this journey as Staff Writer on the digital art magazine ImagineFX, and in 2012 found himself bridging the magazine/website divide as Commissioning Editor on the newly launched Creative Bloq. Since then he took the editor role on ImagineFX, was Launch Editor of the fine art magazine Paint & Draw, moved to Canon Pro Europe website as Deputy Editor, and then edited the graphic design magazine Computer Arts. In 2020 he moved back to Creative Bloq, the biggest global art and design website, and as Deals Editor has applied his expertise in creative tech to help digital creatives get the best deals on the kit that they need and love. Outside of work, Beren likes nothing better than to climb himself a bit of rock.  

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