What is the title of your graduate show work?

The title of the project is Crowd Reality.

It is a group project by Jiarong Yu, Jiatong Liu, Rui Wu, Thomas Stewart, Philip Han, Sihong Liu, Root Cai and Honya Rara.

What is the project about?

Crowd Reality takes inspiration from the differences between the “Digital World” and the “Physical World” in this highly-virtualised post-pandemic era, where people are going through “remote everything”.

What if we miss the sense of a real crowd? In response, we created Crowd Reality, offering interactive garments that can simulate crowd haptics and provide users with the sensual experience of being in a crowd.

The project combines a virtual game with a physical interactive garment to depict the shift from the digital to the physical world.

How do you best like to work?

I enjoy group cooperation and solo work equally.

With Crowd Reality, working with talented partners in various fields, the collective intelligence has enabled the project to develop from a song I wrote in 2020 to a concept animation (2021), an event (2021), a game (2022), a physical prototype (2022), and it is still evolving.

And when I’m by myself, I like the combination of flexibility and orderliness. Moving further and far away from my field from time to time, this kind of push and pull allows me to get cross-cutting ideas and be constantly interested in creating, while on the other hand, not always driven by personal interests, but taking the work seriously and methodically.

In my new personal project, Chemical Garden, with the support of Design Informatics and Beauty of Science, I independently planned and implemented an audio-visual performance. It starts with the sense of mission and personal interest, but in the process, especially in the face of difficulties, personal interest is not stable enough to rely on. This is where preciseness comes in.

Can you tell us about some of the things that inspire you and that have influenced you during your studies?

Communication with professors, tutors, technicians, student colleagues and other people, inspires me a lot.

In addition to the best gift – inspiration – exchanging ideas and getting feedback in dialogue can also make the creative process less lonely.

What have been the highlights of your time at ECA and living in Edinburgh?

Firstly, as a producer and designer, I have participated in group projects for the Soft Robotics Conference, the Edinburgh Science Festival, and an exhibition at ECA. Through these, I have developed my organisational skills and production abilities.

Secondly, as a performer, I have done a lot of electronic music gigs in the Inspace Gallery, the Whitespace Gallery and around the Edinburgh club scene. I have been dedicated to incorporating music production with visual storytelling, data auralization, interactive installation and branding.

Last but not least, as an appreciator, I’ve met and learned about other artists, designers, engineers, and researchers and their work in Edinburgh.

Do you have any plans for after graduation?

I plan to continue my studies and get involved in a PhD research programme. I will continue to explore artistic intervention in the context of science and science education. At the same time, I will also keep on trying to prove or disprove my own opinions in practice.