Research Catalogue

We live in an age of Symbolic Misery (Stiegler, 2014). In this era, we listen to the same music, scroll through the same Instagram feeds, and we immerse ourselves in daily lives that are the same as others, gradually losing the 'singularity (Stiegler, 2014)' of individual difference. This homogenized structure of perception continuously reshapes our subjectivity (Simondon, 1958; Hui, 2016), making individual desires no longer emerge from unique experiences or internal generative processes, but are increasingly induced and regulated by external technological and symbolic systems (Stiegler, 2015). In this context, the question is no longer 'What do we produce?' but rather, 'Do our desires still belong to ourselves?'. As Stiegler (2014) pointed out, in order to enter the market more effectively, marketing technologies have developed an industrial aesthetic system centered on audiovisual media. This industrial aesthetic re-functionalizes individual sensory experiences following industrial interests, aiming to produce a replicable and controllable unified taste through the standardized pleasure. This huge 'desire project (libidinal management)' manipulates human drives for externalization through a diversity of apparatus (Agamben, 2009; Foucault, 1977), generating a sense of 'participation' via formalized interaction, restricting the level of perception and expression (Stiegler, 2015). Through daily repetition, this process gradually weakens the individual’s ability for subjectivation, trapping them within a passive structure of desire (Stiegler, 2014). This exposition is based on an artistic research project titled 'I Don’t Know Who I Am', an installation game. It invites players to watch a five-minute monologue, the story of a cow (inspired by, for example, Lacan et al., 2001), to explore the secrets hidden within this cow’s desire. After watching the video, the player will face a plate of real grass with soya sauce, and be invited to make a choice: whether or not to eat the grass. This installation game encourages players to reflect on a critical question: At a time when industrial aesthetics and subjective experience standardize individual desire, is increasingly hollowed out, where do our desires truly come from? Do they still emerge from internal generative processes, or have they long been preconditioned and disciplined by technological objects and symbolic systems?

How can I, as a workshop facilitator, create inclusive, inviting and transformative spaces for sparking moments of joy around diversity? How does my training as an artist, researcher and teacher inform and enable my role as a workshop facilitator, such that I can support radical expressions of self-acceptance? What are the limitations to my role, and what possibilities may lie ahead through continued reflection and practice? I have worked through these questions by exploring the concept of vulnerability through a/r/tographic theories and practices, with the culmination of my research and reflections shared in this exposition. Though I have long hosted workshops in marginalised communities as a means for building resilience and kinship, only in the past year have I begun to analyse, from theoretical and methodological perspectives, how and why certain approaches work. Again and again, my reflective meanderings take me back to a single core concept, namely vulnerability. By being vulnerable, one becomes open and raw, which — in certain conditions — can lead to curiosity, risk-taking and remarkable creativity. With such an open and desiring mind, creative practices like crafting can evoke radical feelings of joy and appreciation around a topic that otherwise may tend to conjure conflicting or undesirable feelings. Vulnerability is particularly important in my work because the primary focus of my workshops has been bodily joy. Largely, I have hosted workshops wherein we have explored positive feelings of one’s gender diverse experiences, expressions or identity through paper crafting. Recently, I have also begun hosting crafting workshops, in which we forest bathe (friluftsliv) then craft on the joy one has felt in communion with nature. Crafting becomes an extension of the self, a temporary reincarnation of our own materiality in which we bring to life an alternative understanding of our own potential. In this exposition, I address the questions above by drawing on two example workshops, Crafting Gender Diverse Joy, and Crafting Joy in Nature -- hosted in April and May 2025, respectively. The organisation of this exposition is inspired by L. Balzi’s ice cracks metaphor (2023), Irwin's rhizomatic walking method (2013), and LeBlanc's The Wake (2019). The workshop process as a whole is a reverberation of impulses rippling outwards without end. I navigate these reverberations through a visual mapping of a rhizomatic system of roots sprawling from a tree in Bymarka. The roots are vast web of connections, largely hidden beneath the ground as points of potential. With our imaginations, we can appreciate the complexity of this web, just as we can trace the multiple invisible processes that lead us to our eventual a/r/tographic choices. I invite you to wander across these knots and walls, encountering the various descriptive concepts, or 'centres of vibration', to borrow from Deleuze and Guattari (1994; in Irwin & Springgay, 2008). The layout is roughly guided by the three stages of the workshop process (planning, workshop, aftercare), sprinkled with key concepts, theories, and practices. I also include documentation from the workshops, such as photos and crafts (with permission granted). Enjoy your own wandering. I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Simple page for presentation on 13/12/2023

Thesis of the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, 2022 MA Interior Architecture (INSIDE) The most valued value of architecture, houses, interiors today is on an aesthetic level: we appreciate what we see. That can be the shape of a building or the material used. What is missing in the discourse on (interior) architecture are the other senses while they might have more impact on the users.  I find myself adding this extra step in the process of designing a space based on the user experience. While we now look at the space with hygiene and durability in mind, I wonder how to bring along this sensations into the experience of space. And how this step can provide a comforting, healing or stimulating environment.  With a series of sense enhancing objects I would like to reintroduce tactility to spaces where there is a demand for tactility through texture, touch and sensations. Choice of materials will influence how a space is experienced which in turn could affect how users deal with their emotions. As a designer, I feel the urge to address this emphasis of material choice and in this way contribute to a sensorially fulfilling experience for the user and add this extra layer of comfort/support through an exploration of materials and textures. 

Thesis of the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, 2023 MA Interior and Architecture The emergence of the internet and smartphones has transformed communication and human relationships, expanding the range of communication and diminishing the importance of time and space. However, despite the increase in the number of relationships, social problems caused by loneliness and isolation are also on the rise, and people now tend to prefer personal space. This phenomenon raises important questions about the changing meaning and value of relationships in modern society, as well as the role of spatial design in addressing these challenges. This project aims to understand the desires of modern people regarding relationships from a spatial perspective, given the increasing number of one-person households and the issue of loneliness. Especially, this project explored the sensory aspect of communication through 'spatial experimentation' which is being faded while indirect communication is increasing. By utilizing nonverbal communication as a foundation, several spatial tools were employed to induce communication centered around movement, tactile sensations, and olfaction. Based on interviews conducted during spatial experiments and various psychological and sociological research, a concept of a virtual communication space prioritizing sensory connection was devised. In this virtual space, time and space are shared. The boundaries that separate spaces are flexible, opening and closing, allowing individuals to sense and communicate with each other through their senses. While modern communication often begins with the exchange of information and linguistic interaction, in this virtual space, communication starts with movement, friction, noise, or scent occurring in the shared physical environment. The boundaries that distinguish spaces are composed of various forms of curtains, which can open or close depending on the specific needs. These flexible boundaries allow each space to become a personal area or a shared area, depending on the circumstances.

Thesis of the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, 2023 BA Photography With the recent cultural emphasis on the pursuit of happiness, the expression of negative emotions seems to be neglected. The impact of not valuing and integrating emotions that can be viewed as negative can be detrimental to one’s well-being. There seems to be a widespread denial or suppression of such emotions that, eventually, can lead to problems such as self-esteem problems, depression, anxiety, etc. This has led to the urge to better understand what this observation is based on. How do you dress? What parts of your life do you share? What version of yourself do you show? Do you show the socially acceptable version or the raw and authentic version of yourself? There seems to be an unspoken rule that dictates how people should behave and portray themselves in front of others, showing only the positive aspects of their life. Taking this concept to a photographic level, I have encountered this scenario many times. You walk up to somebody and ask if you can take a picture of them. Their body tenses up, they rise tall and proud, and their smile stretches from ear to ear. They suddenly seem to be the happiest they have been all day, just for the picture. This is also the reality of social media. Once you open the app you are sucked into a wonderland. Posts and stories of people seemingly living their best lives, travelling, smiling, flexing, and comparing themselves to a #FAKEBODY. This makes me question what power photography holds in this day and age. In what ways could photography be used as a tool used to suppress our emotions instead of allowing us to express our true feelings? Through the use of chaptersation and personal stories, this thesis is presented by different emotions. By doing this, my aim is to create awareness and highlight the emphasis of emotions, making the reader question their own feelings and emotions, taking what resonates and helping them to tap into into their own body.