Do Cyborgs Dream of Cripped Bodies?
Haus der Elektronischen Künste, Basel, Switzerland. 2024.
multi-sensory wearable design
The installation showcased in Tools for Change includes the performance costume from Channels, a short documentary film, an audio-visual interactive system, and projection technology synchronized with Lin’s heartbeat. To authentically recreate the context of the piece, Xiao also handcrafted a life-sized suspended mannequin modeled precisely after Lin’s body and movements, using exact data measurements and custom pattern-making to reconstruct the performance’s dynamic presence.
The concept of Qi that runs throughout the work aligns deeply with the curatorial theme. As Kaganskiy noted, Qi is the vital energy that flows through all beings and objects in Chinese culture, and their work illustrates how technology can act as a medium to transform, harness, and dissolve this energy, ultimately merging it with the human form.