Work

A couple hundred off-spec glass tubes were stored away in CW&T’s garage from the production of Time Since Launch.

Upcycling these defective parts presented itself as a rewarding creative challenge, so we started exploring ways involving minimal manufacturing that would turn these parts into something meaningful.

Time and Play have been two persistent themes in CW&T’s works. They became the guiding stars of this exploration.

I led the timer’s design and development with generous support and the vision of Che-Wei and Taylor.

An office chair functions as the interface for a hybrid coin-collection game and labor simulation. The player or worker navigates the floor to accumulate projected pennies within a fixed duration, returning to a defined boundary to secure their earnings. Each session is monitored through a Microsoft Azure Kinect depth camera, with a presenter’s remote provided for intermittent calibration of the tracking system.

“wind-vane-cam” is a solar-powered, streaming camera designed to be directed by the ambient air currents. This device forms a unique hybrid between a wind vane and an internet-connected, automated camera, allowing the wind to assume the roles of cameraman and livestreamer – essentially, a ‘Twitch personality.’ In the dynamic realm of live internet, “wind-vane-cam” bridges the gap between the climatic and the digital.

A compact Li-ion battery powers a Raspberry Pi 3 equipped with a high-quality camera module. Two 5W solar panels charge this battery during daylight hours, ensuring a constant power source. A power management board provides the necessary automation for the computer.

The video feed is live-streamed to Twitch via RTMP protocol. Notably, no local copies of the footage are retained.

Aiming to develop a human-scaled wind power generator inspired by wind turbines, Air Lamp functions as an analogy to mega-projects that are currently powering our world, with a poetic and humorous twist.

To achieve this, the circuit of an existing micro blower fan is reversed. Instead of being powered to propel air, the fan harvests energy from airflow entering the chamber and generates electricity.

Two apparatuses were designed. The first one converts human breath into electricity, powering a strip of LEDs. The second apparatus is designed to fit an existing pressurized gardening sprayer and generates electricity via the release of the stored kinetic energy in the pressurized container.

These two apparatuses showcase the fundamentals of today’s renewable energy: energy harvesting and energy storage—essentially visualizing compressed air energy storage (CAES) in a familiar form.

Wind is in the browser window. The web-based experience captures the ephemeral quality of weather API data and combines the discrete values with a Perlin noise generator to imitate the behavior of a kite. The HTML hand clenches into a fist, tightly grabbing onto the string of the kite.

Since May 2025, the site has become a space for minds intrigued by the wind. The first version of the project was supported by a Rhizome microgrant.

A familiar emblem of white-collar labor is recontextualized as an instrument of movement, sound, and mark-making. Two paired Steelcase chairs become a medium for choreography and spatial drawing, inviting participants to explore the office chair as a performing object through gliding, spiraling, and collective motion.

Vandalistic behaviors of urban dwellers have profoundly shaped the city landscape we’re familiar with. Some may be as explicit as expressive graffiti on concrete walls, while others—like flower pots hanging on U-channel signposts—are less obtrusive and can even seem ingenious. This project is inspired by these observed improvisations and builds on the opportunity presented by the commonly found U-channel signpost.

As a modular, expandable mounting system, the design advocates an alternative means for people to participate in transforming public space—decentralized, user-friendly, and somewhat anarchic. To demonstrate the potential of the concept, three case studies address different functions: vertical surfaces, small features, and complex structures. Against the backdrop of an ongoing pandemic that has slowed production and the logistics of mass-manufactured goods, the project is open source and publicly shared so interested participants can take part through technologies like 3D printing.

If you’d like to participate further, you can download the original files—including 3D models—via the Thingiverse page.

© Zichen Yuan, 2020

The Nosy Cup is a porcelain drinking vessel inspired by the basic shapes of everyday encounters. Some may find it looks like a nose, while others see a resemblance to Easter Island’s monolithic heads. To some, it even resembles a phallus under a Speedo. The absurd-but-humorous bulb creates extra capacity for liquid while offering a comfy hug for your fingers.

Challenged to design a small stool within dimensions less than 12” × 12” × 12”, Rolled-up Stool is inspired by the rolled-up foam sheets of everyday life. Instead of using the longer side as the load-bearing surface, the stool supports the user on its cut side, dramatically changing the material’s character under force. It’s incredibly easy to assemble: two ratchet straps secure a single rolled-up, CNC-cut foam piece.

ArtiBlossom is an imitation flower structure that simulates the physical and emotional interaction we have with natural objects. The structure opens up like a blossoming flower when watered. As water slowly drips out from the counterweight ball, the “petals” gradually return to their original positions, finishing a cycle of “life”.

The fake plants found on the market now can fool the most trained eyes. They are successful in the realm of decoration, but they cover no ground in emotion and interaction. Compared to conventional plastic flowers, ArtiBlossom focuses on fulfilling users’ interactive and emotional needs for natural elements instead of solely imitating via visualization. By faking Mother Nature, the project speculates about potential human needs in a dystopian future in which artificial things may take over the roles of nature. What will be missed of the true nature? Is it the imagery? The touch? The connection?