Semi-Human Objects by Hongjie Yang
Designer Hongjie Yang investigates design implications of tissue engineering in a lab and the possibilities of growing human tissue into artificially designed forms.
Can objects be grown out of human tissue? In Semi-Human Objects, designer Hongjie Yang investigates design implications of tissue engineering in a laboratory and the possibilities of growing human tissue into artificially designed forms.
In the research, Yang worked with biomedical engineering professor Patricia Dankers from Eindhoven University of Technology. As a result, Yang and Dankers grew a vase with a surface of mono-layer of human kidney cells on a 3-dimensional scaffold.
“I envision that the adoption of this biotechnology in design will open up new aesthetic and perceptual possibilities,” states the designer. ”I believe this means that the socially coded distinctions between man and objects will collapse.”
Semi-Human Objects is a project conducted both in a lab and in conceptual design practice. The biotechnological research is complemented by a speculative collection of objects simulating the aesthetics of laboratory-grown design objects. The collection consists of a table, bench, and a mirror made of synthetic materials such polyester, which is used to simulate human tissue, as well as ceramics, textile and epoxy, which are used to represent scaffolding material from the lab. The furniture is accompanied by a series of smaller objects made of natural ox bone, with which Yang recently experimented in China. In the objects, the bone is integrated in brass.
“The project is grounded by the classical philosophy of the sublime, and it posits that the old dichotomy between man and objects will collapse by deriving objects from people,” states the designer. “It also offers a new definition and condition for the sublime in the post-natural age.”
Semi-Human Objects started as Hongjie Yang’s graduation project from Master department Contextual Design at Design Academy Eindhoven. The project will be exhibited at Design Academy Eindhoven Graduation Show during Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, on 17–25 October 2015.
The Semi-Human Vase will also be on display at exhibition Thing Nothing – The Meaning, Value and Future of Things at Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven on 17 October–15 November 2015. •
Articles you also might like
TLmag spoke with Annemoon Geurts, Founder and Creative Director of Kazerne, during Dutch Design Week 2024, about the future of her multifaceted business and how nature-inclusive design is the way forward.
TLmag spoke to Katinka Versendaal about her new project, The Fish Knows Everything, which was presented in a unique space in the former Campina milk factory during Dutch Design Week 2024.
Dutch Design Week 2024 (DDW24) takes over the city of Eindhoven between October 19-27, 2024. With 415 locations and over 2,500 designers taking part this year, this year’s edition is as dynamic as ever.
Last fall, Pao Hui Kao spoke with Oscar Duboÿ for our A/W 2022 issue: TLmag38: Origin. She is currently showing a selection of work, including pieces from the Original Paper Pleats series and the Urushi Paper Pleats series, as part of the exhibition, “Interlude”, at Spazio Nobile Gallery.