I’m fascinated by the inherent evolution I’ve observed in certain materials. Through past experience of creating art, I discovered that when I put myself with a specific material (often in large quantities) — experiencing its appearance, properties, etc. — the material itself gradually begins to "speak" through these attributes. This "language" defines the position and concept the material occupies within the hypothetical physical space of a potential artwork. What astonishes me is the process of realizing this: "How could I not have grasped this at the (chronologically) initial stage?" — as if the material’s role in the work had become self-evident by default.
Two past examples involve Mylar (a translucent and reflective polyester film) and transparent fishing line combined with transparent PVC plastic strips.
Mylar's "language" lies in its capacity to "reflect the subject" — specifically, the subjectivity of the entities (human or non-human) involved. When confining a person within an immersive mylar space, they are forced to confront themselves, witnessing their own reflections. When multiple subjects coexist in such a space (doesn't have to be chornologically), they may gather, communicate, and observe one another — a dynamic fundamentally distinct from placing people in a conventional social environment.
The "language" of transparent fishing line combined with transparent PVC plastic strips is that of "things concealed yet ever-present" — whether social norms, suppressed thoughts, latent anxieties, or forces one might break free from, etc., depending on the context. When these materials occupy a space immersively (where viewers can potentially move through), traversing the space could become an interesting experience.
Other materials I’ve experimented with include photos, book pages, yarn, mist, UV fluorescent paints, flowers. There seems to be a latent connection between materials, objects, and social constructs — a kind of metaphysical scaffolding.
Some future materials to experiment with may include wood, metal, poxy, sand, feathers…
Thus, this project is grounded in material ontology — a framework that recognizes materials not as passive mediums to be manipulated, but as active agents with inherent "languages" of their own. I would like to engage in a dialogic process where materials reveal their capacity to shape meaning, for these interactions disrupt the anthropocentric hierarchy of artmaking, positioning the artwork as a co-creation between human intention and material agency. Here, viewers are not just observers but participants in a phenomenological negotiation — stepping into immersive installations where social constructs (norms, anxieties, power dynamics) are not merely represented but experienced through the material’s autonomous logic. This approach draws from new materialism and object-oriented philosophy, proposing that art’s transformative power lies in its ability to let materials "speak" their subversive truths.