When I interviewed an architect three years ago, she said that if architecture is the first layer of clothing outside the human body, then clothing is the first layer of architecture outside the body; and today, facing Tianyu's design, I want to say that clothing can also be another layer of "Tangible Skin" on top of our skin. ——Keyi Zhang
Body Gaze
Keyi Zhang: Welcome Tianyu to our interview. My first question is about the Body Gaze project. Since Tianyu's background is fashion design, what kind of opportunity gave you the opportunity to do such a dynamic design that changes with the sight of others?
Tianyu Qi: Okay. Because I am engaged in the fashion design industry, I found that being stared at is a common thing for fashion workers or models. In life, the body shape or appearance of individuals is often stared at. Since this is an ongoing event, is it possible for the stared person to know that she is being stared at? Then, under this premise, make some reactions.
So I made a wearable device that uses a camera to capture the eyes of people around, and judge whether it is a stare based on the time the eyes stay, for example, it will be considered as a stare if it exceeds a few seconds. These cameras can identify areas that cannot be seen in front, such as the sight of the left and right rear.
The movement of this device is based on the behavior of some animals, such as animals will stand up when they are in danger or excited. I made a cloak-like structure around the shoulders, with some movable small parts on it, which can react differently according to the position, duration and expression of other people's sight.
Soft Shell
Keyi Zhang: Your project Soft Shell is more like an exoskeleton growing on the human body than a piece of clothing. Then would you like to tell us about the origin of the morphological design idea of ​​this project?
Tianyu Qi: This project is an airbag system installed on the back, which will automatically inflate or deflate according to the signals sent by the skin and body temperature. The principle is actually very simple. I made it because I have always been interested in the "range of perception", such as the five senses. In addition to people perceiving the external world, is it possible that the world is also perceiving us?
Humans themselves cannot actively send out many signals like animals or insects, but if we also have such a feature, what would it be like? I imagined it as a set of "skeleton" growing on the back, like a piece of clothing that can be worn, but it is hard and can sense the state of the body and send signals to the outside world.
If a person is anxious or nervous, his body can't express it directly, but with such a device, those invisible feelings can be seen.
Lean
Keyi Zhang: This project is very beautiful from the conception to the final product. Lean is also a wearable device that changes according to the external situation, right?
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Tianyu Qi: Yes, I want to make a small robot that can move freely outside the clothes. Although I haven't figured out what it can be used for, I think this form itself is very interesting. It is an origami structure, shaped a bit like a bridge, with magnets embedded at both ends. There is a set of electromagnets under the clothes, which can activate different positions to make the two ends of this bridge-shaped robot stick to the surface of the clothes, realizing a movement similar to "walking". It can also automatically adjust its angle according to the posture of the human body leaning forward or backward, so that it can maintain balance and stay on the clothes stably.
Chaos and Oder
Keyi Zhang: Chaos Order is this series. Compared with other works, is it a more static design?
Tianyu Qi: Oh, yes, that project is about chaos and order. I want to express that they exist at the same time, but you need to balance the middle and find a way to live. Then I express it in a visual way through clothing.
Balenciaga Project
Keyi Zhang: Finally, Balenciaga Project is a pure clothing design project, right?
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Tianyu Qi: Yes, it is a project in the school curriculum. You have to create a piece of clothing based on Mr. Balenciaga's previous design style, the fabrics used, or any design elements you extract, and then recreate a piece of clothing.
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Keyi Zhang: Regarding the part of thinking on the basis of Balenciaga, what kind of changes or innovations have you made?
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Tianyu Qi: When we were doing research, we found that many of Mr. Balenciaga's clothes have a two-layer structure. The inner layer will be connected to the outer layer with some skeletons or small strips of cloth, and a space will be formed inside and outside. This structure is suitable for keeping the clothes light and thin in large-scale designs. I used a metallic fabric as the inner layer, connected the outer layer with buttons at the waist, and used an origami design on the outer layer. This design was later selected by Christobal Balenciaga to be exhibited in a museum in Spain.
INTERVIEWER: KEYI ZHANG
CURATOR: KE ZHANG
EDITOR: CHENYU LIN
GRAPHIC DESIGNER: VIVI SHEN
Tianyu Qi
Tianyu Qi is a multidisciplinary designer who graduated from Parsons Fashion Design. She takes the body as a starting point and combines clothing, installation and interactive technology to create. Her works often revolve around the relationship between perception, space and people.