Hongci Hu
Hongci Hu is a Chinese textiles designer and researcher, with a knitting specialty. Hongci has created series of E-textiles in combining technology with traditional craftsmanship. Her work approaches to fashion, textiles, wearable arts, in experimental, self-identified, social, sustainable perspectives. Hongci received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Fashion Design and a Master of Fine Arts in Textiles at Parsons School of Fashion. Her textile design works have been showcased at exhibitions worldwide. Beyond working with forms of art, she became transdisciplinary and stepped into the field of textile technology. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. degree in the School of Fashion and Textiles at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Her research interests are three-dimensional knitting structures, flex sensors, motion capture, knitting technology, and tangible interactive interface.
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+852 54988404 +86 13509601716
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Artificial 224
L: 115in, W: 80in, H:10in
ARTIFICIAL 4,6,13,21
ARTIFICIAL 8,10,16
ARTIFICIAL
ARTIFICIAL 224
An amorphous soft, knitted floor bed of red and blue polyps wiggle in different directions, as if underwater. Shimmering and glowing, wool is combined with optical fibre into textile sculptures. Based on the study of natural biological activities and biological structures, an entire university of e-textile biomimetic sea animals moves as if alive on the floor.
"Artificial 224", these soft-robotic beings represent the chatter of conscious human thoughts, raising awareness of how beautiful nature is and what can we learn from it.
"Artificial 224" is completely knitted, specifically using crochet and machine knitting techniques. The yarns in these textiles are all recycled, donated by knitting factories that were forced to close permanently during the pandemic. Making techniques include 3D-printing, soldering, casting and wiring. A map of 80 motors wired together underneath the sprawling textile enables the knitted structures to move, each motor structure designed specifically to integrate and connect to an independent textile polyp.
ARTIFICIAL 4，6，8, 10, 13，16，21
Based on the study of natural biological activities and biological structures, Hongci created a collection of biomimetic E-textile works.
Hongci’s Biology integrates her aesthetic and material choice into each individual that is derived from nature.
These soft-robotic-individuals are chatters of conscious thoughts, raising awareness of how beautiful nature is and what can we learn from it.