‘Adversarial Design as Inquiry and Practice’
In “Adversarial Design as Inquiry and Practice,” Carl DiSalvo explores the role of adversarial design in stimulating public debate and addressing political conditions. This chapter emphasises design’s potential to challenge and question political issues through critical engagement and reflection. DiSalvo argues that by embodying conflicts and contradictions, adversarial design can serve as a form of inquiry, encouraging audiences to critically engage with and reflect on societal issues and power structures. This approach to design aims to propose a different approach with potential action by making abstract political concepts tangible.
Though my project is not focused on political issues, the chapter provides insights into how I can move forward. My project addresses the gender disparity issues in China, and I could apply some methodology from adversarial design. The plan of this project is to create conceptual body implant products that could transform females to make them fit into the contemporary image of the ‘perfect female’. Similar to the examples from the chapter, I am trying to provide a ‘real’ product for the audiences and trigger their desire to use the products. This chapter also suggests several methods to critique adversarial design, which I could use to evaluate my project.
Disgust Against Women (The Feeling of Disgust Against Females in Japan) (Chinese Edition)
In this book, Chizuko Ueno discusses the concept of misogyny and analyses different circumstances in which misogyny may occur. Chizuko Ueno is a Japanese feminist and socialist whose work is known for the profound analysis of gender discrimination and misogyny in Japanese society. Though my project is focused on Chinese society, there are some similarities in the practice of gender discrimination. Therefore, reading through Chizuko Ueno’s work enables me to explain some similar situations that individuals and society faced in China and further analyse them independently. The book explains and reveals some social practices that seem normal but are embedded with misogyny concepts underneath. Other than gender discrimination against women, the book uses the word “male homosexual desire”, which was first raised by Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick’s book Between Men: English Literature and Male Homosocial Desire (1985), to analyse the connections between males and how it affects the practice of misogyny. The examples in this book provide some bases and inspirations for my projects as it is about conceptual product design that sarcastically addresses gender disparity.
Redoing gender: How women in the hospitality industry challenge Chinese hegemonic gender discourse
This journal article discusses the role of women in the hospitality industry in China, and the content is vital for my project to help me gain insights into gender studies in China. The article includes 32 interviews from both work and non-work women as the basis for exploring the challenges they raised towards gender norms in China. Through interviews, the article suggests that women in hospitality are redefining gender roles. The article uses words such as “hospitality feminism” and “redoing gender” to describe the cases in which women performed professionally and displayed their toughness to challenge traditional gender disparity. Interviews in this article provide solid and reliable cases and examples for my project to explore gender norms and gender disparity in China.
Rebecca Horn
Rebecca Horn’s work is always associated with performances, films, installations and sculptures. In the 1960s and ’70s, Horn’s early performative pieces showcased her idea of using objects and materials to create body extensions. For example, White Body Fan (1972) is a piece with two large fan structures attached to the body and arms, and as the arms raise, the fans open like wings. Horn created this structure, addressing the human fantasies of birds and human hybrid creatures like angels. Some other pieces, like Finger Gloves (1972) and Pencil Mask (1972), indicate Horn’s interest in the human body’s movements.
Horn’s work is one of the key references for my project, for I will create a series of structures as body implants for the female body. The choice of materials and structures from Horn’s work are inspirations for my project development.
Menstruation Machine (Sputniko!)
A Menstruation Machine is a wearable machine that could provide the experience of menstruation while wearing. This machine looks like a metal chastity belt that includes systems that release blood and electrodes that are used to create painful stimulation. According to the artist ——Sputniko!, the device can be worn by males, children, postmenopausal females, and any individuals who want to experience menstruation. On Sputniko! ‘s webpage, there is a music video indicating and evaluating the menstruation machine. Takashi wears the device, and as the description suggests, Takashi experiences pain and bleeding similar to menstruation, which the process transforms the machine into “a wearable display of identity”.
Menstruation Machine is a carefully designed device that can almost replicate the experiences of menstruation. The mechanism system is the field in which I lack experience, which might become the direction that I could explore further with my project.
This project involves various aspects of gender identity and transgender issues. As the music video suggests, Takashi’s experience with the Menstruation Machine indicates the transgender identity of this character.
Citations
DiSalvo, Carl (2012) ‘Adversarial Design as Inquiry and Practice’, in Adversarial Design. Cambridge: MIT Press, pp. 115-125.
Ueno, Chizuko. (2015) Disgust against Women (The Feeling of Disgust against Females in Japan). First Edition. Shanghai: Shanghai Sanlian Culture Publishing House.
Liu, W., Li, M. And Liu, T. (2022) ‘Redoing gender: How women in the hospitality industry challenge Chinese hegemonic gender discourse’, International Journal of Hospitality Management, 107. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2022.103344
Museum Tinguely (2019) Rebecca Horn. Body Fantasies. Available at: https://www.tinguely.ch/en/exhibitions/exhibitions/2019/rebecca-horn.html(Accessed: 3 February 2024).
RA (2009) Rebecca Horn Hon RA (b. 1944). Available at: https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/art-artists/name/rebecca-horn-hon-ra (Accessed: 3 February 2024).
Grosz, E. (2014) Design and Violence: Menstruation Machine (Sputniko!). Available at: https://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2013/designandviolence/menstruation-machine-sputniko/ (Accessed: 8 February 2024).
Sputniko! (2022) Menstruation Machine – Takashi’s Take. Available at: https://sputniko.com/Menstruation-Machine (Accessed: 8 February 2024).