MEET 2023 HYBRID BODY LAB ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE - Joe George

We are thrilled to announce that Joe George has been selected as the 2023 Artist-in-Residence for the Hybrid Body Lab. Following a rigorous review process of all applications, three finalists were chosen and interviewed. We were impressed with Joe's exceptional talent as a tattoo artist, as well as his innovative and utilitarian vision to on-skin computing, which will undoubtedly provide us with a unique perspective on our research in the lab.

We extend our sincerest gratitude to all the talented applicants who submitted their proposals to our program. The selection process was highly competitive, and we were impressed by the caliber of work and creativity that each artist brought to the table. Additionally, we would like to thank the committee members for their invaluable feedback throughout the selection process.

We are excited about the upcoming collaboration with Joe and look forward to seeing the remarkable work that will result from this collaboration.


Joe George

https://www.instagram.com/joe_george_/

Joe George (b.1992) is a multidisciplinary artist based in Brooklyn, NY working in painting, 3D modeling, and tattooing, among other mediums. His work predominantly uses texture and context to modify the surfaces of objects, bodies, and meshes. Since receiving a BFA from Pratt Institute in 2015, he has worked to view and interpret these as increasingly interchangeable.


Image courtesy Joe George


 

HYBRID BODY LAB ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE 2023 FINALIST

Diana Sanchez

https://diana-sanchez.com/

Diana Sánchez Barrios is a poet, media artist and participatory designer from Colombia.
She works across disciplines and media exploring human practices and values that shape design and our concepts of what is technology, beauty, nature, and affection. Interested in science and technology studies she aims to integrate care and feminist perspective in her projects mediated by technoscience and participatory research.
Currently interested in biopolitics, human body physiology -skin, memory and affection-  and the future of human labor and nature (specially pollinators) in the era of automation and data centers.
She is currently a graduate student MFA in Digital and Media and Society of Presidential Fellow at RISD.

Kay Kasparhauser

https://www.instagram.com/kayswebsite/

Kay Kasparhauser was raised, lives, and works in New York City. She has a BFA in Apparel Design from Rhode Island School of Design. Kay has worked professionally in the fashion and design space as a creative director, graphic designer, and in concept ideation. As a fine artist Kay focuses on the body and its fragility as raw material. Her work explores survival, mutation, and biology. She wonders about being in bodies, and what it means to be in the unbearably big world in these unpredictable, assailable, palimpsestic, agonizing pleasure centers.

ORGANIZERS

Cindy Hsin-Liu Kao

Director, Hybrid Body Lab

Assistant Professor of Human Centered Design, Cornell University

Jingwen Zhu

PhD Student, Hybrid Body Lab

Human Centered Design, Cornell University

SELECTION COMMITTEE / BOARD OF ADVISORS

The selection committee and organizers will work together to determine the finalists. The organizers will ultimately select the chosen resident.

Jaleesa Reed, Ph.D.
Assistant Research Professor of Human Centered Design, Cornell University

Dr. Jaleesa Reed is an Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Human Centered Design. Her primary research interest is in millennial Black women’s beauty culture and beauty retail spaces. Her interdisciplinary research focuses on connecting human geography, feminist studies, and merchandising in the fashion, apparel, and textile industries.

Sarah Gotowka
Artist
Owner & Directer, Luna Fiber Studio

Sarah Gotowka is a practicing textile artist and instructor. She has been weaving since 2005, and has been growing natural dyes since 2010. She received her BFA in Fibers and Material Studies from The Cleveland Institute of Art in 2007, and her MFA in Fibers and Material Practices from Concordia University in Montreal in 2013. Since moving to the Ithaca area she has taught at SUNY Cortland, Cornell University, Ithaca College, The Johnson Museum of Art, Wells College, and New Roots Charter School.

Oksana Ani
Sr. Designer for Advanced Knit, Nike Inc.
Interdisciplinary Designer, Thinker, Explorer

Oksana Ani is an experienced Designer, Thinker, Explorer and visual communicator who excels in cross-functional collaborations. Oksana leads innovation platforms that focus on impactful and sustainable product that is empowered by storytelling. She holds a Master's degree focused in Fashion Design from Royal College of Art and Innovation from MIT Media Lab. She is currently a Sr. Designer for Advanced Knit at Nike Inc.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This residency is funded by the National Science Foundation and a Cornell University College of Human Ecology Engaged Research Grant.

We are grateful to Laura Devendorf, Leah Buechley, and Jennifer Jacobs for their earlier work in Experimental Weaving and Clay Residencies which inspired this endeavor!

Highlights from Hybrid Body Lab's Year in 2022

As we come to the end of 2022, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on all that our lab has accomplished this year.  It's been a fruitful year for us. Amongst our many publications, we wanted to highlight four major research papers presented at top ACM conferences- two at CHI 2022 (KnitSkin and Patch-O), one at UbiComp (SkinKit), and one at ISWC (Scaling E-Textile Production, with Best Paper Honorable Mention Award). We're proud of the work we've done and the contributions we've made to the field.

But it's not just about the papers - we also hosted a fantastic artist-in-residence program this summer, with our first resident, Morgan Chen, creating the stunning artwork Social Prosthesis and hosting two artist talks and a workshop on makeup art. Our lab members even got in on the fun and learned body painting! Looking forward to hosting the skill share workshop again with our 2023 artist-in-residence. (The 2023 Artist-in-Residence open call is still open.) 

Broadening participation and outreach is also central to the work we do. We hosted a 4H Career Explorations workshop, teaching middle school students how to use SkinKit to create on-skin interactions. We're also excited to exhibit our KnitDermis project at Material Reasoning, which features projects from Center for Craft Materials-Based Research Grant recipients from 2017-2020. (The exhibition runs through January 28th, so make sure to stop by if you're in the area.)

It's also been a year of change for our lab, as we've said goodbye to some of our fellow lab members who have graduated and gone on to pursue exciting opportunities in top graduate programs. We're so proud of their achievements and grateful for their contributions to our lab. At the same time, we've welcomed new members to the team and are looking forward to all the exciting things we'll accomplish together in the coming year. 

Thank you to everyone who has supported us and contributed to our success in 2022. Here's to an even better 2023!

Exhibition: KnitDermis is on display at Material Reasoning through January 28th


The KnitDermis project by Hybrid Body Lab is on display at Material Reasoning through January 28th. Material Reasoning is a group exhibition of Center for Craft Materials-Based Research Grant recipients from 2017-2020. From woven computer displays and robot-felted sculptures to thermal printed textile structures and bone china formulations, the works on view showcase the immense potential of collaboration between craft artists and practitioners in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and the summits of creative output that could only be reached by breaking through disciplinary boundaries.

Hybrid Body Lab was granted Material Research Grant from the Center for Craft in 2020. To learn more about the project KnitDermis: https://www.hybridbody.human.cornell.edu/#/knitdermis/

Research Team: Jin Hee (Heather) Kim (Lead Researcher), Kunpeng Huang, Simone White, Melissa Conroy, Prof. Cindy Hsin-Liu Kao

Photo by Jordan Whitten. Courtesy Center for Craft.

Photo by Emmanuel Figero. Courtesy Center for Craft.

Photo by Emmanuel Figero. Courtesy Center for Craft.

Press: SkinKit offers versatile, wearable on-skin computing

SkinKit offers versatile, wearable on-skin computing

By Tom Fleischman, Cornell Chronicle

November 3, 2022

Personal computing has gotten smaller and more intimate over the years – from the desktop computer to the laptop, to smartphones and tablets, to smart watches and smart glasses.

But the next generation of wearable computing technology – for health and wellness, social interaction and myriad other applications – will be even closer to the wearer than a watch or glasses: It will be affixed to the skin.

The SkinKit wearable sensing interface, developed in the Hybrid Body Lab, can be used for health and wellness, personal safety, as assistive technology and for athletic training, among many applications.

On-skin interfaces – sometimes known as “smart tattoos” – have the potential to outperform the sensing capabilities of current wearable technologies, but combining comfort and durability has proven challenging. Now, members of Cornell’s Hybrid Body Lab have come up with a reliable, skin-tight interface that’s easy to attach and detach, and can be used for a variety of purposes – from health monitoring to fashion.

Read more here

Best Paper Honorable Mention at ISWC 2022!

Big congrats to Jingwen on receiving a best paper honorable mention award at ACM ISWC 2022!

Scaling E-Textile Production: Understanding the Challenges of Soft Wearable Production for Individual Creators

Jingwen Zhu, Cindy Hsin-Liu Kao✉ ACM International Symposium on Wearable Computers (ISWC) 2022

🏅BEST PAPER HONORABLE MENTION AWARD

PDF | DOI

Meet 2022 Hybrid Body Lab Artist-in-Residence - Morgan Chen

The Hybrid Body Lab is pleased to announce Morgan Chen will be its Artist-in-Residence for 2022. All applications have been carefully reviewed and five finalists have been chosen. After interviewing the five finalists, we have arrived at our decision.

 

Morgan's background in makeup and beauty and her exploration of pushing them into the digital world impressed our organizers and members. With her fresh approach to cyber feminism and decolonization, she pushes the boundaries between traditional makeup culture and digital technology. The expertise she possesses in makeup art and her exploration of expression in the digital age would offer us a unique perspective on our research in the lab. Looking forward to this collaboration in the first Hybrid Body Lab Artist-in-Residence program!

 

In the meantime, we would like to thank all the applicants who submitted incredible proposals to our program and all the committee members who provided valuable feedback to each applicant.

 

Morgan Chen

hauntedmorgan.com

Morgan Chen is a writer and makeup artist from Southern California. She has designed a variety of makeup and special fx applications for a diverse range of physical features. Currently, she is a master’s candidate at NYU ITP, where she experiments with combining the technical and digital with body-focused art. Morgan is interested in makeup as a form of narrative and expression of anti-colonial and anti-oriental identity. She has used biomaterials, digital avatars and face filters in her work.

Image courtesy Morgan Chen

 



Hybrid Body Lab Artist-in-Residence 2022 Finalist

JU-EH

ju-eh.com

JU-EH (Juecheng Chen), a male soprano trained at the Guildhall School Of Music & Drama in London, UK and The New School’s Mannes School of Music in New York, NY, specializes in developing non-human roles in contemporary opera such as Lonely Spirit (Meredith Monk's opera “Atlas” at the L.A. Philharmonic, in which he sang 6 soprano high Cs); Siren (Ellis Ludwig-Leone’s “The Night Falls” with American Opera Projects); and the Moon (Garrett Fisher’s “Blood Moon” with Beth Morrison Projects, in which he sings 4 octaves with self-conducted choreography); among others.

Image courtesy JU-EH

 

Veleta Vancza

www.veletavancza.com

Veleta Vancza has been working as an artist for almost 30 years. She began her career as an art/studio jeweler creating one-of-a-kind conceptual works. More recently she has been working on a larger scale creating sculpture, wall pieces & installations using vitreous enamel on metal integrated with new technologies such as sound-mapping & 3D rendering software. She is recognized for her experimental use of vitreous enamel as an adhesive, as well as her innovations with phosphorescent enamels.

Image courtesy Veleta Vancza

 

Rin Jung

@sadunderthesaturn/

RIN JUNG is an artist, filmmaker and writer from Korea. They make art and write in extensive and interdisciplinary genres and mediums to capture and remember unspoken stories and memories through personal and political narratives. They explore personal emotions and affects, especially trauma, melancholia, and violence through critical perspective, while inquiring for new ways of human becoming through cultural and political layers of such experiences. When it comes to tattoo and body art practice, they are working on "In the Ashes of Memory: Trauma Bujeok Project", a project incorporating trauma and memory with bodily and artistic transmutation inspired by Korean shamanistic practice. They are currently studying Comparative Literature at Cornell University.

Image courtesy Rin Jung

 

Terumi Saito

terumisaito.com

Terumi Saito is an Artist/Designer from Japan. Her work underscores the significance inherent to the textile arts by way of its tactile foundation and visual communication. Saito's work aims to reconcile the dichotomy between the spiritual and the existential by leveraging a textile practice to communicate these sentiments through the fundamental senses of touch and sight. Her practice has since developed to incorporate traditions of the textile arts including Peruvian, Guatemalan, American, and her own native Japanese. She received her BFA in Graphic Design from Tama Art University and MFA in Textiles from Parsons School of Design.

Image courtesy Terumi Saito

ORGANIZERS

Cindy Hsin-Liu Kao

Director, Hybrid Body Lab

Assistant Professor of Human Centered Design, Cornell University

Jingwen Zhu

PhD Student, Hybrid Body Lab

Human Centered Design, Cornell University

SELECTION COMMITTEE / BOARD OF ADVISORS

The selection committee and organizers will work together to determine the finalists. The organizers will ultimately select the chosen resident.

Jaleesa Reed, Ph.D.
Assistant Research Professor of Human Centered Design, Cornell University

Dr. Jaleesa Reed is an Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Human Centered Design. Her primary research interest is in millennial Black women’s beauty culture and beauty retail spaces. Her interdisciplinary research focuses on connecting human geography, feminist studies, and merchandising in the fashion, apparel, and textile industries.

Sarah Gotowka
Artist
Owner & Directer, Luna Fiber Studio

Sarah Gotowka is a practicing textile artist and instructor. She has been weaving since 2005, and has been growing natural dyes since 2010. She received her BFA in Fibers and Material Studies from The Cleveland Institute of Art in 2007, and her MFA in Fibers and Material Practices from Concordia University in Montreal in 2013. Since moving to the Ithaca area she has taught at SUNY Cortland, Cornell University, Ithaca College, The Johnson Museum of Art, Wells College, and New Roots Charter School.

Oksana Ani
Sr. Designer for Advanced Knit, Nike Inc.
Interdisciplinary Designer, Thinker, Explorer

Oksana Ani is an experienced Designer, Thinker, Explorer and visual communicator who excels in cross-functional collaborations. Oksana leads innovation platforms that focus on impactful and sustainable product that is empowered by storytelling. She holds a Master's degree focused in Fashion Design from Royal College of Art and Innovation from MIT Media Lab. She is currently a Sr. Designer for Advanced Knit at Nike Inc.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This residency is funded by the National Science Foundation and a Cornell University College of Human Ecology Engaged Research Grant.

We are grateful to Laura Devendorf, Leah Buechley, and Jennifer Jacobs for their earlier work in Experimental Weaving and Clay Residencies which inspired this endeavor!

Congrats to Kunpeng Huang on winning ECE Best Overall Poster Award!

Congrats to our ECE MEng Kunpeng Huang on winning the Cornell ECE Best Overall Poster Award!

On Tuesday May 10th, the ECE MEng Poster Session was held for the first time in three years. There were a total of 66 Posters presented by ECE MEng students, over the course of two sessions held in both the morning and the afternoon.

All Posters were evaluated by a combination of ECE Faculty Members and ECE PhD Students who served as Judges.

 Big congrats to Kunpeng on winning the best overall poster award!

Category: Best Overall Poster

Poster Title: Versatile and Durable Construction Kit for On-Skin Interface

Project Advisor: Cindy Hsin-Liu Kao

MEng Student: Kunpeng Huang

Press: Hybrid Body Lab at CHI 2022

Cornell Hybrid Body Lab Team to Present at ACM CHI

https://www.human.cornell.edu/news/imported/2022/05/cornell-hybrid-body-lab-team-present-acm-chi

Posted May 2, 2022

by Marisa LaFalce

IN Human Centered Design

Cindy Hsin-Liu Kao, assistant professor in the Department of Human Centered Design, together with graduate students Heather Jin-Hee Kim and Pin Sung Ku, will present at the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) CHI conference (April 30- May 6); the oldest and largest conference in the field of human computer interaction (HCI).

Cornell’s Hybrid Body Lab, which Kao directs, works at the intersection of HCI and fashion design and body art. In the lab researchers are crafting technology, especially soft technology, which is more comfortable and wearable, for use on the body. Traditional devices that are worn close to the body are often constructed using silicone or tend to be rigid, such as a fitness monitor. Kao became interested in using electronic textile technology – specifically weaving and knitting – because it has superior qualities including softness, structural durability, and sustainability. KnitSkin and Patch-O, the projects they are presenting at CHI on May 3, are the result of years of research at the lab.

Read more here

Best Poster Award at Augmented Humans 2022

Congrats to the authors for winning Best Poster Award at Augmented Humans 2022!

DynamicSkin: Bio-inspired Scaled Sleeve for Body Temperature Regulation and Dynamic Self-Expression Yuanhao Zhu, Annice Lee, Ziyue Hu, Cindy Hsin-Liu Kao✉ Extended Abstract Proceedings of Augmented Humans 2022. (DEA6040 Future Body Craft course project)

New paper published in ACM IMWUT (UbiComp) 2021

SkinKit: Construction Kit for On-Skin Interface Prototyping Pin-Sung Ku, Md. Tahmidul Islam Molla, Kunpeng Huang*, Priya Kattappurath*, Krithik Ranjan, Cindy Hsin-Liu Kao (*equal contribution) Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies (IMWUT) Dec 2021

PDF I DOI I Talk | Project

Two papers accepted to ACM ISWC 2021

Delocalizing Strain in Interconnected Joints of On-Skin Interfaces Kunpeng Huang, Md Tahmidul Islam Molla, Kat Roberts, Pin-Sung Ku, Aditi Galada, Cindy Hsin-Liu Kao ACM International Symposium on Wearable Computers (ISWC) 2021

PDF I DOI I Talk | Project

A 10-Year Review of the Methods and Purposes of On-Skin Interface Research in ACM SIGCHI Seol-Yee Lee, Md Tahmidul Islam Molla, Cindy Hsin-Liu Kao ACM International Symposium on Wearable Computers (ISWC) 2021

PDF I DOI I Talk

Two Best Paper Awards from ACM DIS 2021

HUGE CONGRATS TO THE HYBRID BODY LAB AND ALL AUTHORS ON THE TWO BEST PAPER AWARDS FROM ACM DIS 2021!!

BEST PAPER AWARD FOR WOVENPROBE
WovenProbe: Probing Possibilities for Weaving Fully-Integrated On-Skin Systems Deployable in the Field Kunpeng Huang, Ruojia Sun*, Ximeng Zhang*, Md. Tahmidul Islam Molla*, Margaret Dunne, Francois Guimbretiere, Cindy Hsin-Liu Kao (*equal contribution) ACM Designing Interactive Systems (DIS) 2021
PDF I DOI


BEST PAPER HONORABLE MENTION AWARD FOR KNITDERMIS

KnitDermis: Fabricating Tactile On-Body Interfaces Through Machine Knitting Jin Hee (Heather) Kim, Kunpeng Huang, Simone White, Melissa Conroy, Cindy Hsin-Liu Kao ACM Designing Interactive Systems (DIS) 2021

PDF I DOI

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