Kuan-Ju Wu （KJ） 吳冠儒 I’m a creative technologist, new media artist, and interaction designer with a focus on sentimental, tangible, embodied, material-based, in-situ user experience design. My practice revolves around research, innovation and collaborations – with both humans and non-humans. Currently I am pursuing a PHD in Professor Yasuaki Kakehi's xLab - Material Experience Lab at University of Tokyo. For me, technology is a tool for transformation. While we take for granted that we design technologies, often forgetting that they simultaneously design us. I aim to further develop my concept of Feral Interactions: delightful exchanges among humans, machines, and environments that embrace the fuzzy and ambiguous instinctive moments occuring within our earliest memories: those intuitive, rich, and satisfying experiences that connect us all to each other and our natural world. My research practice is based on material experimentations combined with rigorous literature reviews, which provide the foundation for a novel application landscape. I always start with fast hands-on prototypes, before allowing the emerging narratives of the ensuing interactions to direct my creative process. I am the co-founder of the artists collective Natura Machina and an instructor at the University of California Berkeley Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation and its related Masters of Design program. My teaching subjects include “Creative programming and electronics” and “Designing of emerging technologies”. I have shown work at Ars Electronica, Linz, Japan Media Art Festival, Tokyo and Current New Media Art Festival, Santa Fe.
2024 Statement: Feral Interaction Beneath my feet, the mud lies slick and icy, numbing my hands as I cradle the delicate seedlings with care. Amidst the act of transplanting rice, I'm struck by the resilience of these tiny beings, flourishing despite the harshness that surrounds them—a poignant reminder of nature's enduring strength and the imperative of living in harmony with it. As a descendant of Taiwanese rice farmers, I hold a profound reverence for the bountiful gifts bestowed upon us by nature. Tending to these seedlings not only roots me in the soil of my ancestry but also intertwines me with the grand tapestry of life on this Earth. In a world increasingly dominated by digital distractions, we risk estrangement from the natural cadences that underpin our existence. As an artist, I'm compelled to rekindle our primal bond with nature through the transformative power of technology. To me, technology transcends its mere function; it emerges as a conduit for profound metamorphosis, shaping us even as we mold it to our ends. Capturing the elusive essence of those intuitive, rich, and satisfying experiences that connect us all to each other and our natural world—evoking sensations akin to our earliest, most cherished childhood memories: scenes painted with the shapes and motions of nature, like the swirling clouds unveiling a resplendent sunset, or the playful dance of shadows cast by swaying branches and leaves. Infusing my art with technology, I meld the digital with the organic, crafting immersive experiences that reawaken our dormant connection with nature. Rather than placing screens in the environment, I explore the inherent qualities and computational potential of natural elements. By melding digital data with physicality, I evoke wonder and reverence, urging viewers to contemplate their place in the environment's intricate web. How might we transcend the confines of dualism and cultivate a symbiotic relationship between the natural and the mechanical—a harmonious "natura machina"? And amidst this continuum, where does humanity find solace and belonging? These are the enigmatic queries that propel my artistic odyssey, as I endeavor to forge deeper connections between humanity, technology, and the majestic embrace of the natural world. Kuan Ju Wu Earth