Manufacturing Couples

"Manufacturing Couples" is a 2-3 minute interactive art project based on Arduino and 3D animation. It illustrates the pressure and anxiety faced by LGBTQ individuals who are forced to choose formal marriage in East Asian countries where filial piety culture and collective interests are the mainstay.

Using the production lines and folding spaces of a factory as metaphors for the various stages and challenges of formality marriage, participants will experience becoming part of a Chinese family, engaging in an accessible and thought-provoking experience.

The project draws on the experiences of the creator and 15 formality marriage couples in China to provide a personal exploration of the challenges and heartbreaks faced by the LGBTQ community. By replicating social and familial surveillance in China, I aim to demonstrate the oppressive nature of social and domestic surveillance in East Asian cultures and how Chinese LGBTQ+ individuals are forced to fit into dominant values in order to survive.

Tools: Blender, Processing, Arduino