Events
Exhibitions
Interwoven: our generative network
Exhibitions
FREE WORKSHOP RSVPSInterwoven: our generative network
6 December 2025; 1–2:30pm
Event Information
Pleated Whisper is a single-channel video accompanied by a wearable sculpture made of folded and cut white paper and red thread. Filmed after hours in Queen Victoria Market, the work documents a solo performance in which I move through the emptied market, climbing onto display tables and shelves—gestures that intentionally diverge from the typical behaviors expected in such a site. Through these movements, my body enters into a heightened and unconventional dialogue with the surrounding space.
Central to the work is the red thread, referencing the Chinese philosophical concept of yuan (緣), an invisible force that connects people, objects, and environments. By repeatedly tying the red thread to different surfaces and structures within the market, I attempt to trace and amplify the subtle emotional bonds between myself and the space.
The wearable itself extends the body outward, allowing new forms of spatial contact. As I move, the paper structure shifts, brushes against surfaces, and responds to both movement and atmosphere—making the invisible felt. Pleated Whisper invites the viewer to consider how minor gestures and delicate materials can render visible the unseen forces that shape our relationship with urban spaces.
《褶語》是一件錄像作品,並配有可穿戴藝術裝置,由摺紙及紅線構成。作品於維多利亞女王市場(Queen Victoria Market)閉市後拍攝,記錄我在空無一人的市場中進行的單人表演——攀上展示桌和層架等動作,刻意偏離此場所常見的行為規範。透過這些動作,我的身體與周遭空間展開一種高度感知且非傳統的對話。
作品的核心是紅線,呼應中國哲學中的「緣」概念,即連結人、物與環境的無形力量。透過將紅線反覆綁於市場中的不同表面與結構,我試圖描繪並放大自身與空間之間微妙的情感聯結。
可穿戴雕塑則延伸身體,使其與空間產生新的接觸形式。隨著我的移動,紙質結構隨之擺動、輕觸各種表面,並對動作與環境氛圍作出回應——讓看不見的力量得以被感知。《褶語》邀請觀眾思考,微小的動作與纖細的材料如何使塑造我們與都市空間關係的無形力量呈現於眼前。
Rippling Frame is a single-channel video accompanied by a wearable sculpture composed of over 1,000 hand-woven transparent threads and silver steel wire—materials chosen to evoke the glass and metal of contemporary urban skyscrapers. Suspended in three concentric circular frames that hover freely around the body—aligned respectively with the shoulders, waist, and legs—the structure shifts and sways with every movement. As I walk, it gently brushes against my body at varying intensities, rhythmically knocking at the edge of my physical boundaries. In doing so, it transforms the body into a mobile architecture, continually redefining its interior and exterior through movement.
Each thread in the wearable took approximately 20 minutes to weave, accumulating over 350 hours of meticulous labor. This extended duration of making is embedded into the very form of the work, turning time into a tangible material. Rather than treating space as static or pre-defined—as is often the case in traditional interior design—Rippling Frame foregrounds time as an active, durational component of spatial experience. Here, both the act of weaving and the act of walking become extended gestures that inscribe time into space and body.
The video documents a slow, meditative walk through diverse spaces within Melbourne’s urban landscape, following a pre-mapped route. Drawing inspiration from Buddhist walking practices, the deliberate slowness reorients the body’s rhythm within the city’s flows. As I wear and walk with the structure, my sense of physical balance is subtly unsettled. The circular frames, swinging slightly with each step, constantly strike against different parts of my body—sometimes gently, sometimes with more force—disrupting the assumed borders of the self. My bodily boundaries begin to shift, fluctuate, and respond to the wearable’s ripples.
This is not a performance of spectacle, but of accumulation. The movement of the wearable—its small swings and gentle trembles—appears almost imperceptible at first glance. Yet these minor gestures carry the weight of affect. They mark the body’s invisible yet persistent influence on the urban environment, and vice versa. As I pass through a variety of urban interiors—open streets, narrow corridors, public squares, hidden alleys—the wearable’s movement records the subtle variations in rhythm, temperature, and spatial pressure.
The resulting footage reveals a continuously unfolding encounter between body, wearable, and city. Viewers are invited to notice the delicate motion of the structure, to perceive how affect is not always loud or disruptive, but often soft, continuous, and layered. Through repetition across multiple spaces, these small movements accumulate affective intensity—quietly weaving an emotional link between the individual and the city. In this way, Rippling Frame offers a meditation on how interiority is not necessarily created by enclosure, but by time, sensation, and the fluid negotiation between body and urban space.
《漣框》是一件錄像作品,配有可穿戴藝術裝置,由超過一千條手工織製的透明線與銀色鋼絲組成——選材意在呼應現代都市摩天大樓的玻璃與金屬材質。這些線材懸掛於三個同心圓框中,自由環繞於身體周圍,分別對應肩膀、腰部與腿部,隨每一次動作擺動與搖晃。當我行走時,它輕觸身體不同部位,節奏性地敲擊著身體邊界,將身體轉化為一個可移動的建築,透過運動不斷重新界定其內部與外部。
每條線材織製約需二十分鐘,全件作品累計超過三百五十小時的細緻勞動。這段延長的製作時間被嵌入作品本身,使時間轉化為可感知的材質。《漣框》並不將空間視作靜態或預先定義的存在——如傳統室內設計中常見——而是將時間置於空間體驗的核心,既作為持續的元素,也成為動態的構成。織線的行為與行走的動作皆成為延展的手勢,將時間刻寫於空間與身體之中。
錄像記錄我沿著預先規劃的路線,在墨爾本城市景觀中的慢速冥想式步行。受佛教行走修行啟發,刻意放慢的步伐重新調整身體在城市流動中的節奏。隨著我佩戴結構行走,身體平衡感被微妙地擾動。圓框隨每一步輕微搖晃,不斷撞擊身體不同部位——有時輕柔,有時稍重——打破自我假設的邊界。身體邊界開始流動、波動,並對可穿戴結構的漣動作出反應。
這不是一場炫目的表演,而是一種累積的過程。可穿戴結構的運動——微小的擺動與輕微震顫——乍看幾乎難以察覺,然而這些細微動作承載著情感重量。它們標記了身體對都市環境的無形而持續的影響,反之亦然。當我穿行於不同的都市內部空間——開放街道、狹窄走廊、公共廣場、隱蔽巷弄——可穿戴結構的運動記錄了節奏、溫度與空間壓力的微妙變化。
最終影像呈現身體、可穿戴結構與城市之間持續展開的互動。觀眾被邀請留意結構的細微動作,感知情感並非總是高亢或破壞性的,而往往是柔和、持續且層疊的。通過在多個空間的重複行為,這些微小動作累積了情感強度——靜靜編織出個體與城市之間的情感連結。如此,《漣框》提供了一種冥想式的思考:內在性(interiority)不必由封閉創造,而是由時間、感官,以及身體與都市空間之間流動的協商所生成。
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Interwoven: our generative network – Workshop with Yajuan Cheng & Yang Yang
Join us for an interactive experience through gestures and materials that document us: low-melting-point wax and red thread.
In this workshop, three movable apparatus will contain wax heated to a constant temperature of approximately 40°C to simulate human skin temperature, ensuring participant safety while enabling familiar and direct tactile engagement. Participants will retrieve wax from the apparatus and manipulate it according to their individual intentions, combining it with the red threads in freely chosen configurations. The resulting creations may be attached at any point within the designated area—including on participants’ own bodies or, with explicit consent, on others.
The resemblance of wax to our body – yielding, responsive and ephemeral – transforms participant interaction into an exercise in material empathy and embodied cognition. Red thread operationalises the East Asian concept of yuán (緣), a metaphysical principle concerning interconnectedness. As participants manipulate the thread, they collectively construct a visible network of contingent encounters; each intervention functioning as both aesthetic gesture and social trace. The interplay between wax (a medium for individual expression) and red thread (a system of our relational network) establishes a dialectic between personal imprint and collective patterning.
交織:我們的生成之網——程亞娟與楊洋工作坊
齊來參與一次透過動作與材質進行的互動體驗,記錄「我們」的存在:低熔點蠟與紅線。
在本工作坊中,三個可移動裝置將盛載加熱至約 40°C 的蠟液,模擬人體皮膚溫度,以確保參與者安全,同時讓其能以熟悉且直接的觸感進行互動。參與者將從裝置中取出蠟,依照各自的意圖進行塑形,並與紅線自由結合成各種構造。完成的創作可附著於指定區域的任何位置——包括參與者自身,或在獲得明確同意的情況下,附著於他人身上。
蠟的質地如同人體——柔軟、回應、且短暫——使得參與的過程成為一種材質共感與具身認知的實踐。紅線則具象化東亞文化中的「緣」,一種關於互相連結的形上原則。當參與者擺弄紅線時,他們共同構築出一個可見的偶發相遇網絡;每一次介入既是美學姿態,也是社會痕跡。蠟(作為個人表達的媒介)與紅線(作為我們關係網絡的系統)之間的互動,建立起個人印記與集體紋理之間的辯證關係。



Date & Times
- When
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Saturday 6 December, 1:00 pm-2:30 pm
- Venue
- Roslyn Smorgon Gallery
- Cost
Accessibility
While our heritage building and outdoor spaces pose challenges, we’re actively seeking solutions and value your input. Our warehouse venues are wheelchair accessible, and we offer assistance for those who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have speech impairments. Please call or email us if we can help plan your journey.
Phone: 03 9362 8888
Email: reception@footscrayarts.com
Meet the Artists
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Yajuan Cheng
Yajuan (Cara) Cheng is an artist and academic, currently a PhD candidate at RMIT University, whose research explores the complex interplay between the body, sensation, material, culture, and space. Having studied and lived in China, the United Kingdom, and Australia, she brings a distinct multicultural perspective to her creative and academic work. Her practice investigates how individuals perceive, experience, and shape urban interior spaces within diverse cultural contexts. Through the design of wearable devices and the orchestration of artistic events in public settings, she examines how sensation and cultural identity inform spatial relationships. Integrating artistic practice with spatial research, her work offers a reflective and embodied approach to understanding how human presence and environment continually influence one another.
程亞娟是一位藝術家與學者,目前為皇家墨爾本理工大學(RMIT)博士候選人,其研究聚焦於身體、感官、物質、文化與空間之間的複雜互動。她曾在中國、英國與澳洲學習與生活,為其創作與學術工作帶來獨特的多元文化視角。程亞娟的創作探討個體如何在不同文化脈絡中感知、體驗並塑造都市內部空間。透過可穿戴裝置設計與公共藝術活動的策劃,她檢視感官經驗與文化身份如何影響空間關係。結合藝術實踐與空間研究,她的作品提供一種反思且具身體性的方式,理解人與環境之間不斷互動與影響的關係。
Yajuan Cheng (she/her) | instagram.com/yajuan_cara_works/
Ticketing
This is a past event