Weiran Cai
About
Weiran Cai is a Jewellery designer and artist based in China. After graduating from Tsinghua University in Glass Art, she turned to jewellery and the wider area of contemporary art. She makes wearable, playful objects and reveals her thinking on specific social issues through her artworks: these include the invasion of privacy by information technology, the anxiety constructed by society, and the transformation of people in an era of drastic change. She endeavours to combine aesthetic form and her reflection on the topics that concern people today.
Awards
Third Prize, Third China Hejian Craft Glass Design Innovation Competition, China, Oct. 2018
Special Nomination Award for Fable, Student Artworks Exhibition, Tsinghua University, China, May. 2018
Exhibitions
Third Annual China Contemporary Arts and Crafts, China, Sep. 2018
Stanislav Libenský Award, Czech Republic, Aug. 2019
Statement
In a modern society that is penetrated by capitalism and commodities, beauty products make up an increasing part of the whole market. Prompted by anxiety about their bodies and appearance, people are willing to pay for all kinds of products and services, including extremely expensive machines, painful surgery, ridiculous recipes…
Weiran’s project Anxiety Store is a practice critiquing commercial operations, aiming to satirise the objectification of the body and the commodification of anxiety. At an early stage of her work, user research revealed a great deal of useful information about the behaviour and cognitive features of people who are anxious about their appearance. Market research provided her with plenty of information about current and historical beauty products/service. Based on the information from her early research, she tried to re-form many common commodities to make her own new products to deconstruct the notion of beauty. To mock the propaganda, many scientific and pseudo-scientific concepts and cultural, fancy notions were introduced into the visual design and slogans.
Weiran is interested not only in the present, but also in the future of the beauty industry. Will a cyberpunk world depicted in the fictions come true? With ‘high tech and low life’, will people replace part or all of their bodies as easily as changing their outfit? How will people survive in a more and more exploitative system?
As a result, products appear to have the function of ‘improving’ users’ appearance according to the standards set by society. They might help to release people from anxiety for a moment. But in the long term, they contribute to the exploitative system instead of the welfare of people.
Read more:
https://www.instagram.com/anxietystore.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100067760753460
Diet trainer
The aversion therapy to decrease your appetite.
Medium: Wood Thorns
Size: 24*5*9cm(chopsticks) /20*7*5cm(spoon)/19*4*4cm(fork)
Dumbbell cutlery
A combination of diet and workout.
Medium: Steel, Plastic, Rubber
Size: 45*13*13cm（dumbbell spoon）/46*13*13cm（dumbbell fork）
Abs corset
Flab becomes abs in a second.
Medium: Fabrics, Plastic
Size: 25*17*8cm/29*17*8cm
Fitness cupping therapy
Cupping therapy is a traditional Chinese medicine used for treating cold, muscle soreness, arthritis, etc. By creating a vacuum in the caps on the skin, it leaves bruises and bulges on patient’s body. In this series, Weiran uses cupping therapy to shape/enhance the muscles of the body.
Medium: Clear resin, Plastic, Rubber
Size: Variable
Artificial beauty
In the future, we might easily be able to replace our body parts with artificial organs. You will be able to buy the standard modules in any grocery store at a very affordable price, as easily as buying a piece of steak. You will also be able to customize your special parts if you have sufficient budget.
Medium: Resin, Acrylic paints, Digital objects
Size: 5*3*5.7cm(eye)/5.3*4*3.5cm(nose)/6.6*5*1.7cm(ear)/7*4*3cm(mouth)
Gaze at the gazer
Being gazed could be a common cause of anxiety. The popularisation of mobile phones with cameras and the boom in streaming media have meant that people are gazed at everywhere, at any time. Under the gaze of technology and the curiosity, there is nowhere to hide.
When gazers gaze at the wearers, this series of jewellery reflects the image of the gazers to let them see themselves and be conscious of their own behavior.
Medium: Convex mirror, Alloy
Size: Variable