dianya mia hua: embodied embroideries

artist info & virtual world themes

dianya mia hua (she/her) holds a PhD in Informatics. Her research integrates design, design history, and visual art within the realm of technology-related studies on women’s sexuality. Her dissertation endeavors to establish a pleasure-activist design agenda within Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), with a focus on designing for sexual pleasure as a form of activism.

The virtual world invites encounters with Hua’s explorations of sexual pleasure/autonomy, masturbation stigma, feminist vibrator design, sex education, and nationalism and reproductive control in China.

dmiahua@gmail.com

how to explore the virtual worlds:

Currently, the virtual worlds are most compatible with Chrome and Firefox browsers (the interactive elements may not work with Safari). The worlds are also only compatible with desktop/laptop devices currently.

Navigate the environments using the W, A, S, D keys (to move forward, left, back, and right, respectively). Use the mouse to turn and look around/up and down (like the navigation of a PC game).


Press the escape key to move your mouse outside
of the environment window.

Each virtual world contains audio elements.

To activate the artist audio stories and caption videos, “walk” up to the pink exhibition icons, and the audio/visual content will begin.

You can pause the interactive content by moving away from the area, then return and resume.

participatory prompts

  • How are ideas about birth/reproduction connected to nation-building?

  • What kinds of messages were you told (implicitly or explicitly) about sexual pleasure and/or masturbation?

    What kinds of ideologies/values do these messages reflect?

  • Why is women’s sexual pleasure stigmatized?

    Can sexual pleasure contribute to liberation? Why or why not?

  • If you were to design an inclusive sex toy, what kinds of features would you include? Share your responses on the exhibition Discord or with friends.

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