Chapter
Five



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The erotic functions for me in several ways, and the first is in providing the power which comes from sharing deeply any pursuit with another person. The sharing of joy, whether physical, emotional, psychic, or intellectual, forms a bridge between the sharers which can be the basis for understanding much of what is not shared between them (...).” (Lorde 4)

To realise the collective erotic power of women, to unravel our yearning, to voice out our silences is a function of building a shared experience for the flourishing of our community and divesting of the capitalistic and patriarchal systems that inhibit us and birth the technologies of tomorrow.

Embodied Yearning proposes a communal experience where women are invited to materialise their stories into a spatial XR experience. Resting on the textile art, conversing with their friends, or strangers, women experience an organic sculpture constructed around the meaning of unfulfilled dreams, yearning, pain, and other multitudes of being.






Scanning through their phones, they are then welcomed to interact with the physical sculpture through an AR experience, where following digital elements on the sculpture, they are able to share oral narratives of their lived experiences within the world. Their voices generate new sculptural elements (both visual and textual through AI integration), sharing and adding to the voices of their unknown and known friends.

The frameworks that inform the innovation and application of emerging tech like XR and AI are embedded with layers of bias due to data gaps, and linear ideologies in the status quo. By collecting oral histories from women, who are substantially under-represented and act as passive participants in making of the tech, the interaction disrupts the conventions of training AI models.

The oral histories of the interacting audience gets converted into digital sculptures, experienced real time through their phones.

The shared histories and stories of the community give birth to a shared moving sculpture,, being continuously moulded and added on by new participants.

The shared stories form important dataset, in unconventional and community forum ways, to contribute to future conversations of gender disparity, subverting patriarchal systems, building better data for women’s health etc.













The project has been exhibited at -

Hyundai CMK Foundation, South Korea
Dutch Design Week, Eindhoven
Reverse Alchemy Exhibition, Hangar Gallery, London
Study at UK, Malaysisa Showcase, Royal College of Art

My research within building and researching through immersive XR experiences continues as I work on future projects.

If you want to know more, discuss more, please reach out at workxyashika@gmail.com