Gongjie Liu

Ceramic practice for more than human design matters

This practice-based research project investigates the potential of more-than-human design through the medium of ceramic practice. It addresses two central inquiries. First, the project seeks to critically challenge anthropocentric modes of production by cultivating a community of more-than-human ceramic practitioners, thereby experimenting with a posthumanist model of creative and material co-production.

Second, it examines the pivotal role of artifacts as mediating agents that facilitate communication and negotiation between human and non-human species, with particular attention to the asymmetries and tensions inherent in interspecies cohabitation.

Situated within a decolonial framework, this research aims to move beyond design’s historically extractive and instrumental roles as decorative or utilitarian practice, repositioning it instead as a political and ethical mode of engagement grounded in social justice, collective care, and ecological transformation.

Drawing on theoretical perspectives from Science and Technology Studies (STS) and New Materialism, the project explores how designers might reconfigure technological and production systems, fostering conditions for pluralistic futures.

Supervisors

• Prof Alex Wilkie
• Dr Sarah Pennington

Researcher Biography

Gongjie Liu is a multidisciplinary designer, maker, and director based in London. His research-driven practice integrates performance, text, film, and material experimentation（ceramics）to provoke critical discourse on technology, ecology, and the human condition in the Anthropocene. His work engages deeply with the theoretical frameworks of Science and Technology Studies (STS), posthumanism, and decolonial design, exploring multispecies coexistence and the politics of material agency.

Liu holds an MA in Material Futures from Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London. 

His works have been exhibited internationally, including at Dutch Design Week, Beijing Design Week, and the Design Museum, London. Alongside exhibitions, he actively engages the public through workshops, screenings, and collaborative research initiatives. He is currently pursuing a practice-based PhD at Goldsmiths, University of London, where his work continues to examine the intersections of design, ecology, and more-than-human relations.