Mind × Body: Catalyst Phenomenon Archive

A living archive tracing how thought becomes visible through the body, and how the body acquires meaning through thought.

Dates 18–20 September 2026
Venue Space 4
21–31 Shacklewell Lane
London E8 2DA
Context Presented as part of London Design Festival 2026
Mind × Body: Catalyst Phenomenon Archive exhibition key image
Selection of exhibiting practitioners and works in Mind × Body: Catalyst Phenomenon Archive
Selection of exhibiting practitioners and works in Mind × Body: Catalyst Phenomenon Archive
Selection of exhibiting practitioners and works in Mind × Body: Catalyst Phenomenon Archive
Selection of exhibiting practitioners and works in Mind × Body: Catalyst Phenomenon Archive
01

Mind × Body

The exhibition takes its premise from Juhani Pallasmaa's The Thinking Hand: the hand is not an instrument of execution but an extension of thought, and in touching, shaping and building, it is simultaneously thinking. Mind and body are not opposing poles but mutually catalytic forces, generating what neither could produce alone.

What occurs when they meet is closer to a chemical reaction than to addition. The pressure of fingers on clay preserves the residue of thinking. An unbuilt architectural line holds an imagination of how a body might inhabit space. A knitted sample records a decision made at the scale of a single stitch. A wearable device dissolves the boundary between skin and interface.

Together, the works form a living archive rather than a static display: a record of how the mind–body relationship is being negotiated, strained, and reinvented now. They are arranged to create dialogue across disciplines, placing a woodcut in conversation with a research document, a textile alongside a virtual environment.

Curated by Dr Boyuan Yu, Jianing Luo, and Prof. Lei Zhang.

02

Exhibiting practitioners

Chang He, Aveline Thomas, Lingjun Zhou, Mansi KothariCITY IN REVERIE: A Somatic Archive of Urban Objects and Spatial Memory
Chao LiuWhere Our Attention Goes
Chunling WuTrace of Being
Digital Craft in Architecture (as a research cluster at Oxford Brookes University)
Elif Gamze DEDELERirregular, singular, irreplaceable
Francis ZhangLove & Decay
Hanbing Wang, Lie Zhang, Chunling Wu, Xiwen Liu, Xiang Li, Xianqi Wang, Yingying Liu, Shiru Du, Mingjie Zhou, Xizi LiuWhispers of the Sacred Grotto
Jiayu GaoVaulture
Ketong XingExistentialism Trace
Lei Zhang, Weiming ZhangArt Education
Linrui (Yaning) XiongArchitectural Healing
Lucille HuangInfinity Us
Miaoting Feng, Ruiyi Jiang, Xiaohan Shi, Siyan Yu, Baolin Yin, Chen WangStreaming
Ming Chen, Hedi MaoRE: FERMENTATION
Mingming ZhaoWearing Affect: A Bioresponsive Brooch for Emotional Visibility and Social Negotiation
Minming WeiStyle Syntax: AI × Emotion
Qian ZhangLet's dance with music
Rachel DongWhat Remains Beyond Information
Rita TangForgotten Rooms
Ru JiaBread & Proust effect
Ruiyi Jiang, Yi ShiIntelligent Injury Recovery
Sainan ZuoInfinite Corridor: The Recursive Dance of the Source Code
Shang Dai, Qianyi He, Hongzhu Zhou (as members of the artist collective ‘Semiome’)The Lost Roasted Lambkin
Siliang WangMasked Lesion
Xi Feng, Chi Hang Paul Lo, Zhongkui HuBetween Bodies: Designing the Threshold Between Human, Animal and City
Xi Feng, Shuyu WuDualLife: Design of an Urban Low-Altitude Severe Emergency Multimodal Collaborative Transport System
Xiangyi Kong, Ruixi Yang, Wenfang WangWith U - A multi-form, multi-foldable electric vehicle design for younger elderly people based on the theory of active aging
Xinwei (Vicky) Guo (as lead designer); Zeming Zhang, Shida Wang, Zhiyuan Song (as team members)The Second Shell
Xiuli Xie, Hua ChenSensory Equipoise: Lingnan Herbal Incense
Yiting ChuMirror Flower (Mirror Flower I: Blade, Mirror Flower II: Mirror Stage, Mirror Flower III: Flower in a Mirror, Moon on the Water)
Yixuan Wang, Nuo Cheng, Yaokun Liu, Teng Fei, Hongyuan MeiNO COMMON DAY
Yue (Yola) WuBODYWISE
Yuehong ZhouAdaptive Behavior in Digital Nomads: An Interactive Spatial Structure Study Using Machine Learning
Yunge TongTaste Before Emotion: A Wearable Textile Interface for Embodied Emotional Awareness
Yunwen ZhuFlux
Yuyang (Baron) ShenREMNANTS
Zun WangSimulated Plant

Those taking part are at every career stage and based in the UK, mainland China, the United States, Turkey and beyond. Their work spans printmaking and drawing, woven and knitted textiles, wearable devices, aromatic objects, architectural and spatial research, publication and graphic design, moving image and generative sound, and AR, VR and XR installation, alongside document research.

03

Press Release

Download the official press release for Mind × Body: Catalyst Phenomenon Archive, including exhibition information, selected project highlights, participating practitioners, and press enquiries.

Download Press Release (PDF)

Mind × Body: Catalyst Phenomenon Archive is organised by the Reality Intelligence Association and presented as part of London Design Festival 2026.

Back to Exhibition