Chenxi Cui

Chenxi Cui 崔晨曦

Design Researcher &
Master’s Student,

School of Art and Design,
Guangdong University of Technology.
CHINA (Sep 2024–Jul 2027, expected)

Working on more-than-human design ethics, interdisciplinary design, and queering design.

My work is situated at the intersection of design theory, design philosophy, design ethics, design methods, design culture/criticism, and design history.

My research foregrounds marginal, minoritarian, boundary, and alternative interdisciplinary design narratives within design research.

Media & Contact

About Me

Chenxi Cui

I am an Asian queer and a design researcher working on more-than-human design ethics, interdisciplinary design, design philosophy, and queering design.

I am currently pursuing a Master’s degree at the School of Art and Design, Guangdong University of Technology, China (September 2024–July 2027, expected). My current master’s thesis investigates ethical questions in More-than-Human Design (MTHD) through the lenses of affect, embodiment, sensory experience, and material vitality. Through this work, I explore more-than-human design ethics at theoretical, philosophical, and practical levels.

My work is situated at the intersection of design theory, design philosophy, design ethics, design methods, design culture/criticism, and design history. My research foregrounds marginal, minoritarian, boundary, and alternative interdisciplinary design narratives within design research. Drawing on plural and hybrid theoretical frameworks—such as new materialism, affect theory, and queer and feminist methodologies—as well as emerging design practices, including speculative design, adversarial design, object-oriented design, and performative participatory design, I develop critical perspectives that move beyond human-centered paradigms.

I also apply these theories, methods, and forms of knowledge innovation to interdisciplinary design research areas such as Human–Computer Interaction (HCI), artificial intelligence, and debates in design ethics and design philosophy.

I have presented my work at the 14th Conference of the International Committee for Design History and Design Studies (ICDHS 14), “Cultures of Design,” and at the Design History Society (DHS) Annual Conference 2025. I am also deeply engaged with the Design Research Society (DRS), serving as Co-chair and Reviewer for DRS 2026 Track 2.2, “Queer(ing) Design Research and Practice.” I currently have a forthcoming journal article in Design and Culture, as well as two forthcoming book chapters: one in Alterplastics: Histories, Aesthetics, Ontologies, which examines the ontological, more-than-human affective, and ethical implications of organic and synthetic materialities; and another in Disalignments: Queer Postsocialist Environments, which explores queer affective infrastructures in postsocialist China.

In addition, I am a member of the Design + Posthumanism Network, a student member of the Design History Society (DHS), a student member of the Design Research Society (DRS), and a member of the Society for the Study of Affect (SSA). I am also actively preparing and convening the Design Philosophy Special Interest Group within the Design Research Society (DRS).

Research

Currently, my research centers on three interconnected directions:

(1) More-than-human design (ethics)

I explore how design can rethink ethics beyond human-centered frameworks. My work examines affect, embodiment, sensory experience, and material vitality as key dimensions for understanding more-than-human relations in design theory and practice.

(2) Designing material entanglements across social, technical, media, cultural, and political systems

I investigate how design actively mediates, organizes, and reworks material relations across social, technical, media, cultural, and political systems. Rather than treating materials, objects, and interfaces as passive carriers, I approach them as designed forms that shape perception, interaction, ethics, and power. Combining theoretical inquiry with practice-based methods—including speculative, object-oriented, and participatory design—I explore how design can both reproduce existing structures and open up alternative modes of relation.

(3) Queering design and alternative interdisciplinary design narratives

I develop critical perspectives that foreground marginal, minoritarian, and boundary-crossing interdisciplinary design narratives. Drawing on queer, feminist, and new materialist approaches, I examine how design history, theory, criticism, and emerging practices can be rethought through alternative epistemologies and interdisciplinary methods.

Notes:

“marginal, minoritarian, boundary, and alternative interdisciplinary design narratives,” I refer to different ways in which design research can emerge outside dominant or mainstream design paradigms.

  • • Marginal design narratives refer to perspectives positioned at the edges of dominant design discourse and often overlooked in mainstream research agendas.
  • • Minoritarian design narratives emphasize voices, identities, and epistemologies associated with minority or underrepresented groups, particularly in relation to gender, culture, or politics.
  • • Boundary design narratives refer to design approaches that operate at or across disciplinary, conceptual, or ontological boundaries—for example between human and nonhuman, design and philosophy, or technology and social theory.
  • • Alternative design narratives refer to proposals that challenge conventional design assumptions and suggest different futures, methods, or value systems.

Together, these terms describe a set of interdisciplinary design perspectives that question dominant frameworks and explore other ways of understanding design relations, ethics, and agency.

Publications

1. Journal Article

Cui, Chenxi, Hanwei Shi, and Jimmy Loizeau. “Affective Contamination: Alternative Resistance in Contemporary Chinese Queer Design.” Manuscript under review for Design and Culture, special issue “The Power of Emotions and Passions in Design.” (Decision pending, been considered)

2. Conference and Proceedings

2.1 Conference Proceedings Paper

Cui, Chenxi, Hanwei Shi, Li Zhang, and Yanzu Li. “Affective Turn and Vibrant Matter: Object-Oriented Design Encounter Strategies.” Paper accepted for publication in the conference proceedings of ICDHS14: Cultures of Design, International Committee for Design History and Design Studies, Department of Design, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi, India, October 10–12, 2025.

2.2 Conference Presentation Paper

Cui, Chenxi, Hanwei Shi and Yanzu Li. “Affective Turn and Speculative Innovation in Design Criticism.” Paper presented at DHS 2025 Annual Conference: Converging Paths—Design in the Creative Economy, Design History Society, Ankara Bilim University, Ankara, Turkey, September 4–6, 2025.

2.3 Conference Poster

Cui, Chenxi, and Hanwei Shi. “The Subjective Potential of Vibrant Matter? The Alternative Speculative Strategy Construction of Object-Oriented Design in the Post-Media Culture under the Affective Turn.” Poster presented at Digital Intelligence, Cosmotechnics, and Planetary Future: The 6th Media Materiality Forum, Future Media Lab, School of Journalism and Communication, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, March 29–30, 2025.

3. Book Chapters

Cui, Chenxi. “Bodily Atmospheres of Disalignment: Queer Affective Infrastructures in Postsocialist China.” In Disalignments: Queer Postsocialist Environments, edited by M. Jobst and A. Filipović. Forthcoming from Bloomsbury Academic TBD. (Chapter proposal accepted; full chapter in preparation)

Cui, Chenxi. “Affective Mapping of Plastic Dust: More-than-Human Sensory Design and the Ethics of Trans-corporeal Contamination.” In Alterplastics: Histories, Aesthetics, Ontologies, edited by M. Jobst and A. Filipović. Forthcoming from Bloomsbury Academic. (Chapter proposal accepted; full chapter in preparation)

Projects

Coming soon...

Funding & Grants

Design History Society, DHS2025 Outreach and Event Grant

Independent Grant Holder

2025-06 to present | Grant | Design History Society (London, GB)

Research Project Title: "Affect Materialities: An Affective New Materialist Perspective on Design in Contemporary Chinese Queer Scenes (2000–2025)"

Academic Service & Organization

Editorial & Conference Leadership

Professional Memberships

Teaching & Workshops & SummerSchool

Summer School

August 3–10, 2025

School of Materialist Research (SMR): “Nature/Artifice Reimagined” Summer Institute for Advanced Design Practices, Greece.
Co-organized by Arizona State University, Center for Philosophical Technologies (USA); Goldsmiths, University of London, Department of Design (UK); Politecnico di Milano, Department of Design (Italy); and Sandberg Instituut, Amsterdam (the Netherlands), founding institution of SMR.

Workshops

July 13–20, 2024

Tsinghua University FutureLab – “Embodied Media Design for Interpersonal Emotional Communication” Workshop.
Group research topic: Interactive VR Garden Sharing Experience Space: Improving Intergenerational Relationships and Reducing Isolation among Empty Nesters.

July 1–5, 2024

The 5th Tsinghua STS Workshop – Fundamentals of Science and Technology Studies.
Speaker: Janet Vertesi, Associate Professor of Sociology, Princeton University.
Hosted by Wei Hong, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, Tsinghua University.

Talks & Presentations

Coming soon...

Blog & Writing

Coming soon...

Other Activities

Coming soon...

Curriculum Vitae

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Chenxi Cui 崔晨曦

Male | 04 Feb 2001 | Nationality: China

chenxicui68@gmail.com

School of Art and Design, Guangdong University of Technology

Profile & Research Areas

Design researcher of more-than-human design (MTHD), queering design and interdisciplinary design. Working at the intersection of design theory, design methodology, design philosophy, design ethics, and design culture/criticism. Explores design ethical questions through affect, embodiment, sensory experience, and material vitality. Foregrounding marginal, minoritarian, boundary, and alternative interdisciplinary design narratives.

Education

Master of Arts (M.A.) in Art and Design

School of Art and Design, Guangdong University of Technology, CHINA

Sep 2024 – Jul 2027 (expected)

Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Design

Design College, Shandong University of Arts, CHINA

Sep 2019 – Jun 2023

Master's Thesis & Primary Research Topic

A Study on Strategies of Design Ethics for Affective Matter in More-than-Human Design

Exploring the ethical dimensions of design through affect, sensory experience, and bodily atmospheres in relation to nonhuman beings such as fungi, as well as their interactions with technology, politics, culture, human and social contexts.

Publications

  • Journal Article: Cui, C., Shi, H., and Loizeau, J. "Affective Contamination: Alternative Resistance in Contemporary Chinese Queer Design." Manuscript under review for Design and Culture. (Decision pending, been considered)
  • Conference Proceedings: Cui, C., Shi, H., Zhang, L., and Li, Y. "Affective Turn and Vibrant Matter: Object-Oriented Design Encounter Strategies." Accepted for ICDHS14: Cultures of Design, New Delhi, India, Oct 10–12, 2025.
  • Conference Presentation: Cui, C., Shi, H., and Li, Y. "Affective Turn and Speculative Innovation in Design Criticism." Presented at DHS 2025 Annual Conference, Ankara, Turkey, Sep 4–6, 2025.
  • Conference Poster: Cui, C., and Shi, H. "The Subjective Potential of Vibrant Matter? The Alternative Speculative Strategy Construction of Object-Oriented Design..." Presented at The 6th Media Materiality Forum, Tsinghua University, Beijing, Mar 29–30, 2025.
  • Book Chapter: Cui, C. "Bodily Atmospheres of Disalignment: Queer Affective Infrastructures in Postsocialist China." In Disalignments: Queer Postsocialist Environments. Forthcoming from Bloomsbury Academic TBD.
  • Book Chapter: Cui, C. "Affective Mapping of Plastic Dust: More-than-Human Sensory Design and the Ethics of Trans-corporeal Contamination." In Alterplastics: Histories, Aesthetics, Ontologies. Forthcoming from Bloomsbury Academic TBD.

Academic Service, Volunteer Work & Organization

  • Co-chair, Track 2.2 Queer(ing) Design Research/Practice, Design Research Society (DRS) Conference, University of Edinburgh, 2026.
  • Reviewer, Design Research Society (DRS) Conference, 2026.
  • Founder & Convenor (in progress), Design Philosophy Research Institute, Design Research Society (DRS).
  • Student Member, Design History Society (DHS).
  • Student Member, Design Research Society (DRS).
  • Member, Society for the Study of Affect (SSA).
  • Member, Design + Posthumanism Network.

Research Funding & Grants

Design History Society, DHS2025 Outreach and Event Grant (Independent Grant Holder)

Research Project Title: "Affect Materialities: An Affective New Materialist Perspective on Design in Contemporary Chinese Queer Scenes (2000–2025)"

Summer School & Workshops

Aug 3–10, 2025

School of Materialist Research: “Nature/Artifice Reimagined” Summer Institute for Advanced Design Practices, Greece.

Co-organized by Arizona State University (USA), Goldsmiths University of London (UK), Politecnico di Milano (Italy), and Sandberg Instituut (NL).

Jul 13–20, 2024

Tsinghua University FutureLab – “Embodied Media Design for Interpersonal Emotional Communication” Workshop.

Group Research Topic: Interactive VR Garden Sharing Experience Space: Improving Intergenerational Relationships and Isolation Among Empty Nesters.

Jul 1–5, 2024

The 5th Tsinghua STS Workshop – Fundamentals of Science and Technology Studies.

Speaker: Janet Vertesi (Princeton University). Host: Wei Hong (Tsinghua University).

Media & Links

ORCiD: https://orcid.org/...

LinkedIn: chenxi-cui-071360360

Instagram: @chenxicui...

Facebook: Chenxi Cui

X (Twitter): @Xxixi125572