Yaxi Liu

Research Topic:

Plasticising China: A Cultural History of Everyday Things 1972-1995

My DPhil project looks at plasticised everyday life in the People's Republic of China (PRC) between the 1970s and the early 1990s. My thesis will engage in the issue of the 'age of plastic' in the PRC by exploring the biographies of plastics and contribute to material history studies with expanded plastic assumptions. For audiences and organisations outside academia, my project will contribute to understanding the promises and problems of plastic over the course of its history and address the areas of primary concern today, including legislation and recycling.

The proposed DPhil project is a continuation and consolidation of my previous research and professional experiences. Prior to Oxford, I worked as a curatorial coordinator at the National Museum of China and Tsinghua University Art Museum from 2015 until 2022; this experience has prepared me to study artefacts’ media, textures, crafts, and procedures as primary sources. Furthermore, eight years of writing for design publications and journals has given me the knowledge to research and write about material objects and their agential dynamics for both professional and casual readers.

Recent Publications:

‘Wild Design in China’s Lifestyle Magazines (1978–1992),’ Journal of Design History, Volume 36, Issue 3, September 2023, Pages 288–305, https://doi.org/10.1093/jdh/epad014.

‘Wild design and its activism in everyday urban life,’ The Design Journal, Volume 26, 2023, Issue 3, https://doi.org/10.1080/14606925.2022.2159164.

‘Museum Narration: A Memory-Driven Storyscape,' In Kung, K.WS. (eds) Reconceptualizing the Digital Humanities in Asia, Digital Culture and Humanities, Volume 2, 2020, Springer, Singapore, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4642-6_1.

Supervisor: Dr Jennifer Altehenger