@theretheirtheyreshow @ba.design.gold
18-22 JUNE 2026
Unit 8, 133 Copeland Rd, London, SE15 3SN
Unit 8, 133 Copeland Rd, London, SE15 3SN
Face beyond face
Grace Wang
“Why do you have so many expressions?” A question I was once asked as a child.
It made me question whether faces still reflect how we feel, or if expressions have become something we perform, filter, or even replace. This project explores how emotion is not simply shown, but carried, interpreted, and sometimes misread.
Through experimenting with facial expressions, emojis, and emotion within designed objects, I explored how expressions can exist beyond the human face. This journey eventually led to Flip Face, an interactive machine that continuously generates new facial expressions in response to human presence. Created from 48 photographs of my own facial expressions, the machine can generate over 5.3 million possible combinations, performing expressions endlessly as people approach.
Face Beyond Face is a reminder to look beyond the expressions we encounter every day, to consider what is not always visible, what may be hidden behind a face, and how emotion can exist beyond what is shown.
It made me question whether faces still reflect how we feel, or if expressions have become something we perform, filter, or even replace. This project explores how emotion is not simply shown, but carried, interpreted, and sometimes misread.
Through experimenting with facial expressions, emojis, and emotion within designed objects, I explored how expressions can exist beyond the human face. This journey eventually led to Flip Face, an interactive machine that continuously generates new facial expressions in response to human presence. Created from 48 photographs of my own facial expressions, the machine can generate over 5.3 million possible combinations, performing expressions endlessly as people approach.
Face Beyond Face is a reminder to look beyond the expressions we encounter every day, to consider what is not always visible, what may be hidden behind a face, and how emotion can exist beyond what is shown.
Face
Emotion
Flip face
Thanks, Thanks, Thanks