User

User(2026)

Plaster, greyboard, metal stand, conductive tip, smartphone, motorized mechanism, and battery
19 × 21 × 21 cm (7.5 × 8.3 × 8.3 in.)
00 min. 05 sec. automated motion cycle
2026 / Helix Art Space (Stockholm)

Through a collision between traditional sculpture and robotic actuation, User serves to expose the contradictions betraying our conventional notions of beauty, humanity, and human agency when in friction against the accelerating landscape of technology. The human sculpture is a millenia-old celebration of the person, but has been tragically hijacked within this work and forced into the digital affordances of contemporary life.

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Made to scroll

The kinetic mechanism of User relies on a modified Jansen linkage attached to Xin’s plaster-cast hand, broken at the thumb base, actuated by a battery-powered 6V N20 reduction gear motor, and tuned to simulate a natural scrolling cadence. Conductive materials are embedded within the thumb-tip to allow the hand to manipulate the capacitive touch screen surfaces of most smart phones.

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Agawen is the studio practice of J. Aga (PH) and Xin Wen (CN/US). Their collaboration began in London, where they completed a joint postgraduate programme between the Royal College of Art and Imperial College London. They made their artistic debut during a term abroad in Singapore, followed by a UK debut later that year on the Piccadilly Lights, which received the CIRCA Public Vote Prize.

Their current body of work is about how contemporary life is structurally determined by cities and screens, and it draws from their experience as diasporic artists and their technical foundation as design-engineers. Their experimental videos, kinetic sculptures, and immersive installations have been exhibited at the Asian Art Museum (San Francisco, USA), Ars Electronica (Linz, Austria), Helix Art Space (Stockholm, Sweden), and Speculum Artium (Trbovlje, Slovenia).

Formerly XJ.

Exhibitions & Appearances

2026 Solo exhibition, MVR Gallery (Ithaca, NY, USA)
2026 Solo exhibition, Helix Art Space (Stockholm, Sweden)
2025 Artist talk, Helix Art Space (Stockholm, Sweden)
2025 Silent Interference, Turtle Chamber Projects (Taoyuan, Taiwan)
2025 Alternative Roots, Hoxton Hall (London, UK)
2025 Artist talk, Bow Arts (London, UK)
2025 Speculum Artium Festival (Trbovlje, Slovenia)
2025 Artist talk, Cornell University (Ithaca, NY, USA)
2024 Solo exhibition, Asian Art Museum (San Francisco, CA, USA)
2024 Into the Future, Whitespace Gallery (Edinburgh, UK)
2024 Artist talk, Technarte Conference (Bilbao, Spain)
2023 Royal Society of Sculptors (London, UK)
2023 CIRCA20:23, Piccadilly Lights (London, UK; also: Berlin, Milan)
2023 Ars Electronica Festival 2023 (Linz, Austria)
2023 ART-ACT Festival, Singapore Art Week (Singapore)

Awards & Commissions

2025 Kakilang Commission
2024 Artsted 99 Future Blue-Chip Artists
2023 CIRCA20:23 Public Vote Prize
2023 Interplay Kinetic Design: Major Award & Grant
2023 Media Architecture Biennale 2023 Finalist

Press & Mentions

2025 A Youngish Perspective / Review: Alternative Roots Festival
2023 Ocula / Winning the Public Vote Prize for EMERGE:NCY
2023 Wallpaper* / Winning the Public Vote Prize for EMERGE:NCY
2023 Artplugged / Shortlist for CIRCA20:23
2023 FAD Magazine / Shortlist for CIRCA20:23

Education

2023 Royal College of Art & Imperial College London
MA/MSc Global Innovation Design
Xin Wen and JJ Agcaoili