Muted Feelings

Introduction

This wearable piece, muted feelings, transforms emotional tension into a visible, bodily language. Inspired by the Betta fish—whose raised scales signal aggression and defiance without sound—the design translates human silence into a form of expression that cannot be ignored.

The work takes the form of a kinetic necklace composed of scale-like plates connected through a linkage mechanism. A cord runs from the necklace to a mouth harness; each time the wearer lifts their head, the cord tightens, pulling the scales upward to reveal a vivid red underside. Simultaneously, a light strip around the mouth changes color, amplifying the emotional signal.

The mouth harness, intentionally constricting, evokes the discomfort and restraint of being unable to speak—an embodiment of the pain of suppressed expression. Yet, this same mechanism transforms that silence into action: a physical protest, a visual outcry. The raised red scales become an extension of anger, frustration, and the desire to be seen.

Not everyone argues with words. Some resist quietly. This piece gives voice to those whose emotions are often overlooked, allowing silence itself to flare, resist, and express.

Concept 

My work investigates how wearable design can extend the body’s natural capacity for emotional expression—giving humans new ways to communicate beyond speech. In daily life, silence is often misread as weakness or passivity. People who choose not to speak are easily overlooked, their emotions buried beneath social expectations of calmness or politeness. Even though our bodies carry traces of emotion—small gestures, subtle tension, or posture—these signals are often too delicate to be noticed or taken seriously.

In contrast, the Betta fish embodies a powerful nonverbal language. When threatened or challenged, it raises the scales on its body, transforming itself into a vivid, shimmering form that cannot be ignored. This physical gesture, silent yet unmistakable, declares its emotional state with clarity and force. The Betta does not need sound to assert its presence—it communicates through transformation.

Drawing from this biological metaphor, my wearable piece seeks to amplify the human body’s unspoken expressions. It transforms subtle emotional cues—such as frustration, anger, or self-protection—into visible, performative gestures through movement and material change. When the wearer feels emotional tension but remains silent, the wearable responds: it expands, unfolds, or shifts its surface, revealing an inner intensity that words cannot capture.

Through this work, silence becomes a language of its own—no longer passive, but active and declarative. The wearable turns emotion into a living surface, allowing the body to speak when the voice cannot. In doing so, it challenges how we perceive communication, emotion, and presence, inviting us to consider that even in stillness, there is power, resistance, and truth.

Reference Works

My project is grounded in research on how form, material, and motion can communicate emotion without words. The Betta fish inspired me with its ability to raise its scales and express dominance or tension through a purely physical gesture. This silent yet powerful transformation led me to explore how wearable design could extend human body language in a similar way—turning subtle emotions into visible motion.

I found strong resonance in Iris van Herpen’s Mechanical Morphosis (2018), a collection that merges organic motion with fashion through kinetic structures and fluid materials. Her approach—where garments respond to the body’s movement and blur the line between organism and machine—inspired me to think of the human body as a site of transformation rather than decoration.

Equally influential was Neri Oxman’s Wanderers (2014) from the MIT Media Lab. Her exploration of wearable “organisms” that sustain life in extreme environments opened my imagination to how material and structure can hold emotional and biological intelligence. Oxman’s concept of material ecology, where design is driven by behavior and responsiveness, shaped how I approached both the mechanics and symbolism of my own work.

Through these studies, I began to see my project not just as a wearable object, but as a living interface—a system where gesture, material, and mechanism come together to let the body speak when words cannot.

How It Relates to Paris is Burning

When I watched Paris is Burning, I was struck by how people who had been silenced by society turned performance into power. Their gestures, movements, and costumes were not just for beauty—they were ways of being seen, of declaring identity in a world that refused to listen. I felt a strong connection to that spirit.

My wearable piece was born from a similar desire: to give form to emotions that words cannot hold. Like the performers in Paris is Burning, I am interested in how the body can speak when language fails. The kinetic necklace I created allows silence to become expressive—anger, tension, and resistance can rise and shimmer on the skin like the flaring scales of a Betta fish. Through this work, I want to honor the quiet strength of those who resist invisibility, and to transform stillness itself into a form of voice.

My goal is to design a system that integrates seamlessly with everyday human gestures, enabling the body to perform actions or express emotions that it normally cannot. The mechanism should feel instinctive—something that transforms ordinary movement into extraordinary expression.

Conclusion

This project taught me how silence can transform into a visible language—how the body itself can speak through material and motion. By merging mechanical movement with emotional expression, I discovered the potential of wearable design as both a poetic and communicative medium. In the future, I hope to refine the mechanism to respond more seamlessly to subtle gestures and to explore softer, bio-responsive materials that react to the wearer’s breathing or heartbeat. My goal is to continue blurring the boundary between emotion and technology, until the body and the object feel truly alive together.