I am a graduate majoring in Digital Media Art from ICI. My graduation piece, “The Skunk Family”, is an olfactory interactive installation inspired by the “premature graying” gene shared by three generations of women in my maternal family. For decades, my mother and grandmother were trapped in the shackles of perfectionism, frantically masking this “flaw” with pungent hair dye—making the act of hair dyeing a microcosm of intergenerational control. I decided to stop dyeing my hair, personally severing this chain of trauma. The skunk—an animal burdened with black-and-white fur and a strong instinct for self-defense—becomes a fitting metaphor for my rebellion. To faithfully document and explore this family imprint, I displayed biological archives alongside the installation in the exhibition hall.
In the specific production process, I first contacted a professional lab to extract and sequence the DNA profiles of the IRF4 gene—linked to gray hair—from three generations. I then sealed these electrophoresis maps within transparent acrylic blocks, presenting them as spatial archives in the exhibition hall.
To transform this static biological data into a dynamic, material experience, I used hardware like driver boards and infrared sensors to build and debug two line-following skunk cars representing my mother and grandmother. Then I made a change: I wrote the extracted A-T-C-G gene sequence into a code array, allowing the cars’ RGB eyes to change colors synchronously, while using an MP3 module and small speaker to play custom skunk calls.
Meanwhile, to give the skunk representing me a more proactive, destructive force within the space, I further designed an interactive olfactory device based on an Arduino Nano and an ultrasonic sensor. After several rounds of debugging, I used a non-delay atomization module that supports water-free power-off protection to produce scents, and employed 3D printing to craft a dedicated water tank and motherboard base, achieving physical isolation between the water circuit and the electrical circuit.
In the development of scent materials, I formulated two liquids: one is diluted industrial hair dye, and the other is a raw odor liquid extracted by boiling unwashed animal hair at high temperature. When the audience approaches the cart within 120 centimeters, the device softly emits white light and sprays the scent of hair dye. Once the audience steps within 50 centimeters, the device instantly breaks the calm, flashing green light at high frequency and violently emitting the animal odor, completing a sensory-level defense and counterattack.
Above the exhibition hall, I also hung a large photograph as a visual anchor for the entire space. It was an image I created by “flattening” and magnifying, using a scanner, my mother’s old cotton jacket worn when she gave birth to me, along with three strands of white hair from three generations of our family placed on top of it.
“The Skunk Family” is not just an interactive machine; it is my declaration of reclaiming bodily autonomy, a top-down act of self-healing.
Digital Media Arts 
Ziyu Yin | Graphic Design
