Design Map · Eindhoven
Vessel for Accumulated Attention
Graduation project by Sheyang Li at Design Academy Eindhoven, 2026. Shown during Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven on Design Map, location F5.
Beginning from the question of why images, objects, materials and processes stand out within digital platforms, ‘Vessel for Accumulated Attention’ investigates how references, taste and ideas are formed through image circulation. The installation examines how preference is influenced by repeated exposure, algorithmic recommendation and the logic of platform culture, where visibility can shape desirability and value.
Rather than examining algorithms as technical systems, the project explores the visual environments they produce: a flow of images driven by immediacy and repetition. These images accumulate and become familiar over time, forming a vocabulary that guides taste and creative intuition. The installation treats algorithmically distributed images as a material, translating their fragmentation into physical space. Image fragments surround an artefact, which acts as a vessel for references and visual patterns accumulated through an algorithmic image stream. The work asks how designers internalise these visual environments and how they influence what is seen, valued and made.