FEIFEI MAO

This project investigates the overlooked afterlife of discarded eyeglasses—objects that carry memory, identity, and attachment long after they fall out of use. Rather than treating them as waste, the research proposes “dignified reuse,” turning these lenses into mediators of memory, perception, and light.

Through research-through-design, field investigations, and experiments with polarized light, the work develops a three-part spatial ritual: from suspension and falling in a funeral-like hall, through a landscape of fragmented vision, to a final moment of regenerative light inside a lighthouse.

Out of Sight, Into Light suggests that sustainability is not only material but cultural—creating ritual spaces that support emotional closure and open new ways of seeing.