# Project Description

Bonself

Yixuan Song

Summary

Final work

College Central Saint Martins

Course MA Biodesign

Graduation year 2025

Bonself is an “Algae-based” art experiment grounded in ecological philosophy and ethical design. It aims to critique the traditional art of bonsai, which achieves formal beauty through the domestication and manipulation of plants. This anthropocentric aesthetic practice stands in conflict with contemporary values of sustainability and respect for life.

Bonself seeks to break away from this aesthetic logic by rethinking the human–nature relationship through the lens of Eastern philosophical traditions and decentralized ecological thought. Using algae as a living medium, the project offers a new form of plant art that integrates the principles of “Dao follows Nature” and the Doctrine of the Mean—not striving for extreme intervention or total abandonment but pursuing a dynamic balance of symbiotic coexistence.

Final work

Bonself

A rethinking of the relationship between humans and nature. An alternative perspective — one that is softer, more respectful, and more alive in bonsai form.

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Research and process

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Bonself is an “Algae-based” art experiment grounded in ecological philosophy and ethical design. It aims to critique the traditional art of bonsai, which achieves formal beauty through the domestication and manipulation of plants. This anthropocentric aesthetic practice stands...

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