Ria Yukta

Ria Yukta (she/her), is a trans-media designer based in London. Being an ambivert her work is an embodiment of the unsaid and unspoken. Her practice is a hybrid of analogue and digital mediums of design. Being a staunch believer of process emphasis, her approach is a tribrid of Interior, Product and Experimental Communication, giving precedence to materiality, sensory and hybrid mediums.

Currently she is collaborating with a Rak's Pallikkoodam, an International school in India to work on a progressive, comprehensive and multi-dimensional sex-education curriculum.

She is also a student ambassador for the RCA Art & Design Portfolio Development short course '23.

EDUCATION ||

2021 || BA (Interior and Spatial Design) | Lasalle College of the Arts,

2022 || Graduate Diploma (Communication) | Royal College of the Arts, London

The Birds + The Bees '23, is a passion project and a note to a very confused and impressionable 13 y/o Ria, growing up in a country that considered the topic of sex a taboo.

This project is an inquiry, a provocation and an ode to normalising, demystifying, and questioning the taboo, the shame and the stigma surrounding "conversations about sex".

A sneak peek into the Land of the Kama Sutra,

How is sexual abuse okay, but condoms ad's banned ?

How are rape jokes normalised, but contraceptive health a scam ?

How is child marriage legal but sex-education a crime ?

CONTEXT ||

1.429 B most populated country in the world

2.4 M third largest population of HIV infected

11.8 M teenage pregnancies

72% of Indians have unprotected sex

100% Taboo surrounding conversations about sex

NARRATIVE ||

An abstract take on using multi-sensory modalities as provocations to question and defamiliarize the taboo surrounding conversation about sex in India and parallel communities.

LINGO ||

Demystify: to make (a difficult subject) clearer and easier to understand

Normalise: to allow or encourage (something considered extreme or taboo) to become viewed as normal

Defamiliarize: the artistic technique of presenting to audiences common things in an unfamiliar or strange way so they could gain new perspectives and see the world differently

Taboo: prohibited or restricted by social custom

WHY ARE CONVERSATIONS SURROUNDING SEX STILL CONSIDERED A TABOO IN THE LAND OF THE KAMA SUTRA ?

An abstract take on using multi-sensory modalities as provocations to question and defamiliarize the taboo surrounding conversation about sex in India and parallel communities.

CURRICULUM ||

The urgent need for the lack of comprehensive Sex-ed in India, led to the collaboration with Rak's Pallikkoodam- an international IB school in India. As a designer and practitioner I initiated a collaboration between the institution, doctors, therapists and designers to design and execute a comprehensive sex-ed curriculum. Given the sensitivity that surrounds this topic in the geo-political climate in India, the lifespan of the curriculum is infinite. The proposal is broken down into- exploration, primary research, collaboration, ideation and testing and evaluation.

Medium:

Single channel Video

Size:

2 Minutes

Lab grown Bio Leather, made from aphrodisiacs, like strawberries, pomegranates, and chilli's. The Bio Leather installation is further laser cut with different statements documented from the Focus Group.

Medium:

Bio Leather- Strawberry, Pomegranate, Chilli, Agar Agar, Citrus Powder, Glycerin, Metal

Size:

170cm x 68cm x 2cm

aphrodisiac biomaterial laser-cutting strawberry

Using one word, how would you describe the "Sex" to your younger self ? "SHOCKWAVES". A tactile proximity sensor panel designed from the keyword "shockwaves", as a part of the primary research. The proximity sensor panel, emits different documented audio cues of "Vanilla and Sexual Innuendos".

Medium:

CNC cut- MDF panels, BLACK 3.0 (Anish Kapoor), Bare Conductive (Proximity sensor)

Size:

70cm x 40cm x 20cm

Given the depth of process and research intrinsic work, research was converted into knowledge tools to help facilitate and translate the ideology and relationship between multi-sensory modalities. Research was further documented into a series of books, sub-questioning the "binding character of a book" itself.

In Collaboration with:

Interview: Dr. Tanaya Narendra

Interview: Dr. Agni Bose

Medium:

Laser cut acrylic, MDF and Plywood

interview practice-based-research primary-research tactile-stimulating

Resin Cast and Moduled Aphrodisiacs – Aphrodisiacs: Food that increases sexual desire, were casted and moulded as a satirical take on Sex-toys and the ban surrounding it in India.

Posters + Visual Aesthetic

acrylic laser-cutting risograph sexual-experience

The Focus Group was aimed to discuss, inquire and analyse the taboo, stigma surrounding conversation about sex. The focus group was designed to user test, create and document the varying perspectives. The input from the focus group was used to design the varying multi-sensory installations.

In Collaboration with:

Documentation- Abodid Sahoo

communal-identity focus-group multi-sensory-experience user-behaviour workshop

Participants ||

Abodid Sahoo

Ajeya Kuma

Akira

Ari Clark

Bibin Rajesh

Dan OuYang

Devanshi Rungta

Qi Xiao

RD Dua

Sanjana Rajesh

Shubanghini Dhall

Shreya Karthikeyan

Sihong Chen

Susanne Bauman

Triss

WeiWei Zheng

Interviews ||

Dr. Agni Kumar Bose

Dr. Tanaya Narendra

Joe Boyd

Swetha Krishnamurthy

Technical Support ||

Alba Ceide

Annie Richardson

Constantina Riala

Fred Thomson

Josephine Kibuka

Mike Faulkner

Nikolet Kostur

Iwona Zabrocka

Panos Delilabros

Phoebe

Pietro Bardini

Sotiris Gonis

Steve Bunn

Ria Yukta

CURRICULUM ||

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About

Royal College of Art