Originally from Taiwan, Albert Cheng-Syun Tang 湯承勳 is an Associate Professor in Interaction Design. His research interests are centred around the intersection of design, technology and power. This nexus has been the central context where he operates design as a medium to raise critical questions on the relationships among technological progression, surveillance capitalism and democracy.

Prior to his Doctoral degree in artistic research(2014-2018) at University of Bergen and MA Design study at Bergen Academy of Art and Design(2009-2011), he had practiced as a visual and industrial designer in Foxconn Technology Group in Taiwan and also engaged with cultural design projects in publishing sectors. His works have been featured in various international design publications. He has received some professional recognition including, among others, the Red Dot Design Concept Award, NEU/NOW Festival, Taiwan Visual Design Golden Award, Asia-Pacific Design, International Design Awards(IDA), K-Design Award, National Geographic Photography Award and so on.

Selected exhibitions

2024

• Solo Exhibition, Seeds of Truth, Rom 61, Faculty of Fine Art, Music, Design(KMD), University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.

2020

• Solo Exhibition, Human Conditions(人的條件). Northing Space, Bergen, Norway.

2018

• Solo Exhibition, Human Conditions(人的條件). Rom 61, Faculty of Fine Art, Music, Design(KMD), University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.

2017

• Group Exhibition and Collection, Ephemerality – A Permanent Collection. Public Art
  Norway(KORO), Faculty of Fine Art, Music, Design(KMD), University of Bergen, Bergen,
  Norway(catalogue)
   

2016

• Solo Exhibition, Process Unfolding: Reflective Roaming - Design, Ubiquitous Fantasy, Everyday Reality. Rom 8 Gallery, Bergen Academy of Art and Design(KHiB), Bergen, Norway.
• Group Exhibition, Discovery of Book Design Collective. The-MIX-PLACE, Shanghai, China.
• Group Exhibition, Taiwan Visual Design Golden Award. Centre of Arts and Culture, Cheng-Shiu University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
   

2015

• Group Exhibition, Taiwan Visual Design Golden Award. Art Gallery, National Tainan Commercial Vocational Senior High School, Tainan, Taiwan.
• Group Exhibition, Taiwan Visual Design Golden Award. Creative Media Art Gallery, Kun Shan
  University, Tainan, Taiwan.
• Group Exhibition, Golden Butterfly Award. Taipei International Book Exhibition, Taipei, Taiwan.
   

2011

• Group Exhibition, RAFF Design 2011. Bergen City Centre, Bergen, Norway.

2010

• Group Exhibition, Red Dot Award Exhibition. Red Dot Design Museum, Singapore.

2009

• Solo Exhibition, The PerMaNent Moment : New York. PLUS Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan.

2008

• Solo Tour Exhibition, The PerMaNent Moment : New York. Fnac Gallery, Taipei/Taichung, Taiwan.

2007

• Group Exhibition, Exposition: Visual Design in Taiwan. Tainan Cultural Centre, Tainan, Taiwan.
• Group Exhibition, Taiwan Graphic Design Exhibition. Teh-Chun Art Gallery, College of Arts,
  National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan.
• Solo Exhibition, Ambiance. Taipei, Taiwan.

2005

• Curation, Group Exhibition, Memory of Light: 22 Years of Designing Visual Memory through Light. Premier Technology Headquarter, Taipei, Taiwan, 2005.

Tang, A (2025). “Power of Pixels, and the Pixels of Power” in Ymt Magazine, edited by Ingrid Rundberg. Bergen, Norway: Department of Design, Faculty of Fine art, Music Design, University of Bergen.

Tang, A(2019). “Aren’t We Human? Questioning the Conditions of Our Being in the Informatized Everyday through Design.” In Ymt Magazine, edited by Dóra Ísleifsdóttir and Åse Huus, 20–25. Bergen, Norway: Department of Design, Faculty of Fine art, Music Design, University of Bergen.

Tang, A(2018). “Critical Reflection: Reflective Roaming – Design, Ubiquitous Fantasy, Everyday Reality.” Doctoral Dissertation, University of Bergen.

Tang, A(2017). “We Click, We Swipe, We Scroll, We Look For.” In 245 Years Education in Art and Design in Bergen, edited by Nina Schjønsby, 320–23. Bergen, Norway: Faculty of Fine art, Music Design, University of Bergen.

Tang, A(2016). “Process Unfolding: Reflective Roaming.” Exhibition catalogue. Bergen, Norway: Bergen Academy of Art and Design.

Tang, A(2006). “Aesthetics, Economy and Design.” Article. Taipei, Taiwan: Premier Technology.

Tang, A(2004). “Design”s Present and Future.” In DPI Design Magazine, 74–80.

Interfacing Democratic Futures - GenAI, Design, Truth (2025-)

Since the launches of ChatGPT and AI image generators such as DALL·E, Midjourney and Stable Diffusion, our digital world have been flooded with AI-generated visual contents(mixed with image, video, audio and text) that blur the boundary between our perceptions of lie and truth. It can be said that what we are seeing are no longer believing, which has a disruptive impact on public trust and global democracies. In facing the intersection of the development of GenAI technologies and the future of democracy, critical attentions and responses are urgently needed to counter the mainstream narrative of AI. Through critical interaction design, this artisitc research project is to investigate the relationship between GenAI and democracy with a focus to visualise the relationship between AI-generated visual contents and its impact on people's perceptions of truth.

Border of Democracy — Human, interface, surveillance capitalism (2023-2025)

In recent years, global democracies are undermined and declined. As the Freedom in the World report 2022 points out, the world is suffering from 16th consecutive year of democratic decline while the authoritarian rule is expanding globally. There has been a rising concern about responding to such a challenge in relation to surveillance capitalism-enabled issues, such as the commodification of behaviour data, privacy violation, disinformation, cognitive warfare and surveillance culture. This artistic research project intends to unpack the relationship between surveillance capitalism and democracy. As a pilot, the project's focus has been visualising the practices of, and emerging technologies fed by, surveillance capitalism, such as behaviour modification, deepfake technology and the widespread application of GenAI, and their impact on democracy through critical interaction design.

Reflective Roaming — Design, ubiquitous fantasy, everyday reality  (2014-2018)

The PhD artistic research project is a critical inquiry into our conditions of living and being in the relationship between the “designing” and the “designed” in the contemporary informatized everyday. In this project, design is positioned as a means to question the status quo of the technocratic promises that fundamentally shapes personal, economical and socio-political dimensions in our everyday lives. What is the consequences of being fully engaged with the technological visions presented by tech corporate institutions? How is humanity positioned in the intersection of information technology and market? What does it mean to be human in the eyes of machines and, the ones behind?

➝ Download the project's critical reflection(open-access)