For his project "codpiece everywhere", Xin Liu focussed on a historical accessory - the codpiece. Often conspicuously decorated or padded, it was a sign of masculinity and virility in the 15th/16th century. The codpiece is long gone - but even today there are still certain items of clothing or behaviour that men use to show off their masculinity.

Xin Liu has created a collection of contemporary pubic capsules that explores how men today construct the image of masculinity in public. The pubic capsule was highly symbolic and revealed a lot about the wearer's self-image. Nowadays, men find other ways to express themselves and emphasise their masculinity, and he wants to show this with his project and shed light on it with a humorous perspective. For example, there is an object made of grey sweat fabric - a reference to the social media trend of wearing grey jogging trousers under which the genitals are clearly visible. Another work is hung with medals and questions why it is accepted for men to wear these badges, while other colourful, decorative elements or jewellery are generally considered rather unmanly. A pubic capsule covered with delicate peacock feathers alludes to the fact that in the animal world, males are richly decorated, colourful and conspicuous, whereas in humans these attributes tend to be attributed to women.

Xin Liu, who calls himself Yuanxin Tao, was born and grew up in China. He initially studied industrial design at Jiangnang University in China. He then completed a Bachelor's degree in Jewellery at Pforzheim University and a Master's degree in Jewellery Design & Gold and Silversmithing at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, which he completed with distinction in 2022. In 2020, he received the "Pforzheim revisited Berlin" scholarship at the German Museum of Technology in Berlin.