FINAL PROPOSAL>
“Architecture must reform itself in the same way as clothing, stripping off the excess layers of decoration to liberate and mobilize the underlying structure”
My installations demonstrate a different way of interpreting fashion. A spring board to question and discuss. These explorations will demonstrate new ways to present and investigate fashion, whether that is permanent or intangible. These processes have been about development of ideas and exploring possible theories of the relationship between fashion, garment and dwelling.
The three installations demonstrate fashion. I have not produced garments, I have produced explorations surrounding fashion. The plaster installation presents bricks with clothing embedded inside them. The plaster has pushed out fashion; the clothing therefore is free from fashion, free from ornamentation. This installation demonstrates dwelling as a wider dress. People interact with the space, just as the installation interactions with the wider public space. The aesthetic that I am creating is different formations of fashion mass. These cubic forms in turn, interact with the mass and space surrounding it.
Stacking.
Repetition.
Order.
Placement.
Submerge
Emerge.
Rigid.
Uniform.
Uncontrolled.
In short:
Plaster installation = elimination of fashion in the void between dwelling and clothing.
Ice installation = fashion as a momentary state that transforms the meaning and purpose. The ice installation will like fashion, holds solid only for a period of time, before slipping away to become something else.
People = move fashion. Moves fashions ability to change meaning due to purpose.
Plaster moulds: ability to fashion a garment.
Garment as a new physical form.
Fashion elimination vs momentary fashion vs fashion mass
Public space vs private dwelling
Public garment vs private dwelling
Fashion vs clothing
Pulic clothing vs private dwelling
Private dwelling vs public space
Negative space vs fashion motion
Fashion vs fashion.
Definitions
Fashion: a conscious negative state that is in constant motion between the private and public space.
Garment: “the narrower dwelling that surrounds us”
To fashion: to add ornamentation.
To dress: to cover.
Development over the workshops.
After completing my development I am surprised how my ideas and thoughts have evolved over the course of the semester. My thoughts surrounding fashion and clothing where broad, yet once I began to generate my definitions of garment and fashion my work has contently refined.
Reflecting on the entire developmental work I see everything as being valuable. Many times I have felt I just ‘had to’ do an exercise of experiment to eliminate an idea in order to evolve another.
“The dwelling is, however only the wider dress that surrounds us” and “our clothing, the narrower dwelling that surrounds us”. This quote from Anti Fashion Fashion has been the core to my garment definition, contently building upon it. Furthermore developing an interest in the void between garment and dwelling. What is the conscious space that is presence between the two? What is its meaning? Using the Vac former I began to research into voids and negative space. Building a 1m by 1m dwelling enabled me with the ability to explore the concept of dwelling and how it interacts with clothing. I was able to physically interact with the space between the private shell (clothing) and the public space (dwelling). I was told at Mid semester crit that I was fashioning my house structure. At the time I was not aiming to fashion, I was aiming to create fashion. Fashion I had refined as this space, the space that adds my physical or intangible ornamentation to clothing. A refinement had to be made; I had to create this structure from clothing. To demonstrate this fashion void, the negative space between dwelling and garment I would need to eliminate fashioning.
The second stage of my development saw miniature bricks constructed from clothing using different medium. I was intending to create larger scale 1m by 1m bricks that would be able to be interacted. A brick was used to symbolise a dwelling. Mediums that were explored were glue, ice, plaster and resin.
Outcome 1. Plaster was so effective. The clothing trapped into this white bold brick projected a fantastic ascetic, and I instantly fell in love with them. I felt that creating a larger scale brick would not be as effective as producing numerous bricks to create a wall, again symbolizing a dwelling. Yet after another 5 weeks covered in plaster I produced 30-40 bricks (I have not counted yet). These were produced by using plastic moulds and refined by using boxes. This technique was extremely challenging, time consuming, messy and difficult to produce solo. Having people involved however was a fantastic experience. It provided the project with another level of space interaction. It also provided laughter and a means to communicate and evolve my thoughts of the plaster technique by bouncing off other people. For the first time however I was immersed in my work, I was mixing the plaster, interacting with its raw form. Initially my intention was to solidify fashion. Transforming its momentary state into a tangible mass, fixed between garments and dwelling. However once I produced these bricks I understood that filling this void with plaster I had subtracted the fashion to isolate a garment. This plaster therefore enabled the garment to be free from ornamentation, with no connection to anything else
Outcome 2: The second refinement was using ice just as I used plaster. Clothing was frozen in the same mould with water acting as the space between dwelling and clothing. These were fantastic. This element of transformation has been followed through the entire semesters development and it was refined here. Once I had understood the theory behind using ice, I was able to relax and flow with the development. however using the ice I allowed myself to fashion. To see fashions implications. By adding dye to the ice blocks and clothing, the clothing inside the ice was dyed. And as I expressed the ice to be fashion. ( again, the space between dwelling and garment ) adding dye demonstrated as the ice melted into water, and interacted with the garments they transformed. This was implicated by fashion. This was a good exercise to test out my theories. I don’t feel I could have expressed my definitions any other way through any other medium as the ice holds solid only for a period of time, before slipping away to become something else. I explored dying the water, dying fabric, dying clothing and producing dye formations for people to interact with. Hanging the ice blocks was effective as it added another level of space that the clothing or water moved through before gravity pulled it towards the ground. This also was refreshing to try a few method of working as opposed to stacking bricks.
Outcome 3. Finally refining the plaster mould. Producing larger moulds of clothing had portrayed the same idea as the vac formed plastic moulds. These moulds are clothing in another physical form to the one we place on our bodies. Using latex has been difficult to work with. It is potent and I have to apply 6 layers onto the plaster mould to enable definition of the mould to be present on the latex. This technique and exploration however is fantastic is successfully demonstrating the to fashion, is to interact with negative space. Once this garment is produced, as it is peeled away from the mould it interacts with space, demonstrating fashioning a garment.
Overall I am happy with the development of my outcomes. It has been extremely intensive semester. After an intensive amount of laboured hours, the bricks still need to be sanded and polish, the ice will need to be carefully prepared for assessment. I feel as an individual I have accomplished a lot, I wish I had a team behind me to produce a larger amount of work as it would be so effective. Producing a house out of plaster or ice bricks embedded with clothing was out of my reach!
Assessment:
All three installations above will be present at assessment. Two ice installations will be selected and presented with plastic trays underneath to collect water and dropping cloth. It will not be a problem that they are melting as they take over an 8 hour period to fully melt away. I will set up the plastic bricks in a way that the audience can walk around and interact with the space. The latex moulds will sit on the floor, with one half peeled, the viewer will be able to physically peel it off if desired
Folio/ All developmental workshop material will be presented in a digital folio. With any thoughts and sketches scanned in. The reason behind this is because of the amount images I have, I feel they will be best represented through this medium. This folio will still hopefully be authentic, wholesome. Developmental 3D work. All 3d work will be present in the developmental assessment. Spread out and numbed with a key next to them for quick as easy access. My developmental folio will be present in the final assessment and photographs will be shown throughout a sideshow that I will control whilst giving my presentation. After consulting with Adele and Ricarder in the developmental assessment to the relevance of bringing in my developmental work of assessment.
Book/ My book will be beautiful. Simple and minimalist. A focus will be made on white space, spacing in general. My book will take you through my process, my journey. As though looking at my final 8 weeks from above as an exploration of process and materials. Therefore all pictures will be included from mixing plaster, to video stills, to dye spilled on the carpet, to Claire helping me by trolling the plaster from the car. Because as a whole, the final installation may be rigid, structured and in uniform. The ice installation might be gentle, slow and present a uncontrolled harmony. But in comparison the work process behind this has been messy, sometimes chaotic, their has been laughter and many, many challenges. I am unable to predict how many pages this will be as I have not finished yet, though I can estimate it will be over 30 doulbe sided pages. The initial pages will display a 1000 word brief about the project and then pages will be filled of fantastic pictures. The paper will be at least 150gsm and the paper will be a matt finish. It will also be perfect bound.
