Follow me in my Creative Journey
The garments are all done and the photoshoot is prepped! I picked out colors for doing the painting as well and I tried to be as meticulous as possible without being overt.
I am definitely more into the deeper colors. I like the blues and deep reds. I think even the one on the photo on the right is too too much. I think I’m also going to take the skin color out or make it more grey. I need a little more time to think about this 🙂
Definitely sold on deep blue and purple as well.
In preparation for my MA Portfolio Application (for the second time (yay)) I made a mood board with my sketches and process in the early stages of this project. I cited Rebecca Horn because her work was a huge inspiration on the onset of this journey. I also cited Leigh Bowery because his work is so performative, and the piece above in particular reminded me of the book I read about stalking. I was thinking about the onus of having to dictate your movements to another person’s.
It also has some of my props because they made the whole thing gel and look cool 🙂
After my tutorial with Julian we talked about how I would capture the finished pieces. I’m pretty set on images (because I need them for my portfolio). My statement of Intent says that I want to capture the performance of a garment, and I think I can do this through still image as well.
We also talked about “props” that would add to the storytelling element so I made these things:
When I made the fingers I was thinking about how it would be difficult to get out of the other top I made (not pictured yet) because its closures are bows. and the feet were supposed to make it hard to move. I’m really interested in exploring how uneven power dynamics can be shown, and I hope these will add to the narrative.
The top I made for myself because this is a two person thing, and honestly I just needed a garment for the photos. I did all of the quilting on both of the garments by myself, and I liked the clean look to the front of this piece where I left the quilting open.
I’m planning to do the shoot soon, and I think I’m going to do a shoot WITHOUT the painting first because the garments look so clean and nice. Then I’ll experiment a little bit more with color.
I made a double pair of pants that have a separating zipper attaching them. It worked perfectly and I was able to drag Kaelan across the floor. This fits into my SOI by being a performative garment and it shows an uneven power dynamic, which I’ve been interested in.
I also started making a padded top that will drag her along. Here are a few variations below– I plan to attach snaps tomorrow and pick a final look.
I also want to make myself a top. but i can’t figure out how I want it to look. I’m thinking of quilting a bunch of shapes and then just draping and seeing what looks best.
I’m also making straps that will attach both garments by the top pieces. I need to think about how they will buckle and be oriented to show the control/power look I’m going for.
Shooting to have this all done to show to Julian on Tuesday 🙂 And hopefully i’ll have it all photographed by the end of next week.
This was another example of garments warranting action by two people that I found. Rick Owens stated that it is about feminism and the bonds between women. I think this breaks up the body and forces it to be viewed in different ways, which is cool and surprising. I’m getting ready to do some sketching and this is something I will consider.
I think I am set on making a two person garment, or a garment that warrants interaction between two people. There aren’t too many precedents that I could find, but I’ve attached some below.
I think these garments in most cases are equalizers, and that is something i’d rather work against. For example the hair tied together in the guo pei garment below (and the hands and dress) forces the models to stay in sync and work together. I think a way to bust that is asymmetry and a difference in ways of movement (maybe one person has greater range of motion than another?)
Below are the survey results of desirable and undesirable body aesthetics (the words used are from the survey as well). To be honest, there weren’t too many surprising results. I did notice that the desirable photos were a lot more “aesthetic”. Also, one thing that I found interesting was that multiple people said that they were self conscious of their smile.
It would be nice to use this research and reconcile it with what I want to do with two person garments.
Over break, I read this book by Chris Mohandie, who is an FBI profiler. And I read the book as a completely unrelated thing, but I was interested when he started talking about the dynamic of power and control in relationships between serial killers/stalkers and their victims. In my last project I started to think about how I was more interested in control so that caught my attention.
So because of that I was interested in making a garment that warrants action by two people or a garment that is supposed to be worn by two people, where one person has more control over the orientation or how it is worn. I did some initial sketches (a lot with gloves) so that the garment could be easily transferred between two people.
I tried to sew a glove and it was SO HARD so I’m not sure that that is the avenue in the garment’s manifestation, but I like the concept of a two person garment.
See sketches and glove sample below. I want to develop and research 2 person garments more before I do another round of sketches.
This is also typical stalking behavior- the overwhelming desire for control over the victim’s life and, in this case, death
Christopher Darden (p.171)
Since my SOI Feedback, I’ve been researching other designers and artists who work in a similar subject area or theme (look to previous posts). I thought I would continue by looking at one of my favorite designers who is an alum of the RCA, Karoline Vitto.
Her work is so on point at calling attention to the ridiculousness of the body expectations on women. For example:
Her work really resonates with me because it is so relatable and real. I would say that I definitely aspire to create work that causes the same response and feelings that her work does for me.
I’ve been thinking about how to push my work to the next stage so I can hit the ground running when I come back to school. I’m going to start with a google survey so I can gather more information. Then I plan to sketch and ideate on some “looks” to show Julian right when I get back.
Niko Suggested that I look at Rebecca Horn’s work for her performative elements. Rebecca is a German visual artist, who is best known for her installation art, film directing, and her body modifications such as Einhorn (Unicorn), a body-suit with a very large horn projecting vertically from the headpiece.
While these works seem like tools for improving human capability, the resulting effects are often debilitating or grotesque, serving only to draw attention to the limitations of the wearer’s body.
I obviously love how involved and performative her garments are. I also loved how she has documented them in a series (shown below). For me, what is most important is the kinetic elements to the work. Every single piece forces the viewers to look at the human body with a new focus, an this to me is exciting.
Samantha's RCA Process 