SO FAR. (PROPOSAL)

Fuelled by early experimentation and an exploration in unconventional materials, the development of my project thus far has been based upon a link between shadow and memory. More specifically, I am considering the way in which we process visual information through memory and recognition or in other words, a means of 'filling in the gaps'. Four of the key words that are driving my project are representation, memory, recognition and material.

Research around the psychology of memory was influenced by an autonomous action, recognised during an experiement to further my experience with unfamiliar materials during the process of dressing. Furthermore, the link between shadow and memory became evident. I had not satisfied the emotional or physical sensation of being dressed until making a cornflour and water concoction that was piled ontop of a gladwrap singlet. Although most of the subtance remained stuck to my body after the experiment, I had felt it neccessary to fill in the gaps to pose for a photo. The photo of myself 'wearing' my 'singlet' was somehow more valid if the straps were obvious and the silhouette was more sinlget-like. This prompted some key questions like: can we have reminants of a garment to feel dressed? Are memories shadows? Are shadows valid? Are memories of dress valid?

A dictionary definition states: Shadow: An imperfect and faint representation; adumbration; indistinct image; dim bodying forth; hence, mystical representation; type. The new garment becomes a shadow or a 'representation' of what previously existed. As the wearer, I was compelled to fill in the gaps based on what I already knew about how a singlet should look and feel on my body. This has prompted more specific questions to guide my research, based around the recognition of an object, how it is catalogued and contexualised, which effectively alters perception. As a concept, I am interested in exploring ideas that perhaps disrupt this process of interpreting visual information.

A series of images that epitomize the direction of this project, were produced by artist, Beni Bischof. He digitally manipulated photographs of historical castles so that they become mere representations of what was before. The windows were removed, along with any internal, foreground and background details. With little visual information, the viewer is still able to recognise the object as a castle by interpreting basic features such as verticle lines, curves and diagonals. With these features appropriately catalogued to form a silhouette, we recall information from our memory to 'fill in the gaps'.

Also exploring the idea of perception, artist Ricky Swallow plays on our typical associations by drastically changing the material in his work. Wooden sculptures depict soft or draped objects, creating a paradoxical experience as a viewer. Swallow's work is revelent to my project in terms of the substitute in material and how it effects the nature of the object. A specific example is the carved wooden beanbag, titled, 'Come Together'. No longer is the object something desirable and comforting - the usual connotations of a beanbag - but estranged and foreign, although in reality it is still a beanbag.

The notion of substituting the material of an object to provoke a disruption in the visual process is something that I wish to further explore. Aspiring to create a representation of a garment in this manner, I experimented with silicone. I wanted to see whether this material would successfully clone a section of an old pair of jeans - intending to capture the creases and details of the fly area. As a result, an "imperfect and faint representation" was certainly achieved, as the jeans were made from a subtance that is pink, rubbery and broken in places, with only vague impressions of the garment features.

I would like to explore correlative ideas, provoked by this kind of 'vague impression' and indistinct segmentation through a more focused materials exploration. At this stage of the project, a plausible direction is to consider skin replication - perhaps blurring the borders between skin and garment in order to combine visual information. However, there are still a new series of questions that need to be answered, such as: In what way will the viewer 'fill in the gaps'? How will the wearer be considered? What parts are integral to the garment? In what way will I disrupt this processing of visual information / memory recognition?

During the next six weeks, I will endeavour to answer these questions, so that a final outcome will become clearer, as a representation of my personal responses. The way in which I create the piece (or series of pieces) will depend soley upon the material of choice.

PINK

- Hussein Chalayan

- Alexander McQueen

Thinking in terms of garment shadows or representations and also memory and recognition, I decided to have a play with some silicone. Coincidentally in the candy pink that apppeared in earlier experiments, I wanted to see whether this material, (which is generally used to create a mould with) would successfully clone a section of a garment. I used an old pair of jeans - intending to capture the creases and details of the fly area.




This is the result of the mould that was created. The sections that were absolutely lathered in vaseline peeled away quite well, though the silicone ran deep into the pocket where it was pretty well adhered to the fabric. I also needed a second layer in sections.







Casting back into the mould was quite easy - as the surface was smooth and all vassed-up. The result probably would have been more successful had the silicone been applied in two coats in round two, although I think overall, the details that were captured are impressive! A thicker solution / material during the casting process is a possiblity for the next step.

Looking at the samples in relation to my concept, I think I have achieved an "imperfect and faint representation" (which was one of the dictionary meanings that stood out for me) of the jeans. Using a foreign material, I was hoping to also explore the idea that I have associated shadows with memory - or more specifically, processing visual information; 'filling in the gaps'.

NEW Q'S TO A.

For two consecutive nights, it's taken me a longer-than-usual time to fall asleep, because there are too many ideas running laps in my head. Too many perspectives and questions that still need to be answered. At this stage, however, I think I need to re-pose some of the origninal queries, since my perspective is constantly changing.

In what way will the viewer 'fill the gaps'?
How will I consider the wearer??
Am I looking to eliminate detail?
Silhouette or internals?
How do I create a a mysterious version?
What parts are integral to the garment?
The basic form like the cornflour singlet and the castles?
The process of 'putting on'?
Can I create a garment shadow by simply changing the material?
Do I create something that provides disconnected 'hints'?
Am I probing multiple memories?
Am I talking about behavioural script?
Do I want to disrupt this?

SUGAR

I am so intrigued by this work. Noelle Allen had created a temporal sculpture, titled Husk, which is a cloud of air spun sugar. Over the course of a few days, the structure deteriorates and the sugar crystalizes as air escapes from the glass vitrine. During the process, the sculpture transforms from a light and beautiful puff of fairy floss, to represent some kind of carcuss and then eventually nothing but granules of sugar. I think that's what I like about this work - the fact that in the end, all that's left is a mere indication of the orignial sculpture and also the individual stages throughout the process. Each formation can be interpreted in a different way, evoking seperate emotions.






I came across these photographs on a blog today. The model is wearing the literal kind of shadow. Dressed in projected imagery, I guess in terms of my own project, I could say that she is wearing a shadow - or a mysterious/suggested representation of the orignial source. (Which would be the image?) She's no longer naked. Is she wearing her own skin?





This is by Jun Takahashi, 2000:



The caption goes as follows:

Fashion in the twentieth century moved in
the direction of taking off clothes. At the
end of the century clothes became as simple
as possible, and instead of wearing clothes, it
became fashionable to "wear" the body itself.
Cosmetic make-up, piercing and tattoos, all
of which are direct forms of decorating the
body and have existed since primitive times,
became the cutting-edge of fashion at the
turn ofthe century. Takahashi painted body
tattoos in places where the skin was not covered
by the dress. Clothes had turned into
skin, and the border between the skin and
clothes was becoming ambiguous.

FILLING IN THE GAPS

Garment shadows? Reminants of a generic dress?




Love.





I find this work so interesting, by artist Beni Bischof. The images of castles have been digitally manipulated so that they become mere representations of what was before. The windows have been removed, along with any internal and background details. I wonder how many details can be removed before they are no longer perceived as castles? We fill the gaps as viewers, with the information that is retained in our memory.

Today I wondered whether this shadow; this changed version could come about by changing the material? Like the cornflour singlet experience, where the straps were felt to be necessary for me to experience the sensation of actually wearing it, Ricky Swallow's work plays on our typical associations by drastically changing the material. Wooden sculptures depict soft or draped objects, creating a paradoxical experience as a viewer. I can only imagine how it might change the way a person would interact with it.




Some more lovely examples. These shoes are made from resin, where Japanese plastic food sample methods have been employed.

RESPONSE TO SHADOW

So many definitions of 'shadow' on the internet. Some of them quite contradictory. These are some of my favourites:

Apparition: something existing in perception only; "a ghostly apparition at midnight" - Perception. Does the viewer 'fill the gaps'?

Trace: an indication that something has been present; "there wasn't a trace of evidence for the claim"; "a tincture of condescension" - Could this be related to my cornflour experiment? Where the traces of the singlet became the shadow? So then the creator does not have to exist in the present.

To cloud; to darken; to cast a gloom over. - Could this be about the process? To change what was? "To cloud" perhaps just means to change.

An imperfect and faint representation; adumbration; indistinct image; dim bodying forth; hence, mystical representation; type. - I really like this definition. Mystical and imperfect. Now maybe we percieve the object differently. Is it different? To what degree does it have to represent what was before?

An immitation of something. - This definition contradicts the previous statement... I think?

When I smoothed on the straps of my cornflour singlet, I wondered whether it was the familiarity of the garment silhouette that prompted the action. Do the internals matter? Can only the seams exist for me to feel I am wearing the garment? Do we register the garment if the silhouette does not exist? I decided to deconstruct a shirt, leaving just the garment shadow.



The 'new' garment becomes a shadow of what previously existed. Now the viewer fills in the gaps - because we know how a shirt should look and we can assume it's skeleton. In psychology, this is called a behavioral script.

Wikipedia definition:
"...a sequence of expected behaviors for a given situation. For example, when an individual enters a restaurant they choose a table, order, wait, eat, pay the bill and leave. People continually follow scripts which are acquired through habit, practice and simple routine. Following scripts is useful because it saves the time and mental effort of figuring out an appropriate behavior each time a situation is encountered."

I took a series of photographs, abstracting the 'garment shadow' by the shadow it cast. Interestingly, a sense of depth within the photos misrepresents and distorts the relationship.

SOME QUESTIONS TO PONDER

Brainstorming some questions that have come up so far have helped to (sort of) clarify my direction with this project. I've pulled out a few in an endeavour to answer them... Probably with some more questions.

Can we have reminants of a garment to feel dressed?
Are memories shadows?
Are shadows valid?
Are memories of dress valid?
Does a shadow need to exist in the present?
Does a shadow need to exist permentantly?
How can we capture it?
It it only nakedness that makes us feel undressed?
What is naked?
Is naked only naked depending on the social context?

FURTHER EXPLORATION

During the Easter break, I set out to further this materials study. My substance of choice was cornflour. I wanted to see how far I could push the cornflour, treating it in four different ways to create four different 'garments'. The first method was to use the cornflour in it's most basic form - dry and loose.




'Putting on' my hat was mildly hillarious. Though, not in any way did I feel like I had put it on, or that it was on. Perhaps the item needs to remain somewhat reminiscent of its orignial structure. Haha, or maybe I just felt like an idiot who was throwing flour over her head.



I added water and colour, to hopefully end up with a substance less flour-like.



Ohhhh such a fab colour! I cooked a pink sock in the microwave. Small samples of the flour and water went great and rubbery, but the sock was more biscuit-like and crumbled a bit. But that didn't stop me from putting it on.


So far, I had not experienced the emotional or physical sensation of being dressed. I decided to make a garment to cover my naked body. I piled some of the cornflour concoction ontop of a gladwrap singlet and proceeded to put it on.


This sensation differed from the others. More along the lines of my class experiment, where I felt as though the hair gel and soap were more valid in terms of 'putting on' a garment. Unlike the cooked sock, the loose flour hat and the dough thong, the singlet had not disintegrated during the process so much that I felt I was no longer wearing it.

Was it the process of smoothing the sinlget on?
Was it simply that I was naked before, but now my breasts were covered?
Was it the left over residue - the stickiness on my skin?

I no longer felt naked after smoothing on the garment. Dressed? No. Since it was a material I was unfamiliar with. But definately not naked. So then is it just the fact that my body was covered? If I paint a garment onto my body - with seams - implying the actual shape of a sinlget perhaps I would feel dressed.

It's interesting too, that after the experiment, I had felt it neccessary to fill in the gaps to pose for a photo. For some reason in my mind, it meant that the photo of myself 'wearing' my 'singlet' was more valid if the straps were obvious and the silhouette was more sinlget-like.

MATERIAL EXPLORATION

I'm beginning to think more about how we naturally interact with an object, or a garment, in a different manner when we change its material. I found the 'Lick and Lather' work by Janine Antoni to be extremely intriguing, particularly as she spoke of her sculptures so intimately.

"In terms of the creative process I think that I begin with a kind of conceptual structure. That I know to lick myself in chocolate means something, or to wash myself in soap means something. When I feel sort of comfortable with the security of a very, hopefully, rigorous conceptual structure, then I can actually let go of that kind of thinking. And when I go to wash or lick I’m not necessarily thinking about if I lick this area it means one thing or another, but really trying to get intimate with the process..."


Janine Antoni, 1993

What's interesting is how Antoni was able to let go of her conscious thoughts, allowing her to free up and respond naturally to the materials. The way she bathed with the soap sculpture and the areas she licked on the chocolate were autonomous, which is the only way to measure a subconsious interaction.

In class, we worked with basic materials to create a replica of an item of our clothing - documenting the way we interacted with the changed substance. I made a 'pair of stockings' from toothpicks, tape, hair gel and soap.







'Putting on' the 'stockings' no longer involved the typical dressing process. Instead, the material dictated my process, since in each instance it was a material that I was familiar with and so anticipated what would happen. The hair gel was my first brave act. Though it had been moulded into the shape of a pair of stockings, I proceeded to run it through my hair, as that was an association that made sense.






'Putting on' my toothpick stockings:




'Putting on' my tape stockings:



'Putting on' my soap stockings:





During this exercise, I felt as though the materials that had the most substance to them were the most effective in terms of being 'dressed' or rather, 'putting (something) on'. The hair gel and the soap both left a substance and had to applied in a certain manner and then also removed from the skin. Applying the tape stockings was interesting, as I automatically wrapped the tape around my leg in order for them to stay on. If I had continued that wrapping motion to cover my legs, would I have felt like I was wearing them?