" Organic material is everywhere. Visually delicate and soft, it's almost as if it could crumble in our hands like when you hold a bird wing or a dried out flower petal.  Willow is an attempt to capture the essence of the natural world by expanding the movement of the body. Placing emphasis on delicacy, the large scale is intended to challenge this perception. The construction of a single unit repeated over speaks metaphorically of the natural world surrounding us. "

Questions to consider | What is gravity? What is light? What is movement? Are everyday definitions suitable when applied to design? How do they work together? How would my audience respond, experience, or understand them? Through composition? Through exaggeration? Am I challenging or celebrating the audience's understanding and expectations?

In this assignment, I was asked to create a wearable structure that examines the ideas of gravity, light and movement. The final piece was expected to raise the viewer's awareness of each of those phenomenas. How I chose to raise the viewer's awareness of each of those terms,  how I chose to highlight gravity, light and movement, depended upon which aspects I deemed important based on what I wanted to communicate with my audience.

 

After completing the paper project, original photos were submitted for Art2Wear Jury (December 2015). Manipulated paper lost it's shape over time. The dress was re-constructed a week before the show (April).

 
 

I began by sketching the human form. How does the body move? How does gravity effect movement? What is movement?  How do our body parts work either together or against movement? 

Movement: Motion of all or part of the body, especially at the joint or joints

Chronophotography: an antique photographic technique from the Victorian era (beginning about 1867–68), which captures movement in several frames of print. These prints can be subsequently arranged either like animation cels or layered in a single frame.

Newton's third law states "A force is a push or pull that acts upon an object as a result of its interaction with another object."

 
 

My center of gravity is just a reaction.

As I jump, my arms flare up above my head forcing my body to lower back down. Gravity changes balance through a action/reaction response.

 
I attached glow sticks to each body part. While taking a step forward, my arms swung in a full range of motion.  Movement reaches it peak when the light appears the brightest. Each time I take a step forward, movement is halted for a slight second. …

I attached glow sticks to each body part. While taking a step forward, my arms swung in a full range of motion.  Movement reaches it peak when the light appears the brightest. Each time I take a step forward, movement is halted for a slight second. In response, my force is distributed upwards. This explains why each part of our body is essential in moving us forward.

I attached glow sticks to each body part. While taking a step forward, my arms swung in a full range of motion.  Movement reaches it peak when the light appears the brightest. Each time I take a step forward, movement is halted for a sligh…

Paper Studies & Prototypes


Early precedent studies included work of Jennifer Brook, Peter Gentenaar, Sonia Bianchi and personal photos taken at the Museum of Natural Science