Of the criteria for the final project, either metamorphosis or tell a story were the ones I was going to choose.
People make some really cool things.
I was desperately wanting to make a sculpture for the clothing reconstruction assignment, but my friends talked me in to doing it for the final.
Proposal for Final Project: Passage
I plan to explore several concepts linked to fashion, upcycling and story. I felt inspired by our class on upcycling textile art and clothing reuse and would like to juxtapose the stories of Victorian Gothic clothing with the concept of a ship. The sculpture will be entitled Passage and falls under the option to “Tell a story” in our assignment criteria. I will draw on the ideas presented in Leanne Prain’s “The Stories We Wear,” in Strange Material: Storytelling through Textile, as well as the concept of “the secret that is hidden” from gothic literature.
The skeleton of the ship will be an assemblage piece, constructed from metal racks, stands and a lamp, all scrounged from thrift stores. These will be lashed together with coat hanger wire–an appropriate material for textile upcycling–into the shape of a steampunk airship, then attired in Victorian style clothing. The clothing will resemble Victorian dress, but will also take on the shape of the ship’s hull and air balloon.
The synthesis of upcycled “junk” and clothing into the form of a ship emphasizes the cyclic history of narratives that travel in society. The airship implies, through the gothic fantasy aesthetic, the electronic mediation of this information; it is aloft, unbound by material modes of transmission. The style of the ship and clothing adds an conservative and covert undertone, referencing gothic repression. Yet, lit from within, the message is alive and relevant to those for whom it has not gone out of style. The sculpture’s narrative further inspires viewers who would fashion their own tales.
Passage illustrates how conservative messages have been rejected by champions of the neoliberal movement. Their reproach has driven these communications into hiding, but has by no means extinguished them.