Combining storytelling with speculative science, in this project you will work in pairs to explore new body boundaries and capabilities. The final outcome will be the body of a new being, that will be placed on your partner’s body, your body or maybe both. This new body should significantly alter/transform your body or bodies and augment, distort, or create a new sense. Use what you have learned about soft circuits, sensors, inputs/outputs and Arduino. When developing your concept keep in mind that you are not creating clothes, but distorting the true nature of the body. For this project, you will also “create your own fabric” experimenting with unconventional materials for textiles. Some ideas could be paper, wood, wire, PVC pipes, rope, recycled objects, etc. You can use regular fabric, but the fabric as it is cannot be the main material of you project. For this project you will work in pairs.
What is the life of a fish like? In our culture, fish can be a symbol of good luck and abundance, and the raw material for many cuisines, but it is never "I", but an Other. When empathizing with fish, we tend to long for the freedom of swimming in water, and the mystery and colorfulness of our habitat. But can our bodies adapt to this logic? When we actually have a biomimetic fish body, will we feel freer, or more bound?
“Drowning” is a bio-mimic textile of deep-ocean creatures. We choose to alter a shared body part of both human and fish - the spine, to create empathy between us and ocean creatures who might be suffering from plastic and oil pollutions.
We chose to use metal wire to create the structure net for the wearable “spine,” and use reflective textiles to create fish scale along the structure. When moving, the lighting will alter our perception of its navigation, while the person inside it feeling trapped - a beauty prison.
Base
Structure