Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Definitions.....

A good time to redefine aspects of my work- what joins it all together, and WHY I am doing it.
INTUITION- without rational thought, second nature, personal, individual. Intuition is an expression of the culmnation of all that has come before for any individual. Every experience we have shapes our views/choices and intuition.
TOUCH- A key element that links my works/series/explorations is the textural nature- the desire of others to touch the items is key to their greater engagement with them (one of my central goals).
RANDOM- the random and imprecision are a guideline/rule within my work to begin the making process (aplication of elastic etc). Also it is key in creating unique situations (of materials) to work with, so I can engage more deeply with each individual piece.

Ricarda keeps asking me what I like abou the degraded-
A few ideas
The degraded = authenticity?
I have always found more beauty in the imperfect than the perfect, and in things with visible age. These things tend to hold more sentimental value, and authenticity for me. When I encounter something old, I can't help but think of the people or experiences that have come before me. It makes me feel as though I have some secret and intimate knowledge through it.

I also think my ideas of authenticity via the degraded are a reaction against the constructed, confected fashion that dominates. This fashion conveys a myth of sorts- of perfection, of ease, and creates distance from the makers in the sense that people dont think of the person who may have made the garment as they look almost machine made in their precision. This is also linked to my ideas re: a garment as a record of process- in that many garments hide their records of process- while I am working in ways to highlight these.

1 comment:

  1. good. it if the degraded 'patina' that lends itself to appear more authentic, the trace of a richer past. Again you should now compare this to the unauthentic, e.g things that looks new/clean/artifical for example, and those ugly fabrics - this will really add depth to the work. RB

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