Comprehending Celery Through Different Art Forms ~ 1st Year

Over the course of the past few weeks I have been studying celery. I think this ties in a lot with the idea of patience. When taking the time to look , more than the average minute or even few hours you can discover a lot of context you would have realized was never there. Some characteristics of celery I noticed: many different tones of greens that contrast, but at the same time blend together. I thought that the celery would turn brown quickly but it did not, it remains green for a while. There are many intersecting lines, as well as curves. The celery is quite moist when taken out of the fridge, but after 10 minutes it becomes dry on the outside, but is still wet on the inside. The leaves on celery have very small ridges that are straight, but still contain some curves just like the body of celery. When breaking apart the vegetable, sometimes it comes off whole, or some strings and strands peel off because each piece is bound together well. Overall celery has many different measurements and inconsistent by contrasting and sometimes making that a similarity.

I have not so far in my life been a big fan of eating celery, but now starting to really appreciate its form out of many other vegetables. It does not rot fast, it holds water, and acts like a vessel, the way it is constructed can lead to other findings of how to construct stuff. I think it would be useful for space thiea of boiling water in a structure and even the models of how it combines.

First set of pictures:

These are my first set of photos, I wanted to document the celery in a creative way showcasing the body and certain sections of it in the way of still knowing that it was celery. The lighting was quite poor where I took these and it effected some of the coloration of how the vegetable looks. I learned what drastic difference lighting can make on this vegetable.

 

Measurements and drawing:

For the measurements, I measured each section of the celery. I did a planar cut, transverse cut, and did a planar drawing on the vegetable. After that I measured out all the angles and lines of the celery stock. Its hard to see but there are more lines, they just came out light in the image below:

Planar: I noticed how much negative and positive space celery holds. The leaves fill in gaps, or other parts of the celery stock shade in the holes. There are small little circles in the planar view of the celery and a gap. The size of the celery which is kind f shaped like a bean, stays similar in size but all individual pieces are not the same.

 

Transverse: The leaves almost have shorter measurements and ridges, and the celery has small ridges in the stock. (two drawings were done for this cut)

Plane: This was difficult at first because I felt that the celery would have more curvature, it ended up being quite slight instead of drastic change. More of the curves and twists were at the bottom root area to the stock. Then where there divergence occurs it changes a tiny bit, but stays still at a constant distance pattern.

These are my second set of photos, I gathered the comments given in class, and decided to retake them.

 

Better lighting was important, so I choose a location with white walls, tables, and floors, so that the lighting could bounce off and make it more of a natural lighting effect.I zoomed in more and broke the celery. In doing so, I learned that the celery when broken can get stringy, and is easy and hard to break it depends. This inspired to diagram the drawings with more of that kind of effect.

Turning Celery into a Diagram:

When drawing the diagram of celery, I found that this vegetable actually holds lots of straight edges. Those slight curves at a glance make such a difference making the shape seem so much more rounded. It is a lot of straight slight lines that occasional curve that make that illusion. Of course the top part looking at the planar cut is very rounded which is the interesting part. It was fun to learn in this way, and to be able to tie in abstract and realism in a creative form.

Color Wheel:

For the color wheel, being inspired by how celery holds many colors and textures I was curious to see how on the street if I could find those colors. It was extremely rare to find those colors, here is what I found in two hours of searching:

Then those stings inspired me to make a necklace, so at the bead store I looked for colors that matched.

Final color wheel:

 

 

Folding Celery Out of Paper:

Folding these structures was a challenge because it was hard to get the paper to stay still. It was fun to turn some of the diagrams into a three dimensional object.

For photographing these I wanted to how the light and the way that it hits the paper and the folds. That is why it is in black and white.I used my coat which has some texture and laid it on top and had one warm lightbulb slightly casted onto the paper.

1st diagram: entire stock of celery

 

2nd diagram: small round of celery that you see at the planar cut

 

3rd diagram: inspired by abstracted diagram drawing

 

4th diagram:one piece of the stock

 

5th diagram: stock of celery

 

6th diagram: stock of celery inspired by the diagram

 

7th diagram:  small round of celery that you see at the planar cut

(all structures were held together only by paper, not by glue)

 

Folding a holder for the celery:

Brainstorming ideas of what to make:

I decided wanted to create a backpack. The final backpack after learning from this prototype would not be made out of paper ideally but out of a material that would be biodegradable. There is a lot of attention on reusing bags at the store, but not that many people talk about the vegetable bags. Also farmers and people on the go can use this product by quickly placing their item on the bag instead of it bumping together in the bag.

The first attempt I made right triangles and accordion folded them then unfolded them and cut on 3 parts of the triangle to connect that triangle that would connect to the duplicates made in an attempt to make a backpack. It worked, but then when placed down and then picked up, some parts would fall apart. I almost made the entire bag, I just had the straps left. But was this design ideal, not it was not. It was a study leading to another style of folding.

 

The second attempt I cut small rectangles and folded them into small triangles. I started to connect the triangles into a backpack. It was working, but once again parts of it would fall apart.

 

 

 

The third attempt I used that same triangle design but connected them differently. This time adding a strip of paper in-between as a chain link. I made them into earrings, and a srunchie that doubled as a holder. This structure I found when adding a strip can be manipulated into many different designs. Almost like the idea of how Legos can be build into many structures. Bur this is versatile in holding stuff as well as sculptural and taking on many helpful forms.

I also took more precise measurements to make sure that they would fit together and how many I would need to make:

diagram folding of the celery holder:

left side: horizontal cut
right side vertical cut
diagram of the earrings

 

the holder/scrunchie is holding celery inside in this picture

(all attempts were held together only by paper, not by glue.

Armor + Wearable:

(all attempts were bound together by wire or held by its own pressure)

brainstorming:

First attempt:

I started to collect metal scraps and had clothes hangers that I had found a while ago to create a wearable that connected at the ears. This design was going to be based off of the lines and slight curves celery holds, and inspired by some of the diagrams I had made.

I got half of the wearable’s frame done and even made a second set of sketches to improve the base, but decided to scratch that idea for using used spoons.

Second attempt:

Over the years I have been collecting spoons and reusing them, instead of throwing them away because that adds to waste. I was planning on using these spoons as a small part of my garment. It thought it would be interesting to only use the limited amount I had which was around 20 or less to make a piece. I ended up using way less than half of that amount. My goal was to make something that would connect to the ear so I kept that idea.  I broke the spoons, put a hole in them with a alm and mallet, and then connected them with wire and close pins to create an earring accessory that can protect the back of the neck. This would be ideal for bicycle rider riders and their helmets since the back of the neck isn’t protected. Also this would be good for neck support when further developed. This is a prototype and I think there is a better placement than wire that could be used for this.

Making and Testing:

Measurements and diagram of the armor: 

The drawing depicts the front and side view of the armor. The front’s measurements are similar the back side.

 

The piece:

 

 

 

Class Presentation + “Fashion Show”:

 

Reusable and Subjective Waste ~ 1st Year

Final for Biology, Art, And Social Justice Lang Class

Reusable and Subjective Waste

By: Alexandra Vargas

I walk almost everywhere I go in the city, and through the different settings there is one link that keeps catching my attention: Trash and used objects. We pass by and lay out these objects on the street, which then they are seen as unuseful. Almost as if a lifecycle has ended it’s means. That kind of thinking prompted my first project at Parsons to be made with used materials that were available to be taken. That action then transferred to going onto the street collecting and picking up items to use them for majority of what I was making. I started to challenge myself and raise awareness in class to everyone that instead of resorting to buying new materials, we could find them. When carrying my art projects to class people would look at me oddly. Which gave me an idea to video tape Krystyanna picking up trash, myself spray painting what was collected, and then having my friend Caroline lay down on the street while Krystyanna dumped the trash on her. We got different reactions from the public, which than led me to the idea of how fashion is everywhere and how ironic it would be to make garments out of different used materials. I tested it out in one project, but then made it look like a normal garment. When on the street, people had no idea that it was used material and they treated it differently. So with this project I wanted to make it actually look like trash and make a garment with that kind of angle. Sustainable clothes are starting to be considered, but clothing ends up in a landfill still, so I wanted to intertwine/explore those contrasting ideas together[1]. The production of clothes wastes energy so I wanted to make this as a sculpture style. Also, seeing all the matter every day made me wonder what happens to the trash and objects in landfills[2].

“In 1937 first landfill brought inspiration to pass laws saying each state should participate in that action because before landfills people were dumping their trash into a pit. They thought that landfills would significantly help the United States, but actually it has tripled since the 60s because of the usage of biodegradable packaging versus nonbiodegradable[3] packaging[4]. This causes a problem because methane is released into the air, which harms the surrounding environment, and also plays a role in climate change. I decided to go online and research to see if the idea of trash leading to climate change and landfills were on others’ minds. I proceeded to an article from Time Magazine in 2012 that stated: “The higher numbers are especially significant because trash in landfills releases methane gas, a greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that landfills are the third-leading cause of methane emissions in the U.S. Nearly a fifth of methane emissions come from landfills. Landfills utilize methane gas collection technology, but researchers say that methods should be improved at open landfill sites. Methane is the second most prevalent gas emitted by human activity following carbon dioxide. And, while Americans emit significantly less methane than carbon dioxide, methane emissions are 25 times more damaging to the environment, pound for pound, than carbon dioxide over a 100-year period.[5] ” I had heard of the term methane, but I wanted to know exactly what it was: “(CH4), is a gas produced by a group of colonic anaerobes, absorbed from the colon and excreted in expired air.[6]”

These statements then reminded me of Alexis Rockman’s art pieces and how he explores genetics, the future, and impact of the environment[7]. Alexis bluntly conveys his ideas to raise awareness, which is kind of linked to my idea of my garment. To put what is contributing harm in front of people, because it holds the idea where something adds up, until one realizes: we can see traces, but there are still invisible traces too.

I created two fashion pieces. I picked two materials that were about to become trash or were suddenly turned to look that way. The first garment was made out of trash bags that I took from the trash. I threw the trash that these bags were holding into other bags so there would be no extra littering involved. With this look I wanted to make four pieces that could be pieced together, or they could have the option to be styled with other articles of clothing. My original idea was to make a crop top, a strapless top, pants, and a skirt. Instead I made a crop top, a strapless top, I combined the pants with the skirt, and a shawl that could also be turned into a top or could be added to the skirt. I gravitated towards both the transparent and black garbage bags because I thought it brought contrast and also to the idea that it is creating waste to help reduce or get rid of unwanted items. I did not use a pattern, but instead ripped the pieces or cut them to fit them together into the item I desired. They were mended together by hot glue. For plastic when it was used like fringe it was cool to have the hot glue make the plastic curl and manipulate it. For the shawl I cut holes and tied knots with the black trash bag. Overall the process went well, my pants looked odd so that is why I took them apart and added them to the skirt.

For the second look, I used Trader Joe’s bags, because I realized how many bags we waste when we go shopping. For example: Trader Joe’s doubles the bags for items that could use one bag. Thus, I had four bags in total enough to make the dress and romper. Also the irony of needing that bag to carry things that keep you alive such as food and then to throw them out and then they are deemed as unuseful and as trash. That is why I chose to create a garment out of those bags used from when my roommates go shopping there. I decided to make a dress and romper in one. I started to form a body suit out of the paper bags once again without a pattern, then my friend told me she wanted to model it so I measured her body to make sure that I could fit it on her. From there I made the skirt by cutting out strips of the paper bag and gluing them together, and everything was hot glued once again. Then I got a cardboard box and striped it and cut pieces of that certain texture and put it on the back of the romper/dress, sleeves, and the skirt. Both garments are structured more as a sculpture to showcase the more art side of how trash can be reused and seen as. The reason why I choose fashion is because fashion is a way of expression and I thought it would be ironic to have people wearing a fashion pieces as trash that they pass by every day without thinking subconsciously. I also thought if someone would to wear literal trash then it can raise awareness. I also chose to covey the process through fashion photography so even in an editorial story this could be used for that purpose.

Process:

Final Piece:

As for my schedule, I paced myself by to create these two garments. I allocated a few days towards one and a few days towards the other which totaled to two weeks. Then I took photos and video, wrote my reflection, and the artist statement when listening to other classmates present on the third week. For the photoshoot, I choose to shoot at Chelsea Market because it has a modern yet old, new, industrial, and local vibe. We asked people to write a word that described New York City to them on the dress with acrylic paint. As for the dress made out of trash bags, another photoshoot was done around Wall Street. I wanted to see how my friend would self express her style with the trash bag. My friend paired her style that has a lot to do with nature in such an industrial setting. She wore leggings and hiking boots with the dress, skirt, sleeveless top, and crop top.

Chelsea Market and The Standard Hotel:

 

Wall Street:

Reflection:

For the photo shoot, it did not occur to me that there would be mostly tourists there, and so people would either approach us or give weird looks while walking by. It made me realize different levels of comfort and openness that we all have. A lot of young kids got more into it and they just went for it on the dress, where as adults felt weird or if they went for it they thought hard thought about each mark they were making. It was funny because they didn’t want to mess up the work I made, but in retrospect they are throwing away the work when they buy the stuff that was put inside of it. Some people recognized it as a trash bag, and a ton of pictures were taken. I realized that maybe the idea of having people pass and give weird looks was completing the notion I wanted. Overall the experience of seeing how the garments interacted with the settings and public was interesting. I was not too crazy about my designs, so the act of choosing the design became more like a study of how the materials can be folded and formed into different pieces of clothing. I asked Trader Joe’s why they double bag, and if it was a requirement too. They said that it was not but the reason why they do is because the handles are not strong enough. That response was odd to me because I carried my garment as a heavy snowfall was happening and it barely ripped. Their bags are quite sturdy, which puzzles me towards their response, or even the design of the bag.

The class presentations were really fun. I liked hearing and seeing my classmate’s interests and ideas. All the ideas that the presentations held unique expressions that were different from each other. Kind of like another angle of how Madison was saying that everyone is unique in her art critique. At the same time the material presented had some common links that could be made. Maria, Destiny, and Juliet all linked their ideas to togetherness and not presupposing. That there is unity. Also the process of the projects was interesting, I witnessed seeing Krystyanna and Makaleh in the process of making their projects and it taught me new approaches of ways to brainstorm and articulate while making a piece. I loved the experimentation that our class had as well. Miranda played around with water. This was cool because Miranda was using a material that was her subject line as well, which reminded me of how Jenifer Wightman studied bacteria but made it into an art piece.[8] Also, Daryn had the people who read her character’s voice encountering the story for the first time to see what their reaction would hold. Phoebe’s talk about organ sharing was fascinating to be educated about, and her piece also tied to one of the subjects Daryn held, which was accessibility. When thinking about how teaching each other through presenting art, Alyssa and Ani brought the materials they used for their project so the class would get a kinetic understanding. They both also used textiles to convey the subject that they were passionate about while lessening certain stigmas. I thought how Candida took a lab and furthered it into her project was cool, and how Ethyn took his passion of plants and tied into the work of Kahlo, which in his act of doing that presentation and research almost alluded about how to go about looking to an artists’ work when we focused on Kahlo this year. Overall I learned a lot from everyone, and gained many new outlooks. This project really helped me try to spread the message about the effect littering and waste is bringing towards climate change and the surrounding environment. Also allowing me to raise awareness of how we can make change and think of futuristic ideas to raise awareness and lessen stigmas as well as waste.

As for my own work I think I should have stated more facts and gone more in depth. I truly enjoyed working on the pieces and I learned more about certain kinds of reactions in public spaces and was educated more about landfills. I think through hearing feedback and seeing how my peers went about their research made me want to further the idea of waste and fashion coming together. I would like to make cloth-like material from decomposed trash to help eat up the waste that is being produced in the landfills and what is being tossed into the ocean. Once that cloth is made I can express myself in a new way, not just sculpturally. I feel that is what a lot of the class did. They took their passion and experimented with it to share a message.

Footnotes:

[1] Rob Walker, “Fashion in new bid to be truly sustainable,” The Observer, April 08, 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2017/apr/08/fashion-sustainable-clothes-wwf-finland.

[2] “Landfill: not to composed trash so it breaks down quickly or bio degrades but to burry it, dirty it and lock it from the surrounding world. They isolate the trash from the environment.” Josh Clark, “How Landfills Work,” How Stuff Works (audio blog), June 23, 2015, https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/landfill.htm.

[3] Non-biodegradable packaging consists of plastic aluminum and Styrofoam.

[4] Clark, How Stuff Works.

[5] Justin Wordland, “Trash Climate Change Methane Gas:,” Time, September 22, 2015, http://time.com/4042559/trash-climate-change-landfill/.

[6] “Methane,” National Center for Biotechnology Information. PubChem Compound Database, https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/methane#section=Top.

[7] Rachel Corbett, “Painter Alexis Rockman on His Dire Eco-Dystopian Visions,” Artspace, September 10, 2013, accessed December 11, 2017, https://www.artspace.com/magazine/interviews_features/studio_visit/studio_visit_alexis_rockman-51528.

[8] Jenifer Wightman, Winogradsky Rothko: Bacterial Ecosystem as Pastoral Landscape. Journal of Visual Culture. 7(3): 309-334, 2012.

 

Bibliography:

Clark, Josh. “How Landfills Work.” How Stuff Works (audio blog), June 23, 2015. https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/landfill.htm.

Corbett, Rachel. “Painter Alexis Rockman on His Dire Eco-Dystopian Visions.” Artspace. September 10, 2013. https://www.artspace.com/magazine/interviews_features/studio_visit/studio_visit_alexis_rockman-51528.

“Methane.” National Center for Biotechnology Information. PubChem Compound Database. https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/methane#section=Top.

Walker, Rob. “Fashion in new bid to be truly sustainable.” The Observer. April 08, 2017. https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2017/apr/08/fashion-sustainable-clothes-wwf-finland.

Wightman, Jenifer. 2012. Winogradsky Rothko: Bacterial Ecosystem as Pastoral Landscape. Journal of Visual Culture. 7(3): 309-334.

Wordland, Justin. “Trash Climate Change Methane Gas:.” Time. September 22, 2015. http://time.com/4042559/trash-climate-change-landfill

Foldings ~ 1st Year

When my best friend moved back to her home country, she gave me an origami flower she had made. During moments of wondering if we will every meet again reminds me of the flower growing or withering. Experiencing new milestones was hard, and knowing that we both were going to change and witnessing that as a mystery was going to be mind-bending. There is this in-between point of wondering. Each entrance and exit my friend makes into my life rests in my head, as if a new seed has been planted.

When keeping in contact with my friend the idea of time zones was on our minds. We would be talking to each other in the most random moments at the most random times. Thus, I wanted to create a dress /coat that combined the idea of how style is an expression that has changed overtime, yet still is a subject that we see all over the place. With the flower my friend gave me as an inspiration, I created a flower that represented the shape of her country’s flower and my state’s flower. I also took another project I did based on a study of twelve different angles of the flower she gave me to use as part of the textile to incorporate the inspired flower seen in different points of view.

 

The first step to conveying the story was planning out a design:

 

 

I sketched a lot, looked for reusable materials*, took measurements of a couple people to get a idea of how to make a unisex size, and then started to do a demo piece on the mannequin (since I do not usually approach making garments by first creating a pattern) to get an idea of how to construct the final piece.

*A goal of mine is to use sustainable materials and to use already used materials (to recycle/reuse/less waste is occurring). Materials I found: close hangers, brown paper, white paper, borrowed a hot glue gun, borrowed pliers, borrowed makeup, and borrowed a mannequin. Materials I bought: watercolor paper, glue stick, and white spray paint. Materials I already had: watercolors, brushes, pins, scissors, and a hot glue.

 

 

The second step was making the final design:

I made the garment out of the paper I found and than spray painted it white. I was going for a minimalist look so that anyone could style their look in the way they wanted to express themselves.

 

Front                                                 Side                                                  Back                                                    Side

 

 

 

 

I cut out flower petals and hot glued them together. Some where turned into pins, others were glued onto the dress/coat, and two were used for the bracelets I made.

 

 

 

The bracelets were made out of paper and some wire clothes hangers that I found. I shaped the wire and wrapped paper that was watercolored and sealed it with a sporadic pattern made by the hot glue.

 

 

Then I printed out my old project onto a sheet of watercolor paper and cut each angle and pasted it onto the garment. I also took some reused paper and cut it into strips. I then glued them together so that it kind of looked web pattern and then glued that design on certain areas of the sleeves and end of the coat line.

 

 

Test trial to see if the flowers will fall off in motion:

 

Garment is complete!

 

                      Front                                                Side                                              Back                                                Side 

 

Details Up Close:

 

 

The third step was the photo-shoot:

 

I put on some white makeup in a brush like affect with some magenta lip stick to match a dreamlike state.

 

 

Jasmine (the model) and I headed to the end of the 7 line, because most of the time when my friend and I talk it is when we are at a  train station. We also stopped by Times Square ( the connection line to the 7 ) to test out the sturdiness of the garment in an industrial place to see if it would hold up against a crowd of people pumping against the dress/coat.

 

 

Test on how durable the garment would be in a crowd of people:

Up close details during the photoshoot:

 

 

Throughout this process I learned to see origami, flowers, and our friendship in another way.

Floriography was invented in the Victorian age as an act of discrete message of communication through flowers.“The language of flowers involved more than the simple meaning given to a flower. It also referred to the combining, presenting, and even the receiving of flowers (1).” This brings forth the idea that communication does not always have to be in a sentence or have a traditional formatted context. It also reminds me how in origami certain symbols were adopted to interpret connotation (2). Before written and symbolic instructions the Japan shared their designs verbally until 1797 (3). Both floriography and origami have changed communication contexts throughout the years, as well as holding onto their traditions and adopting a meaning to an object.

This sort of alludes to my friend and I, how our communication has been shifting along our friendship throughout the years have known each other: how we intertwine our languages, communicated by drawings for a while,  just spoke in English, translating for each other, text message, video chat, and in person. As for the origami flower my friend made, I feel each time I do a study of it, the meaning it holds starts to accumulate new findings through all kinds of outlooks that are coming more into focus.

 

(1): https://www.proflowers.com/blog/floriography-language-flowers-victorian-era

(2) https://www.origami-resource-center.com/origami-symbols.html

(3) http://www.origami.as/Info/history.php

 

Overall, this experience was really enjoyable, and also doubled as a fun way to tie an experience and express it with some recycled materials* to raise awareness about the importance of sustainability.

 

*Majority of the stuff that could be recycled was recycled at the end of the project.

Font Thoughts ~ Pre College Summer Program

On the first day of class, I had no idea what to expect. The course description for Design Studio covered a lot, and seemed like it could go in any direction.

I was so excited when we immediately dove into creating.

When we were given words to depict in the alphabet I thought it was a fun because it would let  us explore how to think of those words, fonts, and the words diffrently.

I always wondered how fonts were made for a typeface. This project really made me appreciate all the thought, effort, and conciseness that goes into a making a letter.

Also, the perspective Aaron and Stacy had right from the get go made it so interesting to get started.

We each received a random word and were told this word plus the font created would be used for another project.  This really got me thinking about the goals of this class and how unique it was.

Never would I have gotten to do anything like this back home.

This class was tailored to be in New York.

back to the font…..

We were supposed to gather material for our font.  I ended up walking around Union Square and found someone selling local plants. I got a very soft and thick plant that did not look like a stereotypical plant. Then I went to Paper Source and found an image to add a hard edge to the plant.  I wanted to combine the plant with the paper to create a unique texture. My word was “broken” so I wanted to incorporate the contrast of hard and soft edges.

Oh my gosh!!!!!

Ahh!!!

Photoshop was so confusing at first!

I found Photoshop and Illustrator frustrating because I have never used them before. You have to get through the frustrating part(s) before you can actually accomplish what is in your head. It takes patience and practice. Once you get it down, it is such an amazing tool to use.

Then we had to take the letters from Photoshop to Illustrator. It was so astonishing to see the photograph change and morph into a font!!!!!! Whoah!!!!

It is so cool to produce different content… art is everywhere.

I decided to title the font fragmented because some letters are broken and staggered.

This is the final product:

 

Perspective + Perception

My perspective and perception of fashion has been changed these last three weeks.

Coming into the intensive program I knew nothing really about the fashion world.

I used to think of all fashion more along the lines of what I now see as industrial fashion, without meaning too. I would look at “crazy” designs and think, “Who would wear that ?” I thought fashion should be made to be creative, but in a wearable/casual way on the streets.

Manus x Machina opened my mind what fashion really means. I realized that fashion doesn’t have to be worn by the masses. It can be an art piece. Analyzing,viewing, and reading the descriptions of the designers tactics and inspiration was amazing.
IMG_2064

As a class we then went to Chinatown for some inspiration for an upcoming project. My inspiration was the word “brokenness” and how it has so many contradicting points in Chinatown.

Chinatown really embodies the New York theme of individuality. Everyone has a story that you might come across and hear. Also, I observed  a lot of ambition. These elements provided inspiration for my garment.

 

THE ASSIGNMENT:

In class, when Stacy and Aaron said that we would have to make a garment, my first reaction was to be freaked out. I barely knew how to sew and had never made a garment before.

I first considered making a purse, but then realized that it was against the rules. So, I decided to make a dress.

My strategy was unknown at the beginning. I was thinking, “Where do I begin?” “What materials are the easiest to make something with?”.  Then I realized in the past (especially on art projects), I had used critical thinking to solve a problem. I remembered that setting boundaries can make some things more difficult, but those same boundaries can cause you to problem-solve and unleash creativity.

 

 

PROBLEM SOLVING:

The first step I took to approaching the assignment was to sketch out some ideas:

When we had to propose our ideas, I was afraid of doing what was in my brain because I didn’t actually think it could be executed. I was thinking of molding a hard dress out of plaster because I thought the plaster would be easy to form, and turn into a the dress I saw in my mind.

The second step was to find materials:

I honestly had no idea where to start. So I thought of colors that I would like to use that would depict my inspiration from Chinatown.

Some people kept talking about a small material store.  So some of my friends and I went to check it out. There I found a unique material that I would use for my skirt part of the dress for only $3 in total (it was on sale!  I found some white cloth material for the top there.

Afterwards, I headed towards Blick Art Supplies. I was on a mission for my most important material: Plaster! I was so stoked that they had it there. But…….

The next day I was still not sure how to attach the material to the plaster. I decided to put my design on the mannequin and plan out the dress before jumping into the process of making the final project. To my great surprise, I no longer needed plaster. The unique material that I bought created a beautiful train skirt for the garment.IMG_2331

Reevaluating the design:

I started to recreate my design, but with the same concept in mind. I really wanted to achieve Batesian Mimicry by using broken glass vs. broken buttons. I quickly realized that I should only use broken glass on one side of the skirt and let it flow into the train of the skirt. I wanted to create an disorderly effect to achieve the word “brokenness” with the glass. With one side of the dress clean and the other side scattered, the random colors and sizes of glass it would show contrast. To separate the glass side from no-glass side, I thought of having a flap on the front side with a broken zipper making a boundary. That front side would allow the person to get inside the dress. On the top of the dress, I realized I could glue small-holed mesh wire and then thread thin wire into it to create more of a design

Ready for hands-on work! :

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These are the ways I made the parts of the dress:

GLASS – I placed glass bottles in a huge trash bag and threw it on the ground.  Then I grabbed a hammer and started to smash the glass.   I hot-glued the glass to small pieces of cardboard. Then I cut slits into the one side of the dress and slid the glass/cardboard inside. With the glass poking outside I then glued the cardboard to the underside of the material.

TOP OF DRESS – I cut the small wire mesh into varying sizes of fixed triangle pieces.  I threaded thin wire into the triangles and connected them together with the wire.  Then I glued it to the fabric with metal wire. None of the wire was threaded directly into the material, so the top is actually the safest part of the dress. The side of the dress is fastened with velcro to allow the person to get into the dress which connects to the skirt.

STRAPS OF DRESS – I cut material into a zigzag line and attached the straps with velcro to the back of the top. I did this because it would be easier for the person wearing it. The buttons are made from smashed bottle caps that I distressed. They are hot-glued to the straps.

NECKLACE: necklace is optional but you can separate a zipper and make it into a chocker.

SKIRT: I attached the skirt to the top of the dress with hot-glue. The skirt starts to open up in the front. This allows the person wearing the dress to get into the dress safely. The dress has velcro on the inside to attach, so that the skirt stays on.

After proving to myself that I could piece together a garment, I started to measure the model.

Measurement:

It was frustrating at times because sometimes the measurements were off. But in the long run, I am glad that I measured the model so that there was no second guessing if the garment would fit.

I decided to make a cape out of the same fabric that was used for the top of the dress. I had some concerns that the cape might overpower the rest of the garment, taking away from the edgy vibe. So… I put triangle cut-outs in the back of the cape so you could still see the dress. Some of the triangles had mesh and wire with string attached, some were left open.

With the garment completed, it was time for the photoshoot.

 

READY FOR THE CAMERA:

Photoshoot Prep:

The makeup I picked for my model was inspired by Vivian Westwood’s runway makeup x punk x messy. I used the first colors that caught my eye as matching the color scheme and feel of my project (dark brown, navy blue, etc.).  I blended into the face with some white eyeshadow. Mascara was used to pop the eyes and a dark purple/magenta lipgloss was applied. I intentionally applied the make-up quickly (3 minutes to achieve the look), because it I wanted the process to convey the reality of the situation I was trying to depict with my garment. I wanted it to look a bit distressed and not planned out.

Photoshoot:

Finally it was time to take pictures!!!!

I am so passionate about photography, so this was exciting.

We shot at night.

The dark sky with illuminating colors conveyed the feminine and fatal look of the garment.

The sidewalk was not crowded. This made the shoot run more smooth.  The streets had some cars which provided more light to the photos. These circumstances were very helpful and meant that Photoshop was only needed for enlarging and lightening the photos for the exhibition.

I wanted the photoshoot to depict a person who experienced a full range of emotions, with confidence.

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Inspired to convey the different types of brokenness. I gravitated  towards the word “oblique” which can be interpreted as askew/not perfect.

Chinatown is full of character and contradictions.  Chinatown is not perfect; it has a fluctuating style that makes it special.

With this in mind, I named the collection Oblique Counterflect.

 

THEME(s) BEHIND FEMTAL:

The blend of edge and a classy look achieves the effect of batesian mimicry.

The personality of the dress is very strong, just like the strong background of stories that take place in Chinatown.

The edge of style is more punk like, and the classy look  shows the attitudes and attributes that the people hold.

Both blended together show the immigration of the type of people that live there.

 

Feminine + Fatal = Femtal

Femtal is the main focus of the collection.

The dress and the cape are titled Femtal in the collection of Oblique Counterflect.

 

Femtal depicts the contrast of what the collection Oblique Counterflect’s inspiration is.

 

 

Overall I learned fashion is art, expressive, and can convey a story. Fashion explores.

This prompted a question to arise in my mind:

What if everyone stopped following the “normal” ways of industrial fashion?

What if fashion was used to convey the real, raw stories of people you come across?

We are currently wearing the past with designs that are being picked out for us ahead of time.

Stores are copying each other.

What has happened?

It is a business.

But when seeing Manus X Machina, and seeing true passion and dedication I now appreciate what fashion can be.

When doing this assignment it was energizing and enjoyable.  It was incredible to see how all my classmates got something different out of the same Chinatown.

 We hear, see, smell, and feel.

So let’s now start to depict our different perceptions through everyday fashion wear: to inspire, appreciate, and understand more.