Phase 1
Mood Board
My personal body of art and design work addresses the human as an animal. My paintings and zoo designs seek to create a bond between the human viewer and the nonhuman viewee such that the differences, as well as the power dynamic, between the viewer and viewee are diminished. In emphasizing the likeness between humans and nonhuman animals, it is often easiest to use other primates, or other mammals, or other vertebrates. Humans belong to all three of these groups, and thus, by definition, we share at least some characteristics with all species of these groups. With primates, for example, we all have hands; with mammals, we all lactate; with vertebrates, we all have backbones. Finding commonalities with classifications that we do not belong to, however, is more difficult.
Invertebrates are an example of group to which humans do not belong. Many invertebrates have exoskeletons, which humans, of course, do not have. However, many animals with exoskeletons have structures that resemble human, or mammalian, hair. This was the focus of my exoskeleton research, as I wanted to make a design that could, again, emphasize a commonality between humans and animals as distantly related as invertebrates.
In my research, I found an article that discusses the hair like structures on exoskeletons, called setae (Dessy). As the article states, setae are generally used by insects and other arthropods (animals with exoskeletons) as sensors. Long setae can be used as tactility receptors, so they allow for the sensation of touch, much like human hair does. Setae can also be used for other senses such as taste receptors, smell, receptors, and temperature receptors, each with a slightly different structure. Setae can also be specialized. Some extreme cases of specialized setae are chemical weaponry and structures that enable their wearers to walk upside down or own water.
Some examples listed by the article of arthropods that use setae for tactile functions are butterflies, moths, grasshoppers, locusts, and caterpillars. Some caterpillars also have setae that are toxic, which prevents them from being consumed by predators or parasites. Many spiders have a specialized type of tactile setae that allow for proprioception, or the knowledge of where their own parts of their body are at all times. This allows for greatly increased agility in spiders, allowing them to be more formidable predators. Spiders, or New World Tarantulas, also have one more unique use for setae: urticating hair.
In my research, I also found an article on a human hair mechanism, goosebumps (Bubenik). As the article states, goosebumps are a vestigial mechanism that can be triggered by multiple types of stimuli for various reasons. For example, goosebumps are triggered by the cold so that our hair can trap in our heat and insulate us, which would still function if humans never lost our dense body hair. Likewise, goosebumps an be triggered when humans are frightened. Again, before we lost our hair, this would have been an effective strategy for making us appear larger and more intimidating to whatever stimulus triggered the frightened response. This is very similar to the tarantulas use of hair. However, instead of simply raising their hair, they flick it in order to deter the frightening stimulus. This similar use of hair between humans and tarantulas is especially intriguing to me and is a concept I hope to draw from in my final design for this project.
Works Cited
Bubenik, George A. “Why Do Humans Get ‘Goosebumps’ When They Are Cold, or under Other Circumstances?” Scientific American, 1 Sept. 2003, www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-do-humans-get-goosebu/.
Dessy, Ray. “’Hairy’ Insects and Spiders.” Micscape Microscopy and Microscope Magazine, Jan. 2009, www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/indexmag.html?http%3A%2F%2Fwww.microscopy-uk.org.uk%2Fmag%2Fartjan09%2Frd-hairs.html.
Design Proposal
I am planning on creating a wearable that focuses on emphasizing hair. As I explained above in my research paper, I am interested in the similarity between humans and other animals. In creating a wearable that has hair, it will resemble both an unshaven human body and a blown-up arthropod exoskeleton with setae.
Thumbnail Sketches
Iteration 1
Iteration 2
Iteration 3
Phase 2
A preliminary test to use linear materials to wrap around the fingers and wrist
I added some hair to this test
I tried weaving with metal and decided this was not ideal, so I chose to use yarn instead.
I took these pictures at a step that I originally felt was complete. I then decided to add some final details to make the piece look more finished and cohesive.
Final Piece
Reflection
This project was very informative for me. One of my major goals at Parsons was to learn to make things more tactilely. I come from an arts high school, and I am very used to the fine arts world. However, design is very different. I am very confident with my painting, and I also have confidence in making three dimensional artworks that are purely aesthetic (sculpture). Working with aesthetic form that also has some function has an entirely different aspect to it. This was reflected in my project. I found that the components of my project, as it progressed, had clear aesthetics. The cloth I wove from yarn was pretty in terms of color palette (which was inspired by the pink zebra beauty tarantula), and the finger straps had a rather punk feel to them. I felt that the pieces meshed together well. The juxtaposition of the pretty and punk aesthetics made the use of materials feel dynamic. I did not decide to incorporate the organic hair that I had originally based by design off of. The hair instead evolved into the woven fibers of the glove itself, rather than sticking out. While I felt that this refined the glove, it also made it simpler. Also, the functional form, the glove structure of the piece, did not come out the way I wanted or expected. I was hoping to make it fit the hand ergonomically, but it felt as if I had simply laid a piece of woven fabric on my hand. In order to work on this, I added two braids for the thumbs. This gives the glove more of a wrapped, ergonomic feel.
I am not fully satisfied, and if I were to start this project under different restrictions, I would use a stretchy planar fabric to create a form-fitting glove, and maybe I could attach a handwoven fabric around this as like a shell. However, I think given the linear materials restrictions, my project was successful. Especially given that I have never sewed or woven before, I think the linear elements came together quite nicely. This was something I had wanted to learn about for a while but was intimidated by. I made it a goal to learn how to construct textile and fabric-based items by the end of my four years here, but this introduction, in my first semester here, has already gotten rid of the intimidating aspect. I feel like this project has exposed me to other methods of making that I can use in my future personal artworks. My art concept of animal equality, through making visual comparisons between humans and nonhuman animals, should not be limited by media. This class so far, and especially this project, have opened this door for me.
