MOOD BOARD
URBAN ADAPTATION
This garment was extremely influenced by my experience and surroundings. As a result, in order to explain how I came up with the idea I should go back to the eve of this summer program. Two weeks before, I had a simple operation on my toe. However as simple as it was, I was supposed to do some recovery time, but I was flying on the next 3 days here (still limping). That meant a 12 hour journey of swollen feet (the airplane’s effect) and darting through the massive airports of MIA and JFK. So I asked for a wheel chair.
Since then I started to be more aware of what a disability really means, even though I didn’t use it for long. Since I’m so hyperactive, I felt limited, as if I couldn’t truly be me because everything had to be done specially, and I had to wait for someone’s help each time. On top of that, I’m always impressed when I come to the US by the amount of disable people there is, but my mother always smartly responds me that it is not because there are a lot, but that they can actually live their lives. On the other hand, in Uruguay they probably don’t leave their houses often, provided that there are little places adapted for their mobility.
Therefore, when
we went to Chinatown I started realizing how there were subsoil’s stairs in almost every building. Plus the shops displayed their food on high counters, which doesn’t allow disable people to look at it. So finally, when I was assigned the theme mobility and transportation, I immediately started thinking this through and brainstorming my ideas. In the meantime, I got inspired by “the flying dress” from the “Manus X Machina” exhibit to create a control remote garment that would not only allow incapacitated people to dodge undesired stares, but also to have an extra possibility in their lives.
INITIAL BRAINSTORM
