Peer to Peer: Tether

Project II：Peer to peer-Tether

Research about Green-Wood Cemetery & Lola Motez

Photos from trip to Green Wood Cemetery.

Green-Wood

Nature-Turtle

Nature-Flowers

Vista

Birds’ “dining room” with missing a head friend

Kitchen of the Birds

Door (might) leads to wonderland next to the lake

Architecture

Texture

Sculpture

A Sweet “locket”

Tombstone of Lola Montez

Research about Lola Motez

Lola Montez who was a Spanish dancer, and was born on 17 February 1821 and died on 17 January 1861 because of syphilis. She had several failed marriages, and danced for livelihood.

Her given name is Maria Dolores Eliza Rosanna Gilbert, who eloped with Lieut Thomas James and at age of 19. The young girl soon learned her simple-minded from the failed marriage. After dance training in Spain, Eliza adapted Lola Montez as her stage name. Later in Europe, her beauty and “noble background”, “rather than her dancing ability, brought major success in Paris, Warsaw and elsewhere (Collins).” She became a courtesan, and the mistress of Ludwig I of Bavaria when she arrived in Munich. The king made her Countess of Landsfeld, therefore, she lectured in public and had influence in politics. In gold-rush time, Montez created and presented her famous “Spider Dance” to the Americans in San Francisco.

Collins, Pádraig, “An Irishman’s Diary on the glamorous and dangerous Lola Montez”. The Irish Time. https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/heritage/an-irishman-s-diary-on-the-glamorous-and-dangerous-lola-montez-1.1867228

Brainstorming

In the interview with Apple, I learnt that she appreciates the nature in Green-Wood Cemetery very much. Regardless her major is architecture, she loves those pattern and texture we found among tombstones. At first, I tried to apply those pattern in different wearable forms. But I would like to end up with a dress–something Lola Montez might wear at her time.

: Texture

: UNSPECIFIED – JANUARY 09: Lola Montez, stage name of the dancer Eliza Rosanna Gilbert (1821-1861), photograph by Nadar, pseudonym of Gaspard-Felix Tournachon (1820-1910). (Photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images)

: Brainstorming Design Based on Natural Elements from Green-Wood

: Natural Elements from Green-Wood with 1800s Dress

Prototyping

The first prototype was make on a water bottle. The Prototype 2 is a full-size dress made by tracing paper, composed by separate panels according to Apple’s size.

: Prototype 1

: Prototype 1

: Prototype 2

Work in Progress

The two-layer dress is made by 8 panels of tracing paper and wrapping paper. I spring the dress by sunshine orange fabric dye to create a gradient on skirt. On the top, is the rice paper with delicate leaf pattern that was found at Blick Art Materials.

: Rice Paper with Leaf Pattern

: Decorative Panel

: Stamp and Ink

Inspired by the symmetrical leaf pattern from the Green-Wood, I chose a construction paper with the color that is similar to the leaf texture as the base of decorative front panel. Then I made a pair of stamp to create the leaf pattern and print them on the coffee-color paper by using gold printing ink.