Final Critique

Jean-Paul Sartre describes Quietism as the act of inaction; to be passive when faced with an indifferent and meaningless universe. Here is a human stuck within her own labyrinth of Quietism, unable to face the world and is only able to stare at the blank canvas. Time passes and there is still inaction; soon she is nothing but a decrepit and dilapidated statue. Her clothes start to disintegrate but she still stands there, fearing the consequences of making choices. It is this fear that many humans face, tapping into the primordial fear that perhaps that it is human nature to have no meaning in existing.

Final Garment Process

I finished apply the plaster to my garment today. Tried to keep it clean but ended up getting plaster all over my floors and walls.

I first tried painting the plaster on with a brush and it worked well but was taking to long. Then the brush started clogging up with plaster.

I also tried different ratios of plaster, but found that a thinner mixture helps the plaster adhere better to the fabric.

Final Garment Process

I went to Mood and bought four yards of this canvas fabric and started drawing out my pattern.

I ended up not needing as much as i thought I needed, which I wish i knew before so I could've asked for one less yard.

Silhouette Study Garment

 My final silhouette study garment:

the process:

Having never really sewn anything, much less an entire garment, working with a pattern was a strange experience. I was cutting out these huge pieces of paper and then trying to cut out the same shape from fabric. The entire process ended up taking up to 9 hours, split between 3 days.

This was my first time sewing, and I ran into a couple of problems. Sometimes I would press the pedal too hard and lose control of the fabric. That's the hardest part of sewing, trying to control where the fabric is going and feeding it through the needle.The hems were also hard since the fabric kept puckering. That was because i didn't leave enough seam allowance, so now i know to leave more than 5/8 inches for hems. I thought putting in the sleeves would be harder, but it wasn't that bad. Although the sleeves weren't sewn in that well so maybe I should have done a better job. Overall i'm happy with the way my garment came out. 

Final Pattern Book

My final pattern book:

My two favorite patterns:

A pattern imposed onto a garment:

Fractals

            In an attempt to merge the visceral with the mindful, mirrors and rays become fractals throughout space. Why do we need mirrors? Why do we need to look at ourselves? Is it to reassure ourselves that we exist? To reassure ourselves of our own identity? Is this something within our DNA? The reflections start oscillating into double helixes, reminding us that we are only strands of carbon and hydrogen, only existing on the physical level. Helixes refracting over each other, concaving and convexing like a mirror. We only bleed red when punctured and we only bleed blue when we hurt ourselves.

            My research topic deals with how the body affects the development of our personalities and whether we can develop our identities free from any influences of the scrutiny of our bodies. This is essentially trying to find the separation between mind, body, and spirit, and whether either one can exist without the other. The original motif is based on the image of a concave mirror, which distorts the light waves that it reflects. If someone were to look into a concave mirror, he or she will see a distorted image of their face, and thus a distorted image of their identity on a physical level. This brings in the question of whether the person is sure of his or her own identity and existence without the need of seeing it physically with the mirror, since looking through the mirror distorts the identity and gives false information. The motif is then arranged to look like a double helix, the very "language" that our bodies are written in. This then merges the mental idea of identity with the actually physical, raw materials that we are made of.

Pattern Process

My Point Groups:

 I changed the way my motif is stylized since the point groups started making extreme organic shapes.

The Asymmetrical Motif

My motif is based on a concave mirror.

Since I am dealing with themes of Identity through the body, the mirror is the best symbol for this. A concave mirror distorts whatever image it reflects, and thus distorts the body and face when one looks in it.

My color group uses analogous colors, ranging from blue to red. I chose these colors in accordance to the idea of mind/body/spirit and its relations to the Asian belief of chakras. Red is used to symbolize the root chakra, which is the chakra associated with bodily needs and the physical plane. Blue/Indigo is used to symbolize the third eye chakra, which relates to our subconscious mind. Purple is used to symbolize the crown chakra, which is the chakra associated with spirit.

Digital Mosaic

My first pattern plays with size, utilizing tiny triangles to create an even larger, complex shape.

I like how the triangles create a texture and that you can't even tell that the shapes are made of triangles.

These last two patterns are an attempt at creating optical illusions.

I got some inspiration from this website

This pattern should look as if it is vibrating, like this piece by Akiyoshi Kitaoka.

In this pattern, all the squares are straight but appear curved. I think I was more successful at achieving the optical illusion in this pattern then in the previous.

Research Question

Photo Graphic

Identity/Physical Body/Social Embodiment

Jean Paul Gaultier

"Mermaid" collection

S/S 2008 Haute Couture

Jean Paul Gaultier

"The Rock Stars" collection

A/W 1987-1988 Menswear

Genetic Trace Part Two: Sniffing Others

Susana Soares

2007

Headscarf

Galya Rosenfeld

2003

Museo di Anatomia Patologica dell'Universitá degli Studi di Firenze

Musée Dupuytren in Paris, France

The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk

When one thinks of Jean Paul Gaultier, a few words come to the mind: flamboyant, campy, and questionable taste level. Such was the Brooklyn Museum's major retrospective on Gaultier's fashion career. Filled with garments ranging from the very beginnings of his career to his current venture in haute couture, the exhibition shows the full scope of Gaultier's inspirations. Whether it be the London Punk Movement or even religious figures like Mary Magdalene herself, Gaultier manages to process these inspirations through his own unique filter.

 Gaultier doesn't shy away from subversive elements, playing with ideas of gender roles, religion, sexuality, and cultural appropriation. This make sense as Gaultier himself is quite the subversive person. He tends to glamorize the grotesque, creating garments inspired by pregnant bellies, overweight women, and viscera. Along with his designs is a sense of humor manifesting, whether intentionally or unintentionally, in the digital faces projecting on the mannequins.

The exhibition is laid out in thematic motifs, placing clothes with similar aesthetic and meaning together. While this works in making the exhibition cohesive, the general layout leads to no conclusive payoff or conclusion, which is quite disappointing. One can't help but compare this to the Met's critically and commercially acclaimed retrospective of Alexander McQueen's fashion career, Savage Beauty. What that exhibition had that this lacked was an overall theme, a motif running throughout each presentation of the garments.

http://morbidanatomy.blogspot.com/

Final Three Fabric Manipulations

These are all of my fabric manipulations put together. Considering this is my first time working with fabric and trying to make something of it, I felt I did an OK job. I spent most of my time trying to keep the stitches even, especially on the hand-sewn stuff. I feel that my most successful pieces are the ones that also reflect my definition of beauty, such as the bottom right one. I was poking holes into the fabric with tweezers and ended up poking myself many times, causing me to bleed. This reflects the way the fabric looks, as if it is the result of extreme violence and trauma. Other fabric pieces that have the same aesthetic is the bottom left one, which gives off the same sense of destruction and disarray.

Process of my First Three Fabric Manipulations

My first fabric manipulation inspired by:

My second fabric manipulation inspired by:

My third fabric manipulation inspired by: