- how does fashion play a role in your work — if you have a character(s) then those design decisions are important OR if you have no humans in your work, discuss the fashion of your favorite game with people in it.
Fashion is important within my work on characters. Depending on how the styles are designed and used, the wardrobes can influence the audience. We can use fashion in many ways as to describe who the character is, when is the character from, and why do they look the way they do. Most of the time, I use fashion to set a setting for the model to reside within. For example, I might pick a certain suit that would set a place and time that would relate to a certain time period. This could evolve into something else as I add elements of clothes that I personally like. Having my own personal preferences influence my characters, allows me to experiment with the endless possibilities that can create a unique character.
- how could you make fashion interactive and what statement would that make to wear it?
Today, there are numerous pieces of clothing that is interactive. Programmable LED tshirts, Air-Filtering scarves, heated sports clothing, posture-correcting shirts, app-enabled LED jacks, reactive feather jackets, etc. The list goes on and on. I believe that is the most important part about fashion. Allowing the individual to express themselves through clothing. Most of the interactive clothing seems to be corny or practical. Something that could be interesting would be a coat that can be modularized. Each piece (arms, pockets, collar) can be swapped out with whatever design the individual. Attaching the parts together would be an issue though. Velcro would be the easiest, but durability would be the main issue.
Another unique possibility to make fashion interactive would be a “mood ring” clothing. The clothing would react to external and internal temperature and change color. I imagine the clothing being filled with a liquid to make this happen. The liquid would be the one reacting to the temps. Both designs would give the individual a personalitzed piece of clothing, one being based on their own preferences, and one being affected by the surrounding elements.
- Find the piece pictured below, in the Eunice and Julian Cohen Galleria (Gallery 163). Note the name of the piece and then describe your impression of the piece — what are questions it draws forth from you upon viewing?
“Flicker” by Ian Sommerville (1959), 2004 Glass chandelier, flat-screen monitor, Morse code unit, and computer. Unfortunately, this piece was not working as intended. As the blinking was not working. The Morse code unit was not attached as well. With that said, the initial impression of the piece was bland. Without the blink, the piece is only a glass chandelier. At first, I did not even notice it hanging up until someone else pointed it out. If it was lit, even without the blink, I believe it would have caught my eye. If it was working as intended, I would have been curious of the blinks. I might have tried to decode the Morse to figure out what the message was. This would have been a fun piece to experience. Although the name of the piece is confusing. It is straight forward, this chandelier is about Ian Sommerville’s dreamachine “Flicker” as it will blink Morse code text of the piece. I think the title is a weak part of the piece but I wonder if the reason Evans called it that because he imagined that these lights are only talking about Flicker and Sommerville.
Other questions that came to mind are:
What is it trying to say? How can I figure it out? Without cheating…. Could I use this interaction in one of my pieces? Would it be a better experience if it eye level? Or is the experience better because it is higher up and massive? Would lowering the ambient light, and putting it into a darker room, create a better environment (more immersive) to experience this piece? Would anyone notice the Morse code blinks if the chandelier was piece among other items that resemble its style?
- Discuss how you can imagine taking one of the pieces in the exhibit and if you were asked to contribute a work with a similar look/feel/message now, how could you make it into something interactive? Keep in mind the stated message of the Bauhaus as well as the individual feel/reading you get from the piece you choose.
In the Bauhaus exhibit, I was fascinated by the abstract shapes. I wanted to pull them apart and visualize the prints in 3 dimensions. I want to walk around the work in space and see them with depth. The way I would do this would be to create an AR experience. I would create bigger versions of the postcards with the abstract shapes, and balanced forms. The viewers would open an app on a tablet that would allow the user to aim at the prints and the prints would come alive. Depending on the image, the shapes could rotate, scale, dotted lines might move, etc. The viewer could walk around and see the in-betweens of the print in 3D. Allowing them to the freedom to experience the forms that create the Bauhaus style.
