'FASHION VANTAGE' An Installation Proposal for IFFTI, Polimoda. ITALY

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FFFAAASSSHHHIIIOOONNN VVVAAANNNTTTAAAGGGEEE 17th IFFTI Conference, Polimoda

Prepared for: 17th IFFTI Conference, Polimoda

Prepared by: Arun Mascarenhas

29 September 2014

FASHION VANTAGE 17th IFFTI Conference, Polimoda

Key words

CREATION, FETISH, GLAMOUR, VANTAGE, SPACE,

Sub themes BODY, SPACE, CRAFT, CALLIGRAPHY, DRESS, IMAGERY – A TRANSCENDENCE INTO THE UNKNOWN

A contextual brief on themes chosen A quantity combined together to elicit a meaning; BODY - A part of the human body always represents the presence of whole body. The activity of creation is always associated with the human hands. After the face, hands are the most expressive parts of the human body. Gestures used to communicate very complex ideas, which are other wise difficult to understand. Through different gestures complex ideas and emotions are expressed in a simple way.

SPACE: Space is multidimensional. It can be two, three or more, natural or built, closed or open, negative or positive. Multimodality provides one way to describe the actualization of theoretical concepts of space, which focuses on the relationship between people and the space that hold them. How they make sense of their physical and virtual worlds with their experience of space: what they suffice and with whom. People travel through and experience them, create pathways etc. Spatial dimension of co-present bodily interaction and the built environment and experiences of these can be contrived to elicit different feelings. CRAFT: As it self-reveals ‘Craft’ the ability to create. Human expressions carried through generations by skilled artisans that reflect skill and the local culture. Ever since humans started expressing his ideas by various means, hand made objects and human creations has been adored and has become an integral part of life

CONCEPT NOTE:

The act of Creation is an iconic gesture. The construction of an idea, a formation of something from nothing, like the beginning of thought itself. These thoughts reside within an organism and networked by millions of cells and sparking synapses writhing through its whole body. At the end of the ripple the hand whips an effect into the world around it. Genesis in Biblical terms is the act of that of ‘Man’ creating Man. Giving His form to him and loving his world so much so that He gives it His only ‘begotten’ Son. In contrast to this paradoxical yet patriarchal claim is the celebration of woman as the fertility idol or the Mother Goddess the notion of ‘feminine’ has been revered as the icon of fertility of life, like in ‘Venus of Willendorf’ and ‘Yakshi’ a semi divine figure in Indian mythology. One who has given birth as against the Creationist notion of breathing life into. However during earlier ages her representation had more sacred status. Perhaps she is crudest in folk cultures. As the centuries passed on representation of feminine body got trapped into the fetish object consumed for male gaze. From thence representational role of her body was kept looked upon and looked by…. The emotional process of Mother Nature giving birth is idiosyncratic in the unsympathetic world of commercial art. It explores the next level, redefining creationist dogma and redefining the Cosmic Womb. While literature has to convince a Father’s love to His creation, the picture of her kind face and of an innocent child effortlessly symbolizes unconditional love. The object of woman overpowers the notion of eternity. In her is, even the silence, loud and violent; every stroke is that of healing and skinning alive at the same time. And ‘art’ that challenges its own existence, deceptive by its very word, waves in spontaneous forming and un-forming of this peculiar uncertainty. One moment there and gone the next. The imposing image of Female is regenerative. She transcends the idea of perfection as a requirement to existence and survival. She turns her tender sinews into twisting wires of steel in the act of conception and birth. There yet she remains frail and tender to nest the future and nourish it with her full succulent breasts. Her nude is the fetish and exploit for man, who will boast of wars he has waged to win her. Man in his high noon of civilization is still a carnal beast. She is still the undisputable champion of aesthetics and expression and hence fashion. She is the abode of finesse and definition crafted by the pillars of her capsized palm. She envisages a space for all, for the world to converse and thrive.

Everyone wears, but fashion becomes a statement in its own way. In this space with variable thresholds, people come in and mingle and read the unarticulated metaphors detailed in arts, literature and fashion. Nourished by the juices that flow through the steel veins of courage finally pouring our through the fingers as forms and colors. What emerges from this chrysalis is never the same person. He is one full with experiences. The days of consciousness is multiplied. The Enlightened Being. Brick by brick the world of man is engaged in continuous reconstruction. Here in the moment she gestures to the subdued Earth with a message from the unbound Spread. It’s hard to say, even after ages of study in private, if she is bound to gallop or has fallen to ground, fatigued and spent. She represents cultural trajectories in many faceted existential terms. Especially in the field of visual arts where boundaries are blurred and limitations are extended further possibilities and new ways of resisting the fetish are explored, installations and performance to name a few

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY “FASHION VANTAGE”

Within the above framework of Polimoda sub-themes and selected contexts an attempt for elaborate on-sight installation and visual experience was made. A site-specific installation focusing on interactive aspect of audience-oriented structure was conceptualized. Primarily current project looks at ‘BODY’ as a metaphor where how spectator experiences both the negative and positive ‘Space’s of the installation. Especially proposed work would be hand crafted out of galvanized wire presenting the palm of female, installed upside down having enough space for spectator to walk in and out of it. The huge 12’ X 12’ X 14’ structure could be easily based and moved to any particular location suitable. This imposing structure virtually reconstructs the experience of inside out phenomena of feminine as well as features a canopy symbolic of ‘protection’.

The palm shaped canopy built with galvanized wire looks like a vantage point. It can be taken of as the point of reference relative to all things in space around it. The vantage point is important to determine the origin of an act, as it determine how the viewer understands the composition and relates to the subject matter. The space I aim to create is within a man made structure, which distinguishes and demarcates the connected space around it. The structure denotes a female hand gestured defending what it encompass, connoting the metaphor of a womb pregnant with the viewer. Red is the color most associated with Love and Passion; painted on the nails making contact with fertile Earth. It is at the same time a symbol of beauty, devotion and attraction. The red in contrast with grey captivates attention and provoke the viewer’s curiosity, taunting them to explore within. It is a canopy of creative and protective, providing shade and shelter to a breed of generative ideas, fertile with the desire to live forever. Five thresholds, Star Gates to new experiences, juxtaposed in the negative space of her distanced fingers; one lean and the other wide, converging into the mundane act of holding a conversation. Countless streams of colors flow through these veins, fuelling the machinations of mind that transcends distances of material and ethereal.

Solution

As the proposed installation would be executed out of galvanized iron wires of different gages, it will be nature friendly. The meticulously hand crafted/woven structure would give a feeling of an inverted nest, at the same time the shelter for the creative purpose. Because of its lightweight and balanced structure it can be easily transported and installed on the desired site. Sure enough, in the course of time this structure too, as a piece of art, will slowly get rusted and serve as a guarding support to the plants, or as an improvised ladder for climbers to cut down the protected branches and fell the living structures called trees.

Project Outline of the Objective Structure • The reference drawings of the prototype from different angle would help in visualization of

the proposed structure. (The prototype of the project can be made out of M-seal) • The height of the project would be around 12 feet. • The structure would stand on the five fingers, won’t be fixed to the ground hence it can be

relocated • The ground clearance under the structure is about 6-8 feet. • People can move in and around the structure from all five entrances. • Approximately 8’x8’ walk able space creates under the structure. • The length and breadth of the structure would be around 12’x14’ feet. • Complete structure would be made out of galvanized wire, hence nature friendly. • Nails will be painted with attractive automotive red paint.

Appendix

The structure could be achieved with minimum tools and the facilities like foldable ladders, cutting players, bar bending tool, sheet cutting scissor and some safety equipments.

List of Materials

Description Gage Quantity

Galvanized wire 8mm 150 kg

Galvanized wire 3mm 250 kg

Galvanized wire 1mm 10 kg

Galvanized Sheet 0.5 mm 2/8 Sq Feet

Iron mesh 0.5 mm 15 meter

Name and surname: ARUN MASCARENHAS

Age / Sex: 30 years, Male IFFTI Member Institute: National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) INDIA