Wrong-Clothing-Map: prompting bec(l)om(th)ing by Maria Lima

Wrong-Clothing-Map prompting bec(l)om(th)ing*

Maria Serrenho Lima ////////////////////////// ///////////////Masterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Project /////////////// ///MA Fashion Media Production //////////////// ///////////////////////LIM13405035///////////// ///////////////////////////////28 November 2014

wrongclothingmap.tumblr.com

Wrong-Clothing-Map prompting bec(l)om(th)ing* *means ‘clothing is in an incomplete state of becoming through wrongness’

Maria Serrenho Lima ////////////////////////// ///////////////Master’s Project /////////////// ///MA Fashion Media Production //////////////// ///////////////////////LIM13405035///////////// ///////////////////////////////28 November 2014

Illustration 1 - visual (processual) experiments of Wrong-Clothing-Map.

I, Maria Lima, hereby declare that the following paper is an original piece of research and that to the best of my knowledge contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due acknowledgements is made within the thesis itself. Submitted in partial fulfilment of the assessment requirement for MA Fashion Media Production. No part of the work has been submitted for any other academic qualification. London, November 28th 2014

Illustration 2 - visual (processual) experiments of Wrong-Clothing-Map.

iii

Acknowledgements First of all, I would like to thank my parents and sis for the endless love and care, always encouraging me to pursue my dreams. I thank the supervision of Prof. Nilgin Yusuf and Dr. Thomas Makryniotis, whose support was decisive for the completion of Wrong-Clothing-Map. I thank the very wise critics and advices from fashion artist Lara Torres, whose understanding and availability towards my doubts was decisive for the construction of a rewarding journey. I am very grateful to my London family, Nando, my other (only real) half cabrita, whose partnership was brave and beautiful, enhanced by a lot of Bex vocals. Gaba, whose faith was indestructible and heartbreaking. Jose, whom I thank for a very exciting video-journey, filled with very beautiful conversations. Stina Gustaffson, for the interest in my practice and for the enlightening collaboration. To the ones I consulted throughout my journey of wrong-doing, I acknowledge: my forever tutor Cidรกlia, Judith Clark, Charlotte Hodes, and Jane Holt.

Illustration 3 - visual (processual) experiments of Wrong-Clothing-Map.

Abstract Wrong-Clothing-Map names a research process triggered by (what is commonly understood as) the unfavorable properties of living environments, in this case - of clothing. Generated from the original concept of wrongness, the work pursues an unpredictable path of discovery that embraces the mistakes, errors and accidents as catalysts for the creation of something new. Researching within a determined map of actions that welcomes the unknown and chance to happen, has led to the development of an experimental approach that started with the gathering of abandoned and damaged pieces of clothing, during the entire month of July of 2014. The delineated filter for the collection of raw material implied the following: more than ten years old; no monetary value (only sentimental allowed); discarded/ abandoned; damaged condition. The compilation of raw material generated the As Found Archive: 25 compositions made of A4 scans, aiming to translate a given moment in time. The series results of a standardized representation of clothing, created with the purpose of allowing singularity to emerge from that same methodology - the act of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;scanningâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; became the most fundamental and pertinent archiving tool, as each scan embodies a chance value generating an unpredictable and (most of the times) imperfect result. Following the creation of the As Found Archive, it became clear the clothing had to suffer an intervention to enable the continuation of each process of wrongness, in an attempt to bring back meaning into their unknown existence. Seeking a multi-format presentation that mirrors the clothingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s provenance and timeline, Wrong-Clothing-Map is composed by three materialities referring to the essential phases of the research process: the printed scans (referring to the archive), the video screening (documenting the interventions) and the physical remains (as material evidences of those processes).

Illustration 4 - visual (processual) experiments of Wrong-Clothing-Map.

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INDEX of wrong-doing

Chapter I

Introduction to Wrongness

I.I #KeyWords #KeyConcepts

I.I.I

I.I.II

Incompleteness Imperfection

I.I.III Indeterminate

I.I.IV

Ugly

10 14 18

I.I.V Chance

I.I.VI Unknown (improvisation)

Chapter II

I.II

How to Create through Wrongness?

Wrong-Clothing-Map: prompting bec(l)om(th)ing

II.I

Map of Actions

31 34

II.I.I Chance Gathering

II.I.II

As Found Archiving

II.I.II.I Scanning

II.I.III Continuing Wrongness

II.I.IV (in)visible Representation

II.I.IV.I Wrong-Clothing-Map showcase

Closing Remarks

Bibliography

Appendices

Viii

Chapter I _ Introduction to Wrongness

“ definition of something WRONG adj.: (…) 3. Not required, intended, or wanted. 4. Not fitting or suitable; inappropriate or improper. 5. Not in accord with established usage, method, or procedure. 6. Not functioning properly; out of order. 7. Unacceptable or undesirable according to social convention. 8. Designating the side, as of a garment, that is less finished and not intended to show: socks worn wrong side out. adv.: 1. In a wrong manner; mistakenly or erroneously. 2. In a wrong course or direction (…) ” definition by The Free Dictionary

Illustration 5 - wabi-sabi symbology.

introduction to WRONGNESS Wrongness is a temporal concept, an approach towards (creative) creation and above all, a process, born from a reflection where the representation of time and a crossdisciplinary practice merge. With a focus on clothing and its processes of wrongness, the research pro(cess)ject1 intends to bring awareness to the potential of the “unimportant”, of the imperfect. Due to the vulnerability they entail, the purpose of wrongness is to bring these proofs of failure to a visible platform, proposing a reflection on their relevance as a learning tool. Resulting from the fusion of the adjective ‘wrong’ and the noun ‘process’, wrongness talks about those aspects of the creative work considered unfavorable: the mistakes. The negative connotations associated with these words intend to be demystified, through a line of though that proves perfection as a delusion and its search a non-rewarding journey.2 The reflection upon the role of the failure, the error and the mistake was born from the concept of ‘incompleteness’, created and explored in the MA thesis “Incompleteness in the crossing of architecture and clothing” (Lima, 2013), which refers to the impermanent and transient state of all things; incompleteness questions the importance of incorporating time as an integral part of a project, in order to allow its adaptation to the passage of time. This approach towards the creative process and implicit research methodologies has been gradually built, based on the study of Japanese culture, which became extremely relevant during the incompleteness research, and still is. Born of Zen ideals and recognized as the principle of wabi-sabi, this main source of knowledge “describes a traditional Japanese aesthetic sensibility based on an appreciation of the transient beauty of the physical world” (Juniper, 2003).

1 Pro(cess)ject means: ‘failure, error and mistakes are the ones who allow a process to become a project’ (and vice versa). 2 The implicit negative associations with the wrongness term are meant to be present because they promote a reflection on the delusion of what is positive and negative; just as the mistake is taken as something adverse, that expose a weakness side to someone’s work or personality, the wrongness expression should maintain itself as the main booster of this research. 1

Chapter I _ Introduction to Wrongness

Illustration 6 - scans from “It’s not how good you are, it’s how good you want to be” (Arden, 2003).

The wabi-sabi concept and its inherent aesthetic ideals promote a reflection on the cycles of life, an appreciation for the beauty of things imperfect, a positive acceptance of mortality and a special affinity for qualities like asymmetry and indetermination; finding its full representation in the traditional Japanese tea ceremony, wabi-sabi differs immensely from the western thought, still stuck to the Hellenic ideals. The wabi-sabi knowledge inspired the development of a cross-disciplinary approach, which evolves through the acceptance of the error as a relevant and positive working tool. It refers to a posture towards the conception of a project that surpasses the notion of trial-and-error process because the error becomes a creative agent and not a lost opportunity – embracing the unexpected as a signal leading to new paths of discovery. According to the American philosopher Daniel C. Dennett (2013), “mistakes are not just opportunities for learning; they are, in an important sense, the only opportunity for learning or making something truly new.” The imperfection of the creative process that accompanies the conception of a project (independently of its scale, program or use) is in this sense the catalyst for its progress. The wrongness thought comprises a condensation of time in the way that it is inherent to a constant state of ‘becoming’, of progression into something new. Each mistake gives place to something else, catalyzing new solutions and ideas. In the end of the production process, the “piece” encapsulates a set of errors and solutions that are relevant enough to be shown as part of that same project, as a whole. With its target on clothing, the wrongness research intends to shape a cross-disciplinary approach that can be found in and applied to many creative areas, from architecture to fashion design, exclusively dependent on the way one looks and interprets the problematic. The concept of wrongness thus finds itself in a thought that is not confined to a single area of work; the idea of generating knowledge throughout other creative fields intends to ascertain its pertinence but is also a way of reinventing itself.

Chapter I _ Introduction to Wrongness

Illustration 7 - visual (processual) experiments of Wrong-Clothing-Map. Illustration 8 - wrong poem.

Fashion can be understood as a meeting platform where other creative disciplines interact and collaborate, as Yuniya Kawamura (2005, p.37) states: â&#x20AC;&#x153;fashion discourse has spread to various academic disciplines and has become overtly interdisciplinary.â&#x20AC;? Therefore, this research intends to generate valuable cross-disciplinary knowledge, through the collection of primary and secondary data that demonstrates the importance pursuing a particular unexpected journey. In the context of an industry that has a known obsession for perfection, the aim of the wrongness research is to question these given values, showing the beauty and relevance of what is unfinished, imperfect and indeterminate.

Chapter I.I _ #KeyWords #KeyConcepts

Illustration 9 - scheme from a work-in-progress presentation (22 May 2014) reflecting the relation between ideas and references: constructing the structure and plan for the wrongness problematic.

#KeyWords #KeyConcepts Following the introduction to the concept of wrongness, the #keywords #keyconcepts chapter comprises the rationale of Wrong-Clothing-Map as it intends to reveal and justify the vocabulary of the wrongness practice. Following and supporting the pro(cess)ject since its very beginning, the series of terms are to be explained through different examples able to illustrate their relevance as guidelines: a traditional costume, an antique, a piece of clothing, an article, a video and a literary piece of reference. Through concrete realities, the key words and concepts are delineated as a way of generating a focus and synthesis towards the wrongness research main references.

Chapter I.I.I _ Incompleteness

“I would like to propose the kimono, that set of flat surfaces that so gratefully enfolds one, as a possible answer to achieving a more gracious and magnanimous spirit.” (Ito, 2012)

Illustration 10 - traditional Japanese kimono from “The Kimono: History and Style” (Ito, 2012).

Incompleteness The theme of incompleteness, explored first during the MA thesis “Incompleteness in the crossing of architecture and clothing” (Lima, 2013), shapes up a concept which, unfolding on physical means, questions the relevance of including time on a given project, regardless of scale. Finding itself under several shapes and programs of the habitable environment, incompleteness proposes a reflection on the passage of time, the motto being a realization of projective nature. Succeeding the study of wabi-sabi philosophy, the Kimono established (within the context of the wrongness research) as the concrete materialization of the idea of incompleteness, applied to clothing – Kimono, the traditional Japanese costume, was first registered during the Hein period (794-1185). Since then, it didn’t suffer many alterations to its original design; it maintained its shape and flexibility. Kimono’s essence has remained, but it is possible to find many variations of its design, in accordance with the context, festivities and ceremonies. Today, the kimono lies in disuse in most of Japan, due to western influences. Still, the tradition and knowledge of kimono maintains preserved by those who currently teach its confection method and embodied wisdom. The Japanese Kimono, whose translation is “clothing” and means “something to wear”, adapts to any physical structure, same for men and women, child or adult. It is made out of twelve meters of fabric, thirty-eight centimeters width; being first cut into six different parts to then be sewn according to a philosophy of flexibility. The Kimono has no right or wrong: the interior fabric can also be outside, being reversed as any momentary desire, also being common to be dyed numerous times. The ease with which the Kimono is renewed and transformed, translates the Japanese tradition of no waste and exploitation. The Kimono is a Japanese symbol of versatility and taste, one of the best representatives of the Japanese aesthetic of wabi-sabi and the notion of incompleteness in clothing, in its journey through time that never ends.

Chapter I.I.II _ Imperfection

Illustration 11 - palimpsest.

Imperfection Imperfection comes across this investigation as the characteristic that allows a project to adapt to the passage of time - the ability to condense in one material object the constancy of change due to the project’s loose ends; promoting its progress, evolution and appropriation. The potential of imperfection derives from the understanding of perfection as something static and untouchable, that eventually becomes out of context due to its response to one only moment in time. The creation of something perfect involves a dedication towards the determinist conception of the project, not allowing any part of it to be explored by the user: “The fullness of the world appears to us as properly represented only if formal expressions can be found embodying the permanent and accommodating the changing nature of reality.” (Fraser, 1968, p.586) The imperfection of a project has its start with the creative process and extends itself into the formal conception and posterior appropriation by the user. It is a continuous and unstable process that relies on the existence of the mistake to grow into something new. Imperfection is about a ‘permanence in change’ through an ability to recognize and accept change in accordance to a desire of permanence; this approach towards creation is presented by Fraser through three different guidelines (Fraser, 1968, p.586): the first one deals with the concerns for the future, where expectations are projected; the second refers to the memory of the past, which holds its continuity; finally, an awareness of the present through the integration of expectation and memory. These three main ideas refer to the perception of time, expectation and memory, being key thoughts in the study and understanding of mistakes. As the palimpsest3 retains the marks and traces of time, so does a “wrong” piece of clothing. The way it positions itself in between place and time – clothing is able to condense in itself its journey, encourage change and promote a new indeterminate future route. 3 The palimpsest is a manuscript page from a book, used during the Middle Age (VII-XII); the text was recurrently erased so that it could be used again.

Chapter I.I.II _ Imperfection

Illustration 12 - Yohji Yamamoto Menswear Spring-Summer 2013.

Yohji Yamamoto’s work incorporates these same ideals through clothing that is never finished and does not belong to one specific time, reflecting the imperfection of the surrounding world. His known wish to design time4 is responsible for the rejection of symmetry5 and for conceiving garments that, despite new, appear to be lived-in. “I think perfection is ugly. Somewhere in the things human make, I want to see scars, failure, disorder, distortion. If I can feel those things in works by others, then I like them. Perfection is kind of order, like overall harmony and so on... They are things someone forces onto a thing. A free human does not desire such things.”

(Yamamoto quoted by Frankel, 2010)

Imperfection, mistake and failure are implicit to Yamamoto’s work. His clothes work as communication tools, through which he explores fundamental questions of human existence. The imperfection of his garments goes beyond their unfinished look to be about a condensation of time where a base of permanence (the garment) welcomes human existence through the coexistence of mistakes, of age, of living experiences: “If one has only one piece of clothing in life, it becomes patched together, exposed to the sun and rain, frayed from de course of daily life, I wanted to create clothing with the same kind of unconscious beauty and natural appeal.” (Yamamoto quoted by Frankel, 2010) Yamamoto’s garments communicate wrongness in his holistic approach towards fashion design: when mistakes are exposed, confessing a relatable story, they behave as a communication tool that contextualizes the project at issue. The traces inscribed can be interpreted and continued by the user, as the mistakes catalyze appropriation, stimulate actions, and imperfection allows the re-creation of something new.

4 “I would like to design time itself. Discovering a solution to this design paradox, is the single point on which I stake my life.” (YAMAMOTO, 2011, p.57) 5 In conversation with Win Wenders, Yohji Yamamoto stated: “symmetry – the symbol of perfection – is not sufficiently human.” (Notebook on Cities and Clothes, 1989) 13

Chapter I.I.III _ Indeterminacy

Illustration 13 - lace sweater (1982) designed by Rei Kawakubo.

Indeterminacy Indeterminacy is considered one of the main characteristics of the wrongness practice. Unlike the machines that act promptly, creative beings are recurrently targeted by doubts, questions and wanderings. Thereafter, creative processes end up embodying the feelings and moods felt at a certain time, while being reflective of an ability to adapt to new situations, evolving in accordance to the will or necessity of its author. As a reaction towards the extreme determinacy of clothing production processes, Rei Kawakubo created the lace sweater in 1982 – a piece of clothing that, full of defects, is the apparent result of an accidental disfigurement or a technical problem. In her long adoration for the ‘imperfect’ and as some sort of manifesto, Kawakubo mangled the machines in purpose, so that they give an “error” and are not able to produce what they are originally scheduled for – determined perfection: “The originality of the sweater is not the disabling of the machine, but the paradox of the actual technological sophistication required to create its imperfection.” (Koda, 2010, p.30) In the context of wrongness, indeterminacy refers to the ability of a project to grow, without a prior establishment of its route. It allows the work-in-progress to adapt to changing needs but also to learn and get enriched from that same journey. The state of becoming, embodied in this work philosophy, shapes a time-based approach towards the creative process (and its representation) that comes from the understanding of a project (being it a landscape, an intervention, a building or a piece of clothing) as something that has the ability to continuously progress, even after its final “outcome”. Therefore, the role of the mistake is crucial as it is the catalyst for the project’s transformation and evolution: “Sometimes you don’t just want to risk making mistakes; you actually want to make them — if only to give you something clear and detailed to fix. Making mistakes is the key to making progress” (Dennett, 2013).

Chapter I.I.III _ Indeterminacy

Illustration 14 - exemplifying the post-production life of Rei Kawakuboâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s creations through the piece Scenario (1997) choreographed by Merce Cunningham, with scenography and clothing by Rei Kawakubo (featuring Lumps and Bumps collection Spring-Summer 1997).

In accordance with the notions exposed, the wrongness research intends to practice the adaptation to the passage of time through its indeterminacy. Being generated by the notion of incompleteness, wrongness intends to keep maturing, evolving, through its own mistakes while seeding new concepts and ideas. It is about a coexistence of permanence and change, of cycles that leave things behind but also nurture new knowledge. A very simple and challenging life philosophy explored through the work of Japanese designers, like Rei Kawakubo and Yohji Yamamoto (referred previously on the ‘Imperfection’ chapter), through the indeterminate and evolving course of their creative process but also of their creations “post-production life”. Kawakubo and Yamamoto’s longtime exploration of indeterminacy and imperfection makes them significant case studies, regularly referenced, supporting the construction of the wrongness thought and narrative.

Chapter I.I.IV _ Ugly

Illustration 15 -100% Cotton (2004) by Susan Collis

Ugly “The Ugly”, by Mark Cousins, is a central article within the research scope, published in AA files issue 18 (1994); it approaches the theories of the ugly object in a relatable philosophy to the theories of the wrong. “That the ugly is, is central to this argument. But to assert this is to contradict a long tradition which seeks to relegate ugliness to the status of a philosophical problem of the negative. Since antiquity, beauty has been regarded as possessing a privileged relation to truth. From this it follows that an ugly representation, or an ugly object, is a negation not just of beauty, but of truth.”

(Cousins, 1994, p.61)

That the wrong (as the only right doing) is, is central to this argument, because the wrong is considered a catalyst for the creation of something new. Throughout the article, the ugly is understood as a kind of particularity that doesn’t allow reaching the ideals of something truthful. The incapacity of the ugly is understood by wrongness as a favorable aspect, which prompts the state of becoming of the clothing – believed to be the most truthful representation of a pro(cess)ject. “Ugliness is condemned to the role of the mistake, to the role of the object that has gone wrong. Ugliness does not exist as such, but only as a privation of what should have been. (…) The perfect object is, rather, one that is finished, completed. Any addition or subtraction from the object would ruin its form. (…) It is that which prevents a work’s completion, or deforms a totality – whatever resists the whole. An ugly attribute of a work is one that is excessively individual.”

(Cousins, 1994, p.61)

Chapter I.I.IV _ Ugly

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The stain is not an aesthetic issue as such. It is a question of something that should not be there and so must be removed. The constitutive experience is therefore of an object which should not be there; in this way it is a question of ugliness.â&#x20AC;?

(Cousins, 1994)

Illustration 16 - 100% Cotton (2004) by Susan Collis. The embroidered stains by Collis purposely refer to something that is not desirable, a visual of something in the wrong place. Naturally, the art practice of Susan Collis turned into a main reference; it applies and explores the catalyst properties of the ugly object, which remains in the center of her artistic practice and discussion. 20

Through Mark Cousins’ article, it became clear how the mistake, error and failure are materialized into the shape of either a subtraction (hole in the sweater) or an addition (stain in the sweater). On the contrary, the “total object” does not own any lose ends, there is nothing to be changed and therefore no process of evolution. The perfect object is perceived as isolated, living within its own perfection of shape and totality, not being able to extend itself into space and others. “Ugliness can deform a work, but it can also strengthen it. For the stronger the totality of a work of art, the more it has had to overcome those elements within itself that oppose its unification (…) Ugliness, by complicating beauty, achieves an ambiguous status – utterly excluded from beauty, and at the same time a ‘moment’ in the unfolding of a beauty whose form as a totality is all the more triumphant for having overcome the resistance to itself in its ‘moments’ of ugliness.”

(Cousins, 1994, p.61-62)

“The ugliness as a complication of beauty” relates to wrongness in the way it creates a wild category, a sublime one – which does not sick “totality” and neglects the teachings of classical conceptions of beauty. Another hypothesis follows the article’s line of thought: “The ugly object is an object which is experienced both as being there and as something that should not be there. That is, the ugly object is an object which is in the wrong place” (Cousins, 1994, p.62). The idea of the wrong place became extremely relevant, as it stands in between the accident and its consequences towards the surrounding space. The wrong place can not be a permanent one: it prompts actions/interventions following the existence of the ugly, while the perfect place remains intact and therefore isolated. “This does not mean that there is a right place for the ugly object; there is no such place.” (Cousins, 1994, p.63) The right place might not exist, but a new reality is proposed through the practical outcome of the wrongness research: Wrong-Clothing-Map aims to be translated into the wrong place for the wrong object, allowing the exploration of clothing within its wrong (place of) existence.

Chapter I.I.V _ Chance

Illustration 17 - frames from the online video â&#x20AC;&#x153;Chance Conversations: An Interview with Merce Cunningham and John Cageâ&#x20AC;? by Walker Art Center (1981).

Chance Chance is not an adjective, but an intention within a practice, intrinsically related to methodology questions. Explained through the oeuvre of two unconventional artists, chance defines a creative approach capable of achieving unknown, mesmerizing results. A recognized term that helps define the collaborative practice of music composer John Cage and choreographer Merce Cunningham, as they created pieces of art where music and dance apparently seem disconnected from each other. The artists explored and learned a new sort of creative act through the fascinating “chance operations”, from which their work later became recognized for. The online video “Chance Conversations: An Interview with Merce Cunningham and John Cage” by Walker Art Center, recorded in 1981, is a 32:05min interview with both Cage and Cunningham, where they explain their creative collaboration as a materialization of chance itself. Cunningham says “the idea of having a music which was not dependent upon the dance, nor the dance not dependent upon the music, they were separate identities which could in a sense coexist (...) the common denominated between the arts was TIME.” (0:50-1:13) Working within an industry that pursues a very rigorous notion of perfection, their art can be seen as an exception, a rare case of fluid spontaneity. Cunningham and Cage do not start working from an idea or a feeling, but they rather accept simply being together, in the same place and time, leaving space around each art, so that neither has to glue itself to a particular thing. Chance is all about giving space, giving space for the unexpected, for the natural, for the instinct of the art: “Its less like an object and more like the weather, because in an object you can tell where the boundaries are but in the weather is impossible to say when something begins or ends.” (Cage, 1981)

Chapter I.I.VI _ Unknown (improvisation)

Illustration 18 - pages 14-15 / 24-25 from the literary piece â&#x20AC;&#x153;Adhocism: the case for improvisationâ&#x20AC;? (Jencks and Silver, 2013), presenting artworks born from the adhocism approach.

Unknown (improvisation) The ultimate key-concept is the unknown, intrinsically connected with the notion of improvisation and the adhocism principle – both studied and analyzed throughout the construction of the wrongness concept. Following an improvised capability of adaptation and an imperfect performance, the unknown refers to an attitude towards the creative practice, as it instigates a positive approach towards the act of making mistakes and consequent way of dealing with them. Being part of the wrongness vocabulary, the unknown (improvisation) has its understanding based on the adhocism principle. For the study of the subject, a literary piece was adopted as a main guide: “Adhocism: the case for improvisation” (2013) by Charles Jencks and Nathan Silver. Originally published in 1972, the book conveys an alternative way of creating that reacts against the deterministic doctrines of the modernist movement, dominating architecture and design methodologies at that time. As relevant today as it was during its emergence, adhocism refers to a timeless strategy that works efficiently towards the solution of a problem, through an existing system, taking advantage of the resources available at a certain place and time. Charles Jencks first used adhocism, in the context of architectural criticism, back in 1968. The word was born form the phrase Ad Hoc that means “for this specific purpose” and “reveals the desire for immediate and purposeful action which permeates everyday life.” (Jencks and Silver, 2013, p.16) The concrete practice of adhocism reflects the process of improvising (of dealing with the unknown) in order to achieve one specific goal: “Where luck or random, or trial and error, do enter into successful creativity, they enter in as an aid to purposeful searching and not a substitute for it.” (Jencks and Silver, 2013, p.18) Therefore, the conception of a transparent project (born from a specific context) is achieved through a collection of different units that, being exposed, can establish a link to places, ideas, moments in time.

Chapter I.I.VI _ Unknown (improvisation)

The product ends up being the reflection of its own meaning. There is an implicit story telling to this practice that establishes the connection with the wrongness concept - the desire to conceive a project where the exposure of its own flaws allows the reading of the creative process, turning it into an unique source of knowledge.

Chapter I.II _ How to Create through Wrongness?

Illustration 19 - as a resume of the first chapter, the entitled ‘matrix of wrongness’ englobes the main keywords and concepts of the research vocabulary. Developed with the intention of a pratical application, the scheme intends to resume the specific creative approach (of wrongness) and propose an anwer to the question: ‘How to Create through Wrongness?’.

Chapter II _ Wrong-Clothing-Map: prompting bec(l)om(th)ing

Wrong-Clothing-Map: prompting bec(l)om(th)ing Wrong-Clothing-Map designates the practical outcome of a research pro(cess)ject triggered by the original concept of wrongness6 - which pursues an unpredictable path of discovery that embraces the mistakes, the errors and the accidents as catalysts for the creation of something new. Wrong-Clothing-Map should not be understood as “the single final outcome,” but instead as the denomination of a creative journey, a process that began with the theoretical explorations on the idea of what is “wrong - as right.” Therefore, Wrong-Clothing-Map aims to be perceived as a constructed methodology that outlines a posture towards creation, practiced within a fixed structure that welcomes the unknown. Since its beginning, the practice of wrongness assumed itself a non-deterministic posture, being built gradually step by step, one discovery generating another, learning and growing from each accomplished find. The applied media and working tools were a consequence of that same process, which has no exact end. The choice of working from and through damaged clothing was naturally outlined, since the raw material of wrongness had to be able to embody time and accordingly reflect its passage. Usually regarded as the physical evidence of something that went the wrong way, the imprints of failures, errors and mistakes (carried on clothing) tell a relatable story that is worth spreading - it is believed that those negative aspects (which ruin the perfect totality of the object) can be presented in a positive manner, as the ones who deserved to be explored, willing to be continued as some sort of creative challenge. Throughout the wrongness discussion, clothing is presented as “a project” - an inhabited one, analyzed with the intention of identifying the catalysts properties of the conventionally wrong. The transversal question of the research has always floated around the following: 6

Accordingly described in the first chapter ‘Introduction to Wrongness’ (p.1-5)

Chapter II _ Wrong-Clothing-Map: prompting bec(l)om(th)ing

Illustration 20 - vintage leather gloves form a halter top; Maison Martin Margiela Spring-Summer 2001.

how to “see” beyond clothing as a final result? “see”: make visible clothing: action final result: inexistent The question of representation posed by this essay remains on how to represent a clothing project considering his conception processes, its formal questions and its eventual appropriation by the user. How to represent a project in its incompleteness? Worn and aged clothing was also the subject of Martin Margiela’s work - the Belgium graduate from the Antwerp Royal College of Arts and founder of Maison Martin Margiela, who worked through vintage/second-hand pieces, deconstructing and giving them a new life. “For Margiela, the garment is an architecture that “fits out” the body, and thus he shares an architectural inquiry into the process and mechanics of construction. Martin and Koda (1993) very simply state the paradox of these clothes when they write “destruction becomes a process of analytical creation.” (Gill, 2007, p.490) Martin Margiela’s practice conforms, within the wrongness research, a main reference in terms of proportioning ‘bec(l)om(th)ing’ - which reads ‘becoming of the clothing’ and means: the artistic intervention on a pre-existing object towards the creation of something new. The aim of Wrong-Clothing-Map is to successively prompt and represent bec(l)om(th)ing, referring to the act of triggering evolution and change, within a basis of permanence. The becoming of the clothing is generated by its own wrongness, each piece’s singularities giving space for the construction of another stage in their life.

Chapter II.I _ Map of Actions

Illustration 19 - Map of Actions designed on Prezi platform.

Map of Actions Map of Actions chapter introduces the methodology undertaken to pursue the concretion of Wrong-Clothing-Map’s practical piece. The methodology was based on the establishment of a fixed structure that purposively coexist with chance processes7 - which means that there is a space to fill within the work that is not determined by the rules, but by what happens due to their existence. Described through different steps and phases of work, Map of Actions is clearly organized by the name of each task and time they took place. The structure began with a scheme on Prezi platform,8 as a visual plan of the tasks to be undertaken. The scheme was gradually designed, increasing its dynamics in accordance with the reflection it caused. Step by step, the interdisciplinary Map of Actions generated Wrong-Clothing-map.

7 8

Accordingly described in ‘Chance’ chapter (p.22-23). Link available for consultation on the digital folder ‘Appendices’, under the name: Map_of_Actions_Prezi

Chapter II.I.I _ Chance Gathering

Chance Gathering

July

Wrongness was originally born from personal issues towards the acceptance of what is positive and what is negative. Consequently, clothing became the platform to explore these concerns – understood as a reservoir of meaning and rawness, it became ultimately relevant to bring those imprints to a visible surface as a crucial part of the project(clothing)’s own definition. Working both as a learning tool and a creative catalyst, the process of ‘chance gathering’ established the first big step towards the practicality of wrongness. Purposely working under an intuitive approach towards the production of wrongness, both in the theoretical and practical field, the conception of Wrong-Clothing-Map, as a catalogue of failure, is composed by a collection of discarded pieces of clothing carefully gathered due to their unique and particular wrong specificities: “The ugly object belongs to a world of ineluctable individuality, contingency, and resistance to the ideal.” (Cousins, 1994) The idea of ‘chance gathering’ was made possible due to the study of John Cage’s chance operations,9 through the understanding of his methodology in terms of music composition – “the idea of inviting randomness into his work” (Pritchett, 1993, p.2). One of the main features of the applied methodology is the space it imposes in between the work and the author’s personal taste and preferences. As so, the first step was to establish a set of rules, later recognized as a ‘Map of Actions’ – a structure that delineates the steps for the gathering of the clothing, allowing the results to be generated almost by themselves; this means, the pieces were not chosen in accordance to any aesthetic concerns or personal affinities, but defined by chance, as if self-styled. Primarily, Map of Actions defined the goal to be ‘the gathering of a set of abandoned pieces of clothing, which have been classified by their previous owner as inappropriate’ 9

Accordingly described through the ‘Chance’ chapter (p.22-23).

Chapter II.I.I _ Chance Gathering

stains, malfunction, rips, tears, missing parts, smell and decayed age condition are some of motifs for their discarded value. A compilation of pieces with a singular and peculiar past embodied in them material condition; a present that relies in their being found and a future that should be given through the Wrong-Clothing-Map project. Researching within a determined structure that welcomes the unknown and chance to happen still implies the establishment of certain boundaries such as a time frame the gathering took place exclusively during the month of July 2014, and the delineated structure for the collection of raw material implied the following: -

a piece that has been abandoned or discarded

embodied malfunction, result of an error, mistake or accident

life span: more than 10 years old

no monetary value (only sentimental allowed)

On the first day of August 2014, the completion of the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;chance gatheringâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; process was determined and a total of twenty-five pieces were counted, establishing the raw material for Wrong-Clothing-Map and setting the time for a new phase in the pro(cess)ject to begin.

Chapter II.I.II _ As Found Archiving

Factory

Family Relics

Charity Shop B

C Illustration 20 - the three origins of the clothing: street view of deactivated factory (A); aerial view of Porto (Portugal) with the three highlighted locations (B); street view of charity shop (C).

August

As Found Archiving

The relevance of ‘chance gathering’ relies, ultimately, on the value of the collected items as a totality, as a series of failures. Found in a diminished condition, the raw material gained an instant value due to that precise methodology, which was to be continued under the shape of the As Found Archive.10 The clothing’s ignored-decaying existence was interrupted, for it to become a creative catalyst instead. The term ‘as found’ is extremely relevant as it was based on the ‘As Found’ humanist manifest, learned from the literature piece “As Found: The Discovery of the Ordinary  British Architecture and Art of the 1950s” (Schregenberger, Lichtenstein, 2001). A timeless “thought” that detaches itself from a particular trend, to focus on the meaning of objects in accordance with the context they have been found into. Therefore, the As Found Archive started with a series of questions regarding the past life of each item (even if unknown) but also their present condition and future possibilities: Past - age, origin, previous owners, found location, etc; Present - condition of the piece, its properties and “behavior”, caption of the accidents/ errors/ mistakes that led to its abandonment; Future - the enlightenment of those same accidents / errors / mistakes. Posing and answering questions regarding which type of clothing was collected, their background and the kind of failure they communicate, allowed the constitution of a relevant amount of primary research, initially organized into the form of an Excel file.11 In parallel, the material was disposed into three different timelines, designed to mirror the three distinct and crucial origins of the clothing: a deactivated factory, a charity shop and family relics.

Purposely provided in the form of an independent booklet, the As Found Archive is ultimately the representation of a lost moment in time. 10 11

The full content comprising the archive is presented through the ‘As Found Archive’ booklet (Appendices) File available for consultation on the digital folder ‘Appendices’, under the name: Primary Data.xlsx

Chapter II.I.II _ As Found Archiving

1970

1980

1990

2014

Illustration 21 - the timelines reflect the three processes of wrongness the raw material was subjected to; the origin of the pieces is crucial for the understanding of each â&#x20AC;&#x153;failed journeyâ&#x20AC;?, explained through its past analysis and present condition.

The three processes of wrongness are the following:

Process of DISSOLUTION

13 pieces

Origin

Jeans Factory (Trofa, Portugal)

Time-frame

25/30 years thirteen pieces that never reached their supposed ‘final’ destination -  the consumer; never been inhabited, they were produced and left to ‘dissolve’ in a pile, for more than twenty years; there was a cut between production and destination, the pieces never had an opportunity to reach their purpose:  to be worn.

Process of TREASURING

8 pieces  Origin

Family Relics (Porto, Portugal)

Time-frame

distinct for each one of them eight pieces from distinct backgrounds and different owners (all from the same family); despite the different paths, the pieces ended up reunited during a later phase in life, as family relics; very particular and precious due to the memory they carry, they have embodied sentimental value, like an old family portrait; despite not being worn for a long period of time they were preserved, due to their meaning, as if they were small pieces of time.

Process

of REBORN

4 pieces  Origin

Charity Shop (Porto, Portugal)

Time-frame unknown four pieces that have been discarded by their previous owner but with the intention of them gaining a new life ; despite their worn-out-looks, the pieces were left at the charity shop as if it represented a second chance for those once loved items ; they embody the hope of being inhabited again.

Chapter II.I.II.I _ Scanning

Illustration 22 - All the Clothes of a Woman (1970) by Hans Peter Feldmann.

Scanning

August

The compilation of raw material generated the As Found Archive, as it aimed to explore how imperfection, flaws and time can develop into the most valuable feature, in terms of generating a new creative practice. Studied through the oeuvre of Christian Boltanski, Mary Kelly, Hans-Peter Feldman and Susan Hiller, the act of gathering/archiving implies the establishment of a precise work methodology, in order to achieve (and present) the relevant aspects of the raw material, while outlining questions and conclusions as a consequence of that same process. “We just can’t preserve things, or save them from decaying. and that’s what my early work is about: preserving objects while being aware of their transient nature. (...) The result was a kind of research into the act of creating and reconstructing which is always shadowed by failure.” (Christian Boltanski quoted by Beil, 2006) The challenge of archiving reached its peak when exploring representation questions. As a starting point, there was a trial with photography but it felt inadequate, as the images didn’t translate the wrongness of the clothing. Within a spontaneous and experimental research process, the act of ‘scanning’ - once used to capture the holes and texture of an old sweater - became the most fundamental and pertinent representation tool, as each scan embodies a chance value, proportioning an unpredictable and (most of the times) imperfect result. Scanning relies on a mechanic gesture that works within a fixed frame, welcoming unrepeatable results; the lack of perspective depth is associated with the absence of the body, the absence of the owner, as a consequence of their discarded status. The act of scanning, as a representation tool, allows the construction of a variable-withinpermanence image, which means: a variant factor within a permanent frame of work. It is the singularity of each piece that determines its own unrepeatable representation.

Chapter II.I.II.I _ Scanning

Illustration 23 - First ‘scanning’ experimentation - capturing the defects of an old sweater (May 2014).

The twenty-five pieces of clothing, collected during the month of July, were subjected to the scanning process, generating a series that reflects (and embodies) the wrongness way of thought, in both the creative process and resulting outcome. Scanning standardizes the ‘as found’ material, while allowing singularity to emerge from that same procedure. The As Found Archive is the result of an homogeneous representation process - the act of scanning was repeated over and over, the same way, for each piece - but the results are distinctly different from each other. Each singular piece has been fragmented into a variable amount of A4 scans – the dimensions of the home printer. The compositions reflect a personal interpretation/ edition of the clothing, due to the way they were explored in relation to the scanning process: turned inside out, displayed in asymmetric manners, folded and creased as a way of capturing their unlikable features. In the end, the compositions reflect the attention to detail, but mostly to ‘the flaw’; mirroring the search for the richest and wrongest particularities of each piece, of each (A4) part of it. Intentionally, the compositions provide a reading of totality by parts. Each A4 is different and specifically born from a dynamic in between the piece, the agent and the fixed methodology of scanning. Consequently, the totality of the series (25 compositions) implies that same “reading” approach. The As Found Archive means the capture of a precise moment in time; a representation of the ‘as found’ condition of the discarded clothing. For this reason, the archive became part of the research process as an experimental reflection on the transience nature of clothing, the mortality of inhabited environments and the consequences of their separation from the original dwellers.

Chapter II.I.II.I _ Scanning

Illustration 24 - the thirteen compositions comprising the ‘process of Dissolution’, part of the ‘As Found Archive’.

A4 Process of DISSOLUTION

Chapter II.I.II.I _ Scanning

Illustration 25 - the nine compositions comprising the ‘process of Treasuring’, part of the ‘As Found Archive’.

A4 Process of TREASURING

Chapter II.I.II.I _ Scanning

Illustration 26 - the four compositions comprising the ‘process of Reborn’, part of the ‘As Found Archive’.

A4 Process of REBORN

Chapter II.I.III _ Continuing Wrongness

October-November

Continuing Wrongness

Following the representation work denominated by As Found Archive, doubts started to rise regarding the life span of the raw material. The article “Ugly” by Mark Cousins (1994) triggered the reflection of ‘the right place for the wrong object’, as he states: “The ugly object is an object which is experienced both as being there and as something that should not be there. That is, the ugly object is an object which is in the wrong place.” (Cousins, 1994) Perceiving the gathered clothing as the ‘ugly object’, and still working under a spontaneous manner, it became clear the clothing had to suffer an intervention that would enable the continuation of each process of wrongness. Having started decades ago, the three processes crossed paths due to the ‘chance gathering’ of Wrong-Clothing-Map, during July 2014. Each process of wrongness was interrupted to shape the As Found Archive, which was never perceived as a final outcome, but as an accomplished step, part of the research development. Therefore, it was essential to discover and define the next ‘wrong place’ for the raw material, through an answer to the following question: how can a process of wrongness catalyze its own “ending”? The three timelines, presented on the ‘As Found Archiving’ chapter, communicate a past and a present, but triggered, above all, a future that relies on the simple extension of each one of those timelines. The proposed intervention can be interpreted in a poetic manner, as the decision didn’t rely on a personal will, but on a duty towards the raw material and each (interrupted) process of wrongness, as if that could bring back meaning into their unknown existence. Hence, the three interventions have been defined in accordance with each process’ own flaws, by their particular path and time imprints: the process of Dissolution triggers the

Chapter II.I.III _ Continuing Wrongness

Process of Dissolution Over a period of about twenty years, thirteen pieces have been dissolving in a storage space, within a deactivated jeans factory. None of the items ever reached their implicit purpose as clothing pieces: to be worn. The passage of time coupled with a state of decomposition caused severe damages to the pieces, found in a degraded condition that doesn’t allow them to be inhabited again. Not being able to reach their original destination (due to the cut between production-consumer) it became clear there was a need to recreate and accelerate the ‘as found’ decay conditions – in a pile, the pieces were subjected to a chemical that ended their void existence.

Illustration 27 - frames from the ‘process of Dissolution’ video-intervention.

vanishing of the clothing, the process of Treasuring catalyzes the preservation of those meaningful pieces and the process of Reborn generates a second opportunity for the abandoned items. Three unrepeatable interventions were recorded in video format,12 produced, directed and edited in collaboration with photographer Jose Montemayor. The one-time-only performative acts were documented with the intention of creating some sort of memory that represents the opposite of the ‘chance gathering’ process - as they were once gathered, they are now gone.

The three videos are available for consultation on the digital folder ‘Continuing Wrongness’.

Chapter II.I.III _ Continuing Wrongness

Process of Treasuring The extension of the ‘process of Treasuring’ relies on the upkeep of eight pieces of clothing - meaningful items whose embodied memory should perpetuate through the preservation of physical evidences. Following an ‘Ad Hoc’ doctrine, the precious items were “eternalized” in standard vacuum storage bags, allowing the conservation of their ‘as found’ condition. Never to be worn again, the treasured clothing should remain inhabited, in vacuum, as a memory capsule.

Illustration 28 - frames from the ‘process of Treasuring’ video-intervention.

Process of Reborn Found in a charity shop, the four items comprising the ‘process of Reborn’ were destined to have a second chance. Despite their damaged condition, the previous owner allowed for a new start, by offering them to the solidarity movement, to be sold in favor of a humanitarian cause. The clothing has been interpreted as carrying an implied duty – of being reborn; therefore, the four items were packed and sent to unknown addresses (found by chance) with the hope of finding a new inhabited reality.

Illustration 29 - frames from the ‘process of Reborn’ video-intervention.

Chapter II.I.IV _ (in)visible Representation

Illustration 30 - Incresing Disorder in a Dining Table by Jeremy Till and Sarah Wigglesworth.

November-2 December

(in)visible Representation ‘(in)visible Representation’ refers to the culmination point of the wrongness research, for both the theoretical essay and the practical experimentation. Acting as a reflective “conclusion”, the aim of this last step is to reflect (on) and edit the previously produced content, to make it coexist in (what should be) a multi-dimension platform. Resuming ‘chance gathering’, As Found Archive and ‘continuing wrongness’ into one single platform revealed itself a definite challenge, because of the difficulty in communicating the many dimensions of the research process - which began during November-December 2013, with a preliminary study on the potential value of what is commonly perceived as ‘wrong’.13 Since its embryonic state, wrongness embraced references within the field of architecture and art, as a faithful follower of Jane Rendell’s teachings regarding the artistic practice: “We need to understand artworks as products of specific processes, of production and reception, that operate within a further expanded and interdisciplinary field.” (Rendell, 2006) Consequently, the search for an interdisciplinary representation began, with the intention of finding the most adequate medium able to embody the expanded field referred by Rendell, and practiced by the wrongness methodology. A main reference, regarding representation/communication questions, is the project “Increasing Disorder in a Dinning Table” by architects Jeremy Till and Sara Wigglesworth. Composed by three sequential drawings, the ‘increasing disorder’ alludes to the implications and dynamics that follow any sort of appropriation by the human being – from a perfectly laid table, to the imprints triggered by its use. The traces of actions, the disorder of “living” and the imprints of human presence over a solid structure (the table, or in the case of wrongness – the clothing) are read as ‘change within permanence.’ The importance of the ‘increasing disorder’ is found on its focus over 13 the conception and exploration of the concept of wrongness started through the construction of an essay - for the final submission of Fashion Futures, term one – that proposes a reflection on the unfavorable aspects of clothing, within an experimental-fashion-research context; the essay entitled “Wrongness: a reflection on the idea of mistake as a catalyst for the creative process; bridging the physical and digital processes of clothing conception” became a relevant theoretical basis for the development of Wrong-Clothing-Map. 61

Chapter II.I.IV _ (in)visible Representation

the unwanted and repellent aspect of living environments. Invoking the palimpsest14 as a term of comparison, Till and Wigglesworth’s clear approach is capable of being applied to distinct inhabited realities: the drawings refer to the universal daily routine of “the meal” that can be linked to the also universal gesture of “getting dressed.” Succeeding the presented references, it is possible to conclude that through an interdisciplinary approach one can bridge inhabited realities, as they (can) share the same work principles, which embrace the transient nature of the material world. The idea of a physical showcase of Wrong-Clothing-Map was made visible and eventually embraced, due to its capability of welcoming different formats and their ability to reflect such creative transience. Thanks to the support and valuable advice from UAL tutors Nilgin Yusuf and Thomas Makryniotis, who could see the pertinence of installing a multi-format presentation, in the context of a small event; fashion researcher and PhD student at London College of Fashion Lara Torres, for the regular conversations reflecting over pertinent and coherent coexistences; Professor of Fine Art at London College of Fashion Charlotte Hodes, for an enlightening discussion about the relevance of documentation; London College of Fashion Digital Studio’s Lynne Murray, for listening and encouraging the materialization of a very raw concept; finally, the comprehension and enthusiasm of exhibition-maker Judith Clark, whose expert opinion confirmed the relevance of pursuing the physical showcase of Wrong-Clothing-Map, as a presentation platform capable of making the invisible visible once again.

Accordingly described through the ‘Imperfection’ chapter (p.10-13).

Chapter II.I.IV.I _ Wrong-Clothing-Map showcase

E N Q U I

R E P R E S E

W R O N

E M B R A

F A I

P R

E N L I G H

G A T H E R

A S F O U

C L O T H I N

N G

B E C O

I N

Wrong - Clothing - Map E

T O

N E S S ?

I N G

U R E

C E S S E S !

N I N G

Illustration 31 - Wrong-Clothing-Map showcase invite (front cover - mesostic).

A N C E !

I N G

R C H I V E S

R O C E S S

2 December 2014

Wrong-Clothing-Map showcase

Working in collaboration with photographer Jose Montemayor and curator Stina Gustafsson towards the planning and execution of the Wrong-Clothing-Map showcase has transformed an individual path into an enriching collaboration practice. Seeking a multi-format presentation, the challenge of communicating the pro(cess)ject has been delineated in conjunction, pursuing a clear and objective outcome. Three materialities have been identified as essential: the prints of the compositions that comprise the As Found Archive, the screening of the videos documenting the ‘continuing wrongness’ and the physical evidences that result from those same interventions. The decision is based on the belief that the coexistence of the three materialities is the ultimate representation of the research process. A first thought about the presentation of the prints alone has been abandoned, because of the mistaken interpretation they would trigger - the As Found Archive as a final result. Absorbing them as part of a journey, the necessity of showcasing the other work phases of Wrong-Clothing-Map became implicit – Wrong-Clothing-Map turns out to be a multidimensional project, instead of a pure representation work. The prints should be presented as a continuation of their production processes: working with an A4 home printer and scanner; made from that same engine, the physical compositions stand as a practice of the “As Found” humanist manifest and the “Ad Hoc” doctrine. With a total of 25 compositions made of smaller frames, the implicit need of editing the content generated a reflection and discussion about their relevance as individual pieces, owning distinct and strong singularities. The coexistence of the prints with the real pieces is a very important aspect of the presentation, which should be intensely explored during the set up on the gallery space.

Chapter II.I.IV.I _ Wrong-Clothing-Map showcase

WRONG-CLOTHING-MAP SHOWCASE: TUESDAY 2ND DECEMBER 7PM-10PM . DOOMED GALLERY . 65/67 RIDLEY ROAD . DALSTON E8 2NP WRONG-CLOTHING-MAP NAMES A RESEARCH PROCESS TRIGGERED BY (WHAT IS COMMONLY UNDERSTOOD AS) THE UNFAVORABLE PROPERTIES OF LIVING ENVIRONMENTS, IN THIS CASE, OF CLOTHING. TRIGGERED BY THE ORIGINAL CONCEPT OF WRONGNESS, THE WORK PURSUES AN UNPREDICTABLE PATH OF DISCOVERY THAT EMBRACES THE MISTAKES, ERRORS AND ACCIDENTS AS CATALYSTS FOR THE CREATION OF SOMETHING NEW. RESEARCHING WITHIN A DETERMINED MAP OF ACTIONS THAT WELCOMES THE ‘UNKNOWN AND CHANCE’ TO HAPPEN, HAS LED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH THAT STARTED WITH THE GATHERING ABANDONED AND DAMAGED PIECES OF CLOTHING, DURING THE ENTIRE MONTH OF JULY OF 2014. THE DELINEATED FILTER FOR THE COLLECTION OF RAW MATERIAL IMPLIED THE FOLLOWING: MORE THAN TEN YEARS OLD; NO MONETARY VALUE (ONLY SENTIMENTAL ALLOWED); DISCARDED/ ABANDONED; DAMAGED CONDITION. THE COMPILATION OF RAW MATERIAL GENERATED THE AS FOUND CATALOGUE: 25 COMPOSITIONS MADE OF A4 SCANS, AIMING TO TRANSLATE A GIVEN MOMENT IN TIME. THE SERIES RESULTS OF A STANDARDIZED REPRESENTATION OF CLOTHING, CREATED WITH THE PURPOSE OF ALLOWING SINGULARITY TO EMERGE FROM THAT SAME METHODOLOGY - THE ACT OF ‘SCANNING’ BECAME THE MOST FUNDAMENTAL AND PERTINENT ARCHIVING TOOL, AS EACH SCAN EMBODIES A CHANCE VALUE GENERATING AN UNPREDICTABLE AND (MOST OF THE TIMES) IMPERFECT RESULT. FOLLOWING THE CREATION OF THE AS FOUND ARCHIVE, IT BECAME CLEAR THE CLOTHING HAD TO SUFFER AN INTERVENTION TO ENABLE THE CONTINUATION OF EACH PROCESS OF WRONGNESS, IN AN ATTEMPT TO BRING BACK MEANING INTO THEIR UNKNOWN EXISTENCE. SEEKING A MULTI-FORMAT PRESENTATION THAT MIRRORS THE CLOTHING’S PROVENANCE AND TIMELINE, WRONG-CLOTHING-MAP IS COMPOSED BY THREE MATERIALITIES REFERRING TO THE ESSENTIAL PHASES OF THE RESEARCH PROCESS: THE PRINTED SCANS (REFERRING TO THE CATALOGUE), THE VIDEO SCREENING (DOCUMENTING THE INTERVENTIONS) AND THE PHYSICAL REMAINS (AS MATERIAL EVIDENCES OF THOSE PROCESSES). RESEARCH PROJECT BY MARIA LIMA . VIDEOGRAPHY BY JOSE MONTEMAYOR . CURATED WITH STINA GUSTAFSSON CONTACT: mariaserrenholima@gmail.com

Illustration 32 - Wrong-Clothing-Map showcase invite (back - abstract).

The showcase aims to promote an easy reading of the processes of wrongness: Dissolution, Treasuring and Reborn. The three moments should be displayed considering the communication of each processes’ time-frame but also their “failed journey”. In consequence, the curation of Work-Clothing-Map is crucial to achieve an equilibrate coordination of prints, video screenings and physical evidences. Besides the exercise of editing, the Wrong-Clothing-Map showcase should be understood as the “open ending” of a big chapter of the research process; owning the potential to (eventually) be continued under a different/new framework. It is possible to ask: why the need of presenting the work to the public, as an event? The answer is based on the ultimate challenge that implies - to have an audience to whom propose a reading of the pro(cess)ject – through the presentation of a curatorial exercise based on the coexistence of the prints (real scale) in parallel with the clothing pieces (the raw material) and the video screening (an accessible memory of the clothing returning to its once interrupted journey of wrongness).

past-present-future

Closing Remarks

‘Closing remarks’ is about a critical reflection on the research process and its achievements. Understood and presented as a multi-dimensional reality, questions and doubts arouse from its complexity and indefinable properties. The challenge of communicating the entirety of tools, platforms, ideas and experiments developed throughout its journey, has led this reflection to reveal itself as a consequential subject of research. A one-year-long discussion stimulated by the formulation of wrongness: a time concept and creative approach capable of generating an authentic research path. Ultimately, wrongness was born from a personal reaction towards the aesthetic values defended and promoted by the occidental fashion industry. Reacting against the pursuit of perfection, wrongness was founded as a creative approach that pursues imperfection, error and failure instead. Working against the fashion industry premises and within a context of creative investigation, wrongness started by gathering material that the industry purposively ignores and omits: dismissed, damaged and aged pieces of clothing. As if the industry’s garbage, the raw material became the main case study for the development of an experimental work of representation. The quest for an organization of the collected material was set off by the establishment of three categories: Process of Dissolution, Treasuring and Reborn. Directly linked to the analysis of their path, timeline and materiality, the three clothing processes triggered the question: ‘How to represent wrongness in these 3 categories?’ Avoiding a straightforward communication of the gathered material and associated information, the research took the path of a creative experimentation in terms of representation. A very relevant step towards the production of content, as creativity and experimentation permitted the discovery of the appropriate working tools.

Illustration 33 - ‘Closing Remarks’ scheme.

Following a trial with any available tools within the working context, the search for something immediate and simple found the scanner to be the most adequate and relevant representation tool. Due to an intuitive process of discovery, the scanner became the primary tool and the biggest breakthrough applied to the communication of the wrongness of clothing. Combined with the scanner, another digital sub-tool emerged fulfilling the need to assemble the A4 scans into compositions - a digital program of image editing. Following the construction of the As Found Archive – which represents the wrongness of the gatherings - doubts remained on ‘How to incite the process of “becoming” of the clothing? How to generate something new out of those gatherings?’ The quest for that answer took the research towards the use of video, as the third and last representation tool, aiming to share a second chance and hope for those forgotten pieces. The documentation of the three performative acts and the editing of the recorded content incite a flow to an unknown future, establishing an “open ending” for the WrongClothing-Map research project. “Man is destined to live with questions about the nature of human existence and the meanings of life. He carries with him, to the end, these questions for which there are no answers.”

(Mitsuda,Yamamoto, 2011)

In accordance with the wise words of Mitsuda and Yamamoto, Wrong-Clothing-Map is but the start of a discussion that aims to be continued: ‘Through which premises could Wrong-Clothing-Map trigger the development of something new?’ Through further reflection over its main (endlessly unresolved) concerns: the fashion system “right but wrong” values; the potential of the imperfect applied to an interdisciplinary practice; the clothing as a pro(cess)ject; the representation of ‘change within permanence’.

Wrong-Clothing-Map concludes with the statement that there is no right or wrong answer for these concerns, but an alternative method instead – a journey of discovery that devalues a final outcome in favor of the findings prompted by its endless (unsatisfied) route.

“What is the universe like? Things are either devolving toward, or evolving from, nothingness... While the universe destructs it also constructs. New things emerge out of nothingness. But we can’t really determine by cursory observation whether something is in the evolving or devolving mode...” (Juniper, 2003)

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Periodicals: COUSINS, M. (1994) The Ugly. AA files: Annals of Architectural Association School of Architecture, Number 28, 61-64. WILSON, E. (2009-2010) Material Memories. Vestoj, Issue 1, 61-71.

Web: BOVIER, L. (1998) Design in the expanded field: Interview with M/M by Lionel Bovier [online] MM Paris. Available from: http://www.mmparis.com/texts/mm_bovier_en.html

BURTLEY, I. (2013) J.W. Anderson: “I will never see fashion as an art form” [online] Dazed Digital. Available from: http://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/article/17128/1/j-wanderson-i-will-never- see-fashion-as-an-art-form LIMA, M. (2012). The incompleteness of clothing, as architecture. [online] Guimarães: CIMODE. Available at: http://issuu.com/mariaslima/docs/incompleteness_article/1 TORRES, L. (2013). Lara Torres. [online] Available at: http://www.laratorres.com/ HOGBEN, R., STOPPARD, L. (2014) Ugly. [online] SHOWSTUDIO. Available from: http://showstudio.com/project/ugly

Films: Notebook on Cities and Clothes (1989) Documentary. Directed by Win Wenders. [DVD] UK: Road Movies Filmproduktion/ Berlin.Videos John Cage: I Have Nothing to Say and I am Saying it (1990) Documentary TV series. Directed by Allan Miller. [DVD] USA: PBS Home Video.

Videos: University of the Arts London, London College of Fashion, 2011. Yohji Yamamoto in conversation with Prof Frances Corner. [video online] Available at: http://www.youtube. com/watch?v=SyCdbBiiKyE The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2013. 82nd& Fifith: “Accident” by

Samantha

Rippner.

[video

online]

Available

at:

http://www.youtube.com/

watch?v=Jf6bPOmMw5A&list=PL8HAkqKX065CT5S G2lU2tKh4FXDxFP_PG

Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1981. Change Conversations: An Interview with Merce Cunningham and John Cage.

[video online] Available at: https://www.

youtube.com/watch?v=ZNGpjXZovgk Acne Studios, 2000. Untitled no.1 by Katerina Jebb. [video online] Available at: https:// vimeo.com/8884842

Personal Communications: Lara Torres. 2013. Interview with fashion designer Lara Torres, in the context of the wrongness research. Interviewed by Maria Lima. [personal communication] Central Saint Martins Library, 25 November 2013.

Others: BARSON, T., (2013). Mira Schendel [exhibition guide] September 2013-January 2014. London: TateModern TATE MODERN (2002). Eva Hesse [exhibition guide] November 2002-March 2003. London: TateModern. BARBICAN (2014). Walead Beshty: a Partial Disassembling of an Invention without a Future: Helter-Skelter and Random Notes in Which the Pulleys and Cogwheels Are Lying Around at Random All Over the Workbench. [exhibition guide] 9 October 2014-8 February 2015.

Appendices ‘Appendices’ is comprised by multi-platform content, produced throughout the development of the pro(cess)ject. In parallel with the dissertation, the appendices are extremely relevant as they share different aspects of the research that generated Wrong-Clothing-Map. ‘As Found Archive’ Booklet - the full content of the archive is presented through an independent booklet, where the scans are presented in real scale (followed by the respective compositions) aiming to share the failure of the gesture that originated them. Research Journal on Tumblr - growing in parallel with the development of wrongness, the research journal communicates accurately the progress carried out since November 2013: www.wrongclothingmap.tumblr.com Map of Actions on Prezi - Prezi allowed the outline of practical procedures, accompanied by relevant artistic references. (link on Appendices folder) Primary Research on Excel - the file presents all the collected information and observations regarding the gathered clothing. (file on Appendices folder) In parallel with the multi-platform content, Appendices englobes the article prepared for the participation in the second edition of CIMODE (International Fashion and Design Congress) held in Milan, from 5 to 7 November 2014, at Politecnico di Milano. The process of acceptance of research projects within the fashion discipline started in April 2014, with the final version of the article submited on 20th June 2014. “Wrongness: A Reflection on the Idea of Mistake as a Catalyst for the Creative Process” was accepted to join the congress, with an oral presentation and a subsequent publicantion in eBook with ISBN. The paper presents a summary of the research focusing on the synthesis ideas supporting the wrongness concept; developed during an intermediate stage of the research, the narrative of the article reflects the content developed until the date of application to CIMODE.

WRONGNESS: A REFLECTION ON THE IDEA OF MISTAKE AS A CATALYST FOR THE CREATIVE PROCESS MARIA SERRENHO LIMA 1

London College of Fashion, University of Arts London, m.serrenholima1@arts.ac.uk

Abstract: Wrongness is a temporal concept, an approach towards (creative) creation and above all, a process, born from a reflection where the representation of time and a cross-‐disciplinary practice merge. Explored in the context of a Masters Project in Fashion Media Production, it results from the fusion of the adjective ‘wrong’ and the noun ‘process’ -‐ wrong(n)(proc)ess evolves through the acceptance of the error as a relevant and positive working tool. Referring to a posture towards the conception of a project that embraces the unexpected as a signal leading to new paths of discovery, wrongness surpasses the notion of trial-‐and-‐error because the error becomes a creative agent, never a lost opportunity. Keywords: becoming, process, accident, unknown, transience, vulnerability.

1. Wrong(n)(proc)ess Wrong(n)(proc)ess embodies a cross-‐disciplinary approach that can be found and applied to most creative areas, exclusively dependent on the way one looks and interprets the problematic. From architecture to fashion design, the wrongness thought comprises a condensation of time in the way that it implies a constant state of becoming of ‘the project’, promoting its constant progression into something new -‐ each mistake gives place to something else, catalyzing new solutions and ideas. In the end of the production process, ‘the piece’ encapsulates a set of errors and solutions that are relevant enough to be shown as part of that same project, as a whole. Wrongness refers to those aspects of the creative work considered unfavorable: the mistakes, the accidents, the errors. The negative connotations associated with these words intend to be demystified, through a line of though that proves perfection as a delusion and its search a non-‐rewarding journey. According to the American philosopher Daniel C. Dennett (2013), “mistakes are not just opportunities for learning; they are, in an important sense, the only opportunity for learning or making something truly new.“ The imperfection of the creative process that accompanies the conception of a project (independently of its scale, program or use) is regarded as the catalyst for its progress. Wrongness is the mistake at the surface. Wrongness is making the vulnerability visible. Wrongness is fragile. In the context of an industry that has a known obsession for perfection, the aim of the wrongness research is to question these given values, showing the beauty and relevance of what is unfinished, imperfect and indeterminate. 87

Figure 1: Scans from Paul Arden “It’s not how good you are, it’s how good you want to be” (2003)

1.1

Indeterminate Mutation

Indetermination can be considered one of the main characteristics of the wrongness practice. Unlike the machines that act promptly, creative beings are recurrently targeted by doubts, questions and wanderings. Thereafter, creative processes end up embodying the feelings and moods felt at a certain time, while being reflective of an ability to adapt to new situations, evolving in accordance to the will or necessity of its author. As a reaction towards the extreme determinacy of clothing production processes, Rei Kawakubo created the lace sweater in 1982 – a piece of clothing that, full of defects, is the apparent result of an accidental disfigurement or a technical problem. In her long adoration for the 'imperfect' and as some sort of manifesto, Kawakubo mangled the machines in purpose, so that they give an error and are not able to produce what they are originally scheduled for – determined perfection: “The originality of the sweater is not the disabling of the machine, but the paradox of the actual technological sophistication required to create its imperfection.“ (Koda, 2010, p.30) In the context of wrongness, indeterminacy refers to the ability of a project to grow, without a prior establishment of its route. It allows the work-‐in-‐progress to adapt to changing needs but also to learn and get enriched from that same journey. The state of becoming, embodied in this work philosophy, shapes a time-‐based approach towards the creative process (and its representation) that comes from the understanding of a project (being it a landscape, an intervention, a building or a piece of clothing) as something that has the ability to continuously progress, even after its conventional 'final outcome'. In this regard, the role of the mistake is crucial as it is the catalyst for the project’s transformation and evolution: “Sometimes you don’t just want to risk making mistakes; you actually want to make them — if only to give you something clear and detailed to fix. Making mistakes is the key to making progress.“ (Dennett, 2013) The reflection upon this constant state of mutation is born from the concept of incompleteness, created and explored in the MA thesis “Incompleteness in the crossing of architecture and clothing” (my surname, 2013), which refers to the impermanent and transient state of all things; incompleteness questions the importance of incorporating time as an integral part of a project, in order to allow its adaptation to the passage of time. In accordance with the notions exposed, the wrongness research intends to practice this adaptation to the passage of time in its indeterminacy. Being generated by the notion of incompleteness, wrongness intends to keep maturing, evolving, through its own mistakes while seeding new concepts and ideas. It is about a coexistence of permanence and change, of cycles that leave things behind but also nurture new knowledge. This approach towards research has been built based on the study of Japanese culture, which has become extremely relevant during the incompleteness research, and still is. Born of Zen ideals and recognized as the principle of wabi-‐sabi, this main source of knowledge “describes a traditional Japanese aesthetic sensibility 88

based on an appreciation of the transient beauty of the physical world“ (Juniper, 2003). The wabi-‐sabi concept and its inherent aesthetic ideals promote a reflection on the cycles of life, an appreciation for the beauty of things imperfect, a positive acceptance of mortality and a special affinity for qualities like asymmetry and indetermination; finding its full representation in the traditional Japanese tea ceremony, wabi-‐sabi differs immensely from the western thought, still stuck to the Hellenic ideals. A very simple and challenging life philosophy explored through the work of Japanese designers Rei Kawakubo, Issey Miyake and Yohji Yamamoto, through the indeterminate and evolving course of their creative process and also of their creations’ post-‐production life. Kawakubo, Miyake and Yamamoto’s longtime exploration of the wrongness ideals makes them significant case studies, regularly referenced, supporting the construction of the wrongness thought and narrative.

Figure 2 & 3: Rai Kawakubo Lace Sweater (1989); wabi-‐sabi symbols, utensils of traditional tea ceremony.

1.2

Imperfection: Condensation of Time

Imperfection comes across this investigation as the characteristic that allows a project to adapt to the passage of time -‐ the ability to condense in one material object the constancy of change due to the project’s loose ends, which promote its progress, evolution and appropriation. The potential of imperfection comes from the understanding of perfection as something static and untouchable that eventually becomes out of context due to its response to one unique moment in time. The creation of something perfect involves a dedication towards the determinist conception of the project, not allowing any part of it to be explored by the user. This strict approach towards design incites the creation of 'monuments' -‐ inert objects stuck in time, not able to evolve or adapt due to their inability to incorporate change. As noted by Fraser: “The fullness of the world appears to us as properly represented only if formal expressions can be found embodying the permanent and accommodating the changing nature of reality.“ (Fraser, 1968, p.586) The imperfection of a project has its start in the creative process and extends itself into the formal conception and posterior appropriation by the user. It is a continuous and unstable process that relies on the existence of the mistake to grow into something new. Imperfection is about a 'permanence in change',

through an ability to recognize and accept change according to a desire of permanence; this approach towards creation is presented by Fraser through three different guidelines (Fraser, 1968, p.586): the first one deals with the concerns for the future, where expectations are projected; the second refers to the memory of the past, which holds its continuity; finally, an awareness of the present through the integration of expectation and memory. These three main ideas refer to the perception of time, expectation and memory, being key thoughts in the study and understanding of mistakes. As the palimpsest1 retains the marks and traces of time, so does a 'wrong' piece of clothing, in the way it positions itself in between place and time – the object is able to condense in itself its journey, encourage change and promote a new indeterminate future route. Yohji Yamamoto’s work incorporates these same ideals through clothing that is never finished and does not belong to one specific time, reflecting the imperfection of the surrounding world. His known wish to design time is responsible for the rejection of symmetry and for conceiving garments that, despite new, appear to be lived-‐in. “Exploring the history of clothing in all its most aesthetic variations, the Yamamoto style celebrates and at the same time incessantly questions the ambiguous marriage between the enduring and the ephemeral. Out of this, as all great moments in fashion, “classics” are born – contemporary forms imbued with a wealth of historical references that secretly perpetuate themselves in new guises.“ (Baudot, 2005, p.10) Imperfection, mistake and failure are implicit to Yamamoto’s work. His clothes work as communication tools, through which he explores fundamental questions of human existence. The imperfection of his garments goes beyond their unfinished look to be about a condensation of time where a base of permanence (the garment) welcomes human existence through the coexistence of mistakes, of age, of living experiences: “If one has only one piece of clothing in life, it becomes patched together, exposed to the sun and rain, frayed from de course of daily life, I wanted to create clothing with the same kind of unconscious beauty and natural appeal.“ (Yamamoto quoted by Frankel, 2010) It is possible to conclude that wrongness inhabits the Yamamoto clothes, as it does in all projects that are able to condense time. Imperfection works as the mirror of past failures and achievements, through the traces of time inscribed on the piece. Yamamoto’s garments communicate wrongness in his holistic approach towards fashion design, becoming an example of wrongness materialization. When mistakes are exposed, confessing a relatable story, they behave as a communication tool that contextualizes the project at issue. The traces inscribed can be interpreted and continued by the user, as the mistakes catalyze appropriation, stimulate actions, and imperfection allows the re-‐creation of something new.

Figure 4 & 5 – Yohji Yamamoto Menswear SS13; palimpsest from the Middle Age.

The palimpsest is a manuscript page from a book, used during the Middle Age (VII-XII); the text was recurrently erased so that it could be used again.

“I think perfection is ugly. Somewhere in the things human make, I want to see scars, failure, disorder, distortion. If I can feel those things in works by others, then I like them. Perfection is kind of order, like overall harmony and so on... They are things someone forces onto a thing. A free human does not desire such things.” (Yamamoto quoted by Frankel, 2010, p.181)

1.3

Improvisation: adhocism

Following an indeterminate capability of adaptation and an imperfect performance, improvisation refers to a valuable creation tool, as it instigates a positive approach towards the act of making mistakes and consequent way of dealing with them. As a characteristic of the wrongness practice, improvisation has its understanding based on the adhocism principle. As a reference for the study of the subject, a literary piece was adopted as a main guide: “Adhocism: the case for improvisation” (2013) by Charles Jencks and Nathan Silver. Originally published in 1972, the book conveys an alternative way of creating that reacts against the deterministic doctrines of the modernist movement, dominating architecture and design methodologies at that time. As relevant today as it was during its emergence, adhocism refers to a timeless strategy that works efficiently towards the solution of a problem, through an existing system, taking advantage of the resources available at a certain place and time. “Charles Jencks first used adhocism, as a term, in the context of architectural criticism, back in 1968. The word was born form the phrase Ad Hoc that means 'for this specific purpose' and reveals the desire for immediate and purposeful action which permeates everyday life.“ (Jencks and Silver, 2013, p.16) Contradicting massive ways of production and the diffusion of homogenized products, adhocism promotes the value of personalized invention through the combination of pre-‐existing components. Generating a cross-‐disciplinary thought, the Ad Hoc doctrine can be applied to all forms of composition, from small everyday actions until main design processes. The basic principle of this thought is based on the idea of assemblage, working on the combination of different layers for the conception of one consistent unit: “Where everyone can create his personal environment out of impersonal subsystems, whether they are new or old, modern or antique. By realizing his immediate needs, by combining ad hoc parts, the individual creates, sustains and transcends himself.“ (Jencks and Silver, 2013, p.15) The concrete practice of adhocism reflects the process of improvising in order to achieve one specific goal. “Where luck or random, or trial and error, do enter into successful creativity, they enter in as an aid to purposeful searching and not a substitute for it.“ (Jencks and Silver, 2013, p.18) The conception of a transparent project that is born from a specific context is achieved through a collection of different units that, being exposed, can establish a link to places, ideas, moments in time. Therefore, the product ends up being the reflection of its own meaning. There is an implicit story telling to this practice that establishes the connection with the wrongness concept -‐ the desire to conceive a project where the exposure of its own flaws allows the reading of the creative process, turning it into an unique source of knowledge.

Figure 6 & 7 – Robert Rauschenber Accident (1963); scan from Paul Arden “It’s not how good you are, it’s how good you want to be” (2003)

“This is a lithograph by Robert Rauchenberg entitled Accident. (…) The glaring feature of the print however is this diagonal crack that runs along the left side of the sheet. (…) What I love about this is that it is really a print about printmaking. Rauschenberg embraces the process and the pitfalls of making a print. We all have experienced an accident. And it is about how you sort of deal with the accident, where many others would have abandoned the work. Rauschenberg ingeniously made it central to the print. It is not about uniqueness but became about the idea of reproducibility. It is about spontaneity and turning chance of facts into a work of art.” (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2013)

2. (IN)Visible representation The motto of this essay is to reflect over a representation question -‐ assuming a creative project as a process that is never complete or finished, the conventional 'final outcome' is not enough as a definition. Therefore, the imperfect practice, usually hidden from the public, becomes relevant as a key part of the product’s identity and meaning: “We need to understand artworks as products of specific processes, of production and reception, that operate within a further expanded and interdisciplinary field.“ (Rendel, 2010, p.43) Referring to a context of creative practice applied to clothing conception, the specific processes of production (with mistakes included) become relevant moments in time that mark the course of the creative process, and are decisive for the representation of that same project. For that reason, the representation of production processes becomes as relevant as what is considered to be its final outcome, as defended by adhocism principle and exemplified by the recent Mars rover called Curiosity: “like all adhocist concoctions, the parts of Curiosity show what they do, where they come from in the past, and how they are put together. Such legibility and dissectibility are key expressive aspects of adhocism, goals in themselves, part of the definition.“ (Jencks and Silver, 2013, p.vii) The question of representation posed by this essay remains on how to represent a clothing project considering his conception processes, its formal questions and its eventual appropriation by the user. How to represent a project in its incompleteness? In an attempt to answer these questions, a main case study was taken under consideration with the aim to further examine the role of the mistake in the creative process, but also to perceive a concrete process of production and representation that fits the parameters of this research -‐ Lara Torres, Portuguese fashion designer, has been developing, since 2005, a research that focuses on the question of memory through clothing. During an interview held on the 25th of November 2013, Lara explained the relevance of the mistake during the production processes and the coexistence of physical and digital processes in her work. Through her many collections and projects, Lara has been working, developing and understanding the question of memory, at the same time that she raises questions related to identity and failure. Remaining transversal to all her body of work, the mistake is embraced by the designer: “This idea of mistake was something that came naturally within the practice of experimental fashion research. (…) The idea of failure in the production process was very close to this idea of trying to remember something and not being able to do it accurately.“ (Torres, 2013) Considering herself available for accidents to happen and accepting them as a working tool, the designer refers to the failures of the creative process as calls of attention for new unseen perspectives -‐ “they usually tend to give me more interesting answers.“ (Torres, 2013) Lara Torres’ work is especially relevant for the wrongness discussion as she embraces the 'wrong aspects' of the production process and shows them to the viewer as part that same work. Not separating the moment of presentation from its actual conception, her presentations are always rich, complex and intricate. Besides questioning many aspects of the fashion industry, the time-‐consciousness of Torres’ work honors the long and intense creative journey taken to achieve those results: “In relation to the public, I think it is very important to value the work in 92

progress within itself, to get in touch with the mistakes and the achieved pieces.“ (Torres, 2013) Being naturally attracted towards imperfection, the choice of her working tools rely on the challenge they imply, choosing tools that allows her to fail, which are not precise only by themselves. One of the many addressed subjects throughout the interview was the crossing of digital and physical processes in the conception of fashion designs. Admitting the importance of that cross-‐action, Torres explained how those processes are mirrors of the project’s concepts, opting not to reduce them to mere working tools. In the context of her current work, the physical and digital processes are very relevant as they reflect her questions regarding the material and immaterial world. As explained by the designer, the combination of both allows and catalyzes a discussion on the transient nature of fashion. Taking “An Impossible Wardrobe for the Invisible” (2011) as an example of this approach, a collection of garments was produced with the intention of being destroyed, remaining nothing of them but a set of seven videos -‐ “I have used video as a sort of memory and that leaves the objects into a sort of limbo because they were actually material objects but now they are only recorded images.“ (Torres, 2013)

Figure 8 & 9: frames from Lara Torres “An Impossible Wardrobe for the Invisible” (2011)

The deterministic behavior of digital technology is referred by Torres as responsible for the disappearance of the possibility of mistakes. In that sense she raises questions related to how this digital environments affect and change the course of the design process? Being sure about the fact that 3D software changes the approach towards the conception of an object, Lara uses the expression 'translation' referring to the act of approaching something through a tool – not being a direct intervention, the work is made upon an abstract representation or reality. Perceiving it as a challenging new working tool, Lara Torres justifies why she puts herself and her work through those new processes of discovery: “I am using the 3D software as I have ever used everything, as a tool for questioning.“ (Torres, 2013) Is possible to conclude that Lara Torres’ explanation of her creative and production processes brought awareness to a cross-‐disciplinary practice, in the sense that she embraces both digital and physical tools as part of her project’s own definition. The understanding of Lara’s concrete and complex work philosophy allowed this research to extend its formulation of wrongness, questioning the definition of mistake and proposing a maximum usage and benefit of working platforms, in the context of creative production. Therefore, lies in the power of the creative mind, to take the most advantage of the available working tools, enriching the project with these extensions, rather than being limited to a direct and constrained application. Wrongness as a work in progress, moves into the unknown as it keeps building itself as a work philosophy and methodology. It is the unique result of an individual experience, of a path that witnessed the creative power of moving through the imperfetion and the mistake. The moment when the impoverishment of both the process and final result of the journey that seeks perfection became clear, a new path of learning began -‐ through the incompleteness that crosses architecture and clothing, while submerse into the wabi-‐sabi wisdom. Welcoming transience and imperfection, opened a new door for knowledge: a route of 'wrongdoing' as the only 'rightdoing'.

The final hipothesis of the 'wrong paper' relies on: the process of creating something already known or seen is appealing due to the safety of its journey and is commonly perceived as the only rightdoing, because it has already been approved by someone, whereas the wrongdoing leads us through the world of the unknown, of the uncertain – which is the only one that allows the discovery of something new. The process of wrongdoing will always take the research and the thought into failure, erros and mistakes as the only way of generating new knowledge. Wondering about the representation of the 'becoming of the clothing', through wrongdoing, should be above all, a tool its own questioning.

Figure 10 & 11: Tracey Emin Terribly Wrong (1997); Mark Borthwick photography.

Acknowledgements My most profound gratitude to all my loved ones, who have been supporting me and encouraging wrongness since its embryonary state. Many thanks to my tutors Nilgin Yusuf and Thomas Makryniotis, my inspirational spiritual guides Lara Torres and Cidália Silva, and my dear friend Fernando. I dedicate this paper to my parents and my little sister Ju.

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