Seeder/Synthesizer:
At the start of the iterative process, the seeder creates some kind of artifact, which can be anything: sculpture, sound, text, video, images, painting, readymade, etc. From the perspective of this process it is unimportant what the underlying concept of the work is, or whether it even has one. It is important at this stage, that the Seeder does not explain their work, it should be interpreted by the Mapper based only on their own experience of perceiving the artifact. Once the process has started, the role of Seeder is replaced by the Synthesizer in subsequent iterations. Their job will be to synthesize a new object from the “truncated” object created in the Subverter step. The synthesizer will not be a part of the Conclave which is a meeting with the goal of trying to understand how the object has evolved conceptually in the previous iteration, what it is starting to “mean.” While the roles of the Mapper, Blender and Subverter will try (conspire) to reenforce and emphasize this emerging conceptual framework, the Synthesizer will only have the object as it exists from the Subverter step to work from. This will hopefully have the effect of continuing to mutate the emerging concept of the work.
Mapper:
The Mapper takes the initial artifact and projects it into another form, which could be another medium altogether, but there should be a defined mapping process or concept, with clearly stated rules that specify the nature of the translation/ transformation. The product of this mapping could exist in parallel with the work (i.e. a soundtrack based on the color of a painting that is heard while viewing it) or exist as a separate work or any combination in-between. The Mapper should emphasize a certain aspect of the object they are mapping, while ignoring something about its bulk properties. The mapping mechanism should filter the artifact in some way, emphasizing some features over others. This could be as simple as sampling the sound of a ceramic object by flicking it with your finger, or throwing it on the ground and recording the sound of its destruction. It could also take a more mathematical/formal approach, defining a mapping between two spaces through a procedural process that is executed by hand or through the use of electronic circuits or computers.
Blender:
The blender takes the Seeder’s artifact and the Mapper’s artifact and uses them as two inputs to project a third artifact that is a blend of the two. This projected artifact should have partial features from the other two, which will result in the emergence of its own characteristics as a new artifact. This step borrows heavily from the concept of double scope blending, a theory of how new concepts are formed by Mark Turner and Gilles Facconier (a good reference is here: http:// markturner.org/DoubleScopeStoriesTurner.pdf (Links to an external site.)) A way to think about it is to ask the question what happens when artifact A either becomes, or has to perform as artifact B and vice versa? What sort of logical consequences follow from ‘running’ this blend? An example from the above excerpt: “My nineyear-old son, Jack, whose younger brothers are Peyton and William, and whose twenty-year-old sitter is Elizabeth, said at the dinner table ten minutes ago, entirely out of the blue, ‘If we were all chickens, you, William, would be about Elizabeth’s age, you, Peyton, would be about dad’s age, and me, dad, and mom would all be dead of old age.” Here his son is blending the lifespan of chickens with that of humans and he then ‘runs’ the blend to determine the state of his family, alive or dead, as they would exist in this blend.
Subverter:
This step draws inspiration from the Magnetic Fields Song “I Wish I Had An Evil Twin.” Borrowing a line from the song: “To cull, conquer, cut and kill,” the subverter, negates, crops, obfuscates, or otherwise subverts the blended artifact such that a new artifact is created or radically altered artifact remains, the evil twin of the blended artifact. This alteration can be in how the artifact is perceived, how it conceptually works or how it functions. If possible, the artifact should be truncated in some way, but this truncation need not be physical. This truncation should encourage the act of synthesis, a desire to understand how the artifact connects to an unseen whole.
figure 1. Sloper The building block of all garments
figure 2. Manipulating a Dart Darts can be moved around the sloper to alter fit
figure 3. Muslin Cotton plain weave fabric Used to create toiles, or mock ups, of garments to test fit
figure 4. Construction For this exercise, I wanted to push myself and my ideas around garment construction. When it comes to garment construction, I can be a very concrete thinker. I focus on how the garment will be sewn together, how it will sit on the body, the textile properties, and of course, fit. I tried to push myself to ignore all of these things when it came to constructing this project. I worked intuitively, without a plan. I started sewing, and worked straight through without over thinking.
The War of Desire and Technology at the Close of the Mechanical Age By Allucquere Rosanne Stone Mutual interruptibility, pg. 10 Interaction, therefore, implies conversation, a complex back-and-forth exchange, the goal of which may change as the conversation unfolds. pg. 10 What is the relationship of the body to self-awareness? pg. 17
Fashioning Value -- Undressing Ornament By Femke de Vries For example, when we would, somehow (in an almost unimaginable situation) acquire an unmarked piece of clothing in an unmarked situation the emotional added value, or ornament, would only arrive with the acts of wearing, using, washing, and repairing the piece. pg. 53 Does ‘dressing’ or constructing ornament occur before or after ‘building’? Is the dressing or emotional ornament constructed in a pre-conceived ‘building plan’ or does it arrive with use? pg. 55
Unlearning the Body from a Garment What is a garment Without a body? What is a garment In general? A thing to cover skin A statement to make A form of architecture A second skin How does a garment exist Without a body To give it form To hold its shape To keep it up?
When you build a garment Without a body In mind Is it sculpture? Painting? Performance? What is its purpose? A garment Without a body Disregarding the body Human form Makes no impact Unlearning the body From a garment
A sleeve for a neck A pant leg for a torso
A garment without a body Is an empty shell on a hanger
How doe the parts of a garment function without the knowledge of the body? Of the forms to occupy each shape
Lifeless Or Full of life
Knowledgless Formless ness Shapeless ness
Rotate 90 degrees Put an arm through the neckhole Neck through the back seam
A sleeve with an arm A bodice with a bosom
When you disregard How a garment Technically functions
How does one unlearn Something so engrained Something to integral To their being Their way of thinking?
See it in a new light From a new perspective Erase all notions
Of the expected Functions
Unravel the knowledge So carefully collected
Pattern pieces Pieces of a puzzle With multiple points Of connection
The unravelled thread Remembers its previous form But will gladly take on a new one
Forget all notions Of form Of function Unlearn: Necks Arms Busts Waists Hips Legs
The body removed The body forgotten A garment without a body To reform To reshape Is unlearning forgetting? What does it mean to unlearn? Unlearning is not forgetting Or erasing
It is similar to unravelling Taking something apart To put it back together To take apart the body Thread by thread Unlearning to make new A garment With its own cognition Separate From what goes on Underneath
What is a sleeve With an arm? An arm without a Sleeve? What is a sleeve with A body? Is it lonely? A sleeve A shoulder A wrist An elbow A flick A bend A rotation How do you attach a sleeve? Attachment. Detachment. Rehashment. A powerful gesture. A show of strength. A subtle movement. Gentle stroking. A freckle past a hair. A mole kissing a birthmark. Blue veins. Hair follicles. The inner workings of a sleeve. Architecture. Scaffolding.
Gathered seams Stiff muslin Pieces meant to fit Together to form a whole A whole whole whole Construction Prevents movement The elbow cannot bend A disembodied sleeve An embodied dream Floating floats float Drifting drifts drift Falling falls fall To catch on a spike To pull a thread Unravel Unravelling Revel in the unravel A bare arm An armhole without a sleeve Bare skin Abandoned Alone Lonely Was the sleeve torn off? A moment of passion? A moment of rage? A movement of passion? A movement of rage?
Were the stitches carefully removed? The care and control Of removing stitches An act of love And despair Removal How important is the sleeve? The importance of sleeves The purpose of sleeves Purposeless sleeves Sleeves without a purpose Sleeves without a porpoise A Sleeve Without an Arm A ghost floating Down the street Aimless wandering Daydreaming. Woolgathering. An encasement for an arm To hide. To provide warmth. To sleep. A sleeve for every occasion An occasion for every sleeve A sleeveless occasion
A mangle of limbs Interconnecting. Interlacing. Pulling bobbin threads Gathering stitches Creating volume Altering shape A performative Connection of Limbs A performative Mangling of sleeves. Arms. Wrists. Joints. Fingers. Grasps Disjointed. Disembodied. Disengaged A mangle A tangle A thread The agency Of the sleeve Disembodied from its body Body by patternmaking A fold. A line. A tear. Paper meets fabric Meets body. Loses sleeve.
Loss. Ache. Emptiness. A pit in the stomach A void in the heart An ache so deep 10,000 leagues under the sea
Material qualities: Drape. Nap. hand. Slick. Shiny. Smooth.
Despe ration Clings Lets go
Repositionable Transformative Loneliness Arms hands feels
Survival of the fittest A cave in the lungs Spelunking into the liver Pancreas
Don’t ever go Birds. Caterpillars. Rust. Nails. Hammer. Nest. Plastic. Cable. Curls.
Break like a little girl Cracks form along seams Paper tears Aluminum shields Fabric engulfs
Gravel slides Mountains erode Feelings are hurt Things fall apart
Entwined Entangled Enknotted
Worlds collide Earth. Sun. moon. Exponential rising
A pit in the stomach So deep you can reach into it But what is there to pull out?
X axis: Detritus
Reaching inside Twisting limbs Excavating aches and pains Creaks Cracks Croakes Reflection Reflect Inflect
Y axis: Magnificence Toes curl under Ankles run together Knees buckle Words slip through fingers Numbers kiss the air Sand through an hourglass
Things left unsaid Broken promises Unbroken devotion A moonless night Endless echoing Wind whistles Leaves rustle Trees sigh Rivers cry A beating of wings A spiders web Spin spinning spins Unspun melodies Careless whispers A surge of water Fills the crevices A flood of emotion Mudslide World extinction Extinctaton Marathon A starless sky A sunless rise Flat thick air Cuts through debris Words jumbled on the ground Forgotten sentences Swept under the rug Stitches restructured Metal meets textile Meets garment meets skin Second skin Protection Profilactic Bound together
Knotted once Knotted twice Under breastbone Beneath elbow In the wetness of the tongue Dry mouth Forming words Nothing left to say What comes nest Silence Deafening Moist Humid You can cut it with a knife A double edged sword End of the world Lilac wine Dandelion Nearly healed A heavy ache So deep in the stomach In the pit of the earth A void so vast A whip so lash Eyes batting Fingers typing Graphs accumulating Numbers, symbols, commas A barren landscape Laid bare
What is a knot? What is a flag? Commemorating the passage The slippage The drippage Knots to remember Knots to forget Staking a claim In identity Grasping Twisting Knotting Representing a place A moment A fragment
2/18 9:00-10:30 Marking time with knots Looping threads around metal Pulling through itself Accumulation Metaphor Knots marking the passing of time Accumulations of seconds, minutes, hours A mapping of emotions The location of a knot Marking the highs and lows of feelings A permanent recording Of a temporary state of mind
11:05-11:50 Flushes Aches Sinew Twisting of fabric A flag for the body A knot A thread wound around itself Twisted Plied Visualizing feelings Buried below Ribcage The passage of time Marked in knots A centuries old practice Of keeping note Recording things which cannot Slip through fingers A mouth without words
4:00-4:30 Double twist Double knotted Single twist Single knotted
2/19 1:25-2:27 A shading of Hands on a Watchface Unwinding thread Unwinding time Unravelling to make thin Body made of knots Flowing through veins Ebb and flow Collecting in spheres Building on top Of one another Skin in knots Hair in tangles Markers of what has been Spread over the body Three days recorded Knots on knots
2:30-3:30 Knots Knots Knots Accumulate Collect Disperse Magnetize A life told through knots Knotted muscle Knotted hair Knotted thoughts
2/20 9:20-10:41 The difference between A knot and a tangle A web of emotions Transcribed on skin Days accumulated into knots Knots accumulated into days Things that cannot Always Be expressed Repressed Expelled Dispelled
12:56-1:48 Twisting myths Emotional fragments Frayed edges Thoughts spread thin Between legs Behind knees A hair Behind the ear Twisted between Words
Things to -unUnlearning Unmaking Unforgetting Unpracticing Unembodying Unembraining Unforming Unshaping Unthinking Undoing Unthreading Unravelling Unspooling Unremembering Unlooming Unselfing
Connections | Threads | Conceptual Threads Archives Actions Reinterpretation Disembodiment Tracking of movement Dystopia Landscape What is left Destruction Mapping Transformation Identity Nationality Commemoration Time Multiplicity Narrative Materiality
Process of discovery Unlearning with hands Unlearning the hand Things that are ingrained Things that are inherent Things that are heir apparent Playing with language Playing with shape Changing forms Please use as unintended
Unlearning my practice Ways of making Central to my being Are no longer in service Reuse the knowledge Already acquired Already required To construct + deconstruct Notions of identity Through making