3 Rooms Object Design + The Body by STUDIO SUSEJ

2 I NT RO DUCT I O N 4

R e a s s e s s in g t h e fa s h ion o b j e c T. . . — A N N E FA R R E N

Changing perspectives: AN Interdisciplinary Fashion Approach — E M I LY W I LLS 18

ROOM 1 — SL I PPAGES BE T W EE N V I S UAL M E R C HA N D I S I N G AND EXHIBITION D I SPLAY

ROOM 2 — T HE T R A N SF O R M AT I VE P O T E N T I AL O F O BJE C T D ES I G N

ROOM 3 — C LO T H A N D T HE ABSE N T B O DY

SPECIAL THANKS — SP O N S O R S

INTROD U C T I O N

3 ROOMS: Object Design + the Body is an exhibition that showcases the creative outcomes from a collaborative project involving curators, lecturers and students from Australia and Singapore. The project asked students from Curtin University, Perth, and LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore, to consider fashion as a form of Object Design with reference to the body, rather than redesigning existing clothing made exclusively to be worn as garment. The project engaged contributors in interdisciplinary research and practice to encourage new ways of designing and making fashion. â&#x20AC;&#x192;â&#x20AC;&#x192; Using the body as site, a space for reflection, researching new materials and techniques for construction, engaging in new methods of investigation, and exploring inter-disciplinary approaches help to move fashion away from its existing ties with garment, production and business to evolve new notions of what fashion is, and can be.

3 ROOMS: Object Design + the Body examines both new forms of fashion as object and the transformative potential of fashion exhibition. Inspired by the presentation of Beyond Garment as part of the 2010 Perth Fashion Festival it extends contemporary investigations to re-examine of the fashion object through exhibition. This exciting showcase of emerging practice is spread across three galleries, with a selection of student outcomes responding to three Australian designer case studies from Beyond Garment: Alister Yiap, Jocelyn Tan and Elizabeth Delfs. Each of these selected designers examine the changing role of fashion, and how fashion can move beyond the context of garment to challenge not only how object can be considered fashion, but also how the presentation of objects, and the interaction of audiences with these objects can facilitate new fashion concepts.

Co-curators Anne Farren & Emily Wills

Brought to you by the Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore, Curtin University, Western Australia and LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore.

Image Credit: Valencia Angelina Soenoyo

“ Reassessing the

fa s h i o n o b j e c t… ”

Anne Farren

School of art AND DESIGN Curtin University

As fashion is being presented internationally in galleries, museums, and in public spaces as much as on the runway, it also gains the potential to have a greater impact conceptually that is also reflected on itself, and on people, bodies, identities, ethics, aesthetics, and notions of beauty – the very stuff, in fact, that fashion is really made of.1 Hazel Clark

As we move into the twenty first century, fashion is being redefined by conceptual thinking, a reassessment of the nature of the fashion object and through a re-examination of the modes of presentation of the fashion object. The exhibition has emerged as a key component in the presentation of the fashion object and is providing a new perspective on both conventional and new forms of practice. It provides an opportunity for us to reassess the nature of works that emerge from a broader consideration of the relationship between garment, accessory and the body. The exhibition is an opportunity to contemplate these objects with greater focus on concept, materials, form and structure – to examine the aesthetics of the object away from the distraction of issues of the body or wearer. While the absence of the body is argued by some fashion theorists to be inappropriate for fashion exhibition, 3 ROOMS presents a case for the exhibition to provide the viewer with the opportunity to explore a new dialogue between viewer, object and maker. 3 ROOMS: Object Design + the Body reveals a new relationship between object and maker.

Young designer/makers represented in the exhibition reveal through their work , a respect for the fine art of crafting a form. They reflect a re-engagement with the traditions founded in the Art and Crafts Movement studio practices established by William Morris in the late 1800s in response to the industrial revolution and the loss of respect for aesthetics and appreciation of the hand made object. Designer fashion and the concept of couture emerged during the same period, however, has evolved into an international industry driven by profit and a market hungry for cheap fast fashion and conspicuous consumption. I suggest that the contemporary rush towards mass market commodification has resulted in a reactionary re-engagement with the craft of making and the emergence of a new haute couture being formulated by a generation of designers who want to redefine the relationship between design and making. The broad use of the term “fashion” and the dynamic nature of the industry has resulted in much debate and confusion regarding the validity of the fashion exhibition. As a consequence of the historic and popular media profile of fashion,

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there is a general perception that it is defined by function and commercial imperatives. However this is a limited perspective of contemporary fashion practice. While function might still inform the fashion object, it is no longer seen as a defining characteristic by a new generation of young designers who develop fashion that Fig 1

defies function.2 Having a commercial end is not essential to the concept of design,3 which presents a challenge this as this is a defining characteristic for fashion. In the preface to ‘Fashion Classics from Carlyle to Barthes’, Michael Carter 4 refers to fashion as being in a state that is “constantly metamorphosing”. Fashion is in fact defined as a state of change. Over the past twenty years it has morphed significantly as a result of its adoption of conceptual investigations and the emergence of an interdisciplinary approach. These shifts are blurring the boundaries between practices and changing perceptions of fashion. As a consequence we are seeing fashion presented within art, design and commercial environments, with the exhibition becoming a more familiar context for us to view the fashion object. The 3 ROOMS exhibition investigates the capacity of exhibition installation or display to

re-evaluate our reading of the fashion object. The immediate connection that we have to the fashion object is born out of the intimacy of the relationship we have with the worn object. Viewing the object evokes a sensory understanding of the materials and forms of fashion. We have learnt what it means to wear an object of dress and have also been trained through the retail experience of viewing these forms in the visual merchandising environment to know how to read and translate these objects into a real and very tangible experience. This knowledge and personal engagement with the fashion object is what heightens its appeal above other forms in the gallery environment. Even when not being worn we know and understand the experience of the wearer; in the gallery contemplating these objects we can project and imagine our personal experiences onto the object. The gallery installation presents a new perspective, an opportunity to contemplate the aesthetics of the fashion object away from function and commercial imperatives that surround these forms in a retail environment. 3 ROOMS: Object Design + the Body was developed as a response to the exhibition Beyond Garment (2010) with designers Jocelyn Tan, Alistair Yiap and artist Elizabeth Delfs who presented work in Beyond Garment, invited as the key exhibitors in 3 ROOMS. These three young creatives were selected because they represent a genre of makers who are reexamining the nature of the fashion object and its presentation. For example, Jocelyn Tan explores the boundary between accessory and garment. Her work questions the function, configuration and wearing of the object and challenges the definition of these forms: …is it a bag… is it a neck piece… is it a garment…; establishing ambiguity and illustrating the potential for slippages in the definition of object through orientation on the body. In the presentation of her work, Tan actively engages in the development of a site specific installation space for her work. She designs a space reflective of a merchandising environment, one which on first sight, visitors could enter and interact with the objects, trying them on and experimenting with the determination of their ‘function’. In the

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Elizabeth Delfs Revolutions series Tuile and synthetic spunbonded fabric forms Photographer: Greg Woodward

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Celene Bridge Goblin Hand carved balsa headdress Photographer: Celene Bridge

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exhibition-gallery context this is not usually a possibility, creating a tension for the viewer who feels invited to touch – but cannot. Tan’s work explores the tensions and conflicts between merchandising and exhibition experience of the fashion object. Trained in jewellery design, Alister Yiap questions the nature and conventions of this form of fashion accessory. His innovative use of materials extends from the conventional application of precious metals Fig 4

ENDNOTE

REFERENCES Brand, J & Teunissen. (2008) Fashion & Accessories, Arnhem, Terra. Benson, M. (1998) The Curators Moment, Art Journal Vol.57 No. 4 Carter, M. (2003) Fashion Classics from Carlyle to Barthes’. Oxford: Berg.

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Jocelyn Tan Pre-Fab Beyond Garment installation Photographer: Greg Woodward

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Alister Yiap Ray (detail) Acrylic & crystal body form Photographer: Cheyne Tillier-Daly

Clark, H. (2012) Conceptual Fashion in Fashion and Art by Adam Geczy and Vicki Karaminas (Eds) London: Berg. Delfs, E. (2010) Elizabeth Delfs in Beyond Garment.

to commonly found hardware; materials are applied to the creation of ‘jewellery’ inspired forms that sit elegantly against the skin or move dramatically away from the body, extending the silhouette of the wearer. “It is as though these objects act not only as a frame to display the body but also enable that wearer to activate these shapes in such a way that their body decorates the form.”5 Elizabeth Delfs presents us with ambiguous “anthropomorphic figures” that reflect the absence of body. Delfs’ intricately manipulated textile forms provide a “new experience in beauty relating to fashion and design with a delicate sense of equipoise.”6 Her forms are often suspended in intimate groupings which are gently animated by the movement of air as audiences move around and amongst the ‘figures’, creating a tangible dialogue between object and viewer. Tan, Yiap and Delfs were presented as case studies for student exhibitors in the preparation of their proposals for this exhibition. The resulting exhibition is an exciting dialogue of ideas surrounding investigations into Object, Design and the Body carried out by a new generation of makers working with concepts and ideas that reflect on the dynamic and metamorphosing nature of the fashion object.

Welshpool: Western. Australian Museum. Farren, A. (2010) ‘Beyond Garment’ in Beyond Garment. Welshpool: Western Australian Museum. Schilo, A. (2010) ‘On Dress and Adornment’. in Beyond Garment. Welshpool: Western Australian Museum. Stringfellow, N. (2011) ‘Introduction’ in Fast Forward Fashion: Fall/ Winter 2011 curated by Nathalie Grolimund. New York: Farameh Media.

1. Clark: 74. 2. Stringfellow: 6. 3. Hamilton: 61. 4. Carter: xii. 5. Schilo: 28. 6. Delfs: 61.

“Changing perspectives: AN Interdisciplinary Fashion Approach”

EMILY WILLS

FACULTY OF DESIGN Lasalle College of the arts

The process of designing, of making a meaning in the world, leaves tangible and intangible traces – a linguistic utterance, an image, a space, an object, a structure. As the design narrative draws to a momentary close, the world has been transformed, perhaps only in a small way or perhaps a larger way. The redesigned is returned to the world, and this return leaves a legacy of transformation. The redesigned joins the repertoire of available designs and so provides openings for new design narratives.1 Cope, B. & Kalantzis, M.

Design is the ability to synthesise our personal experiences and interpretation of the world, to find relationships between what came before us, and what we imagine the future to be. When we design, we aim to create responses that tell the story of our personal observations, those which similarly resonate with our collective experiences of the world. Design is the process of modification and adaptation, a catalyst for change whereby successful design works between disciplines to find new connections, new relationships between seemingly diverse disciplines. Our intention, our hope, is that these tangible and intangible records of personal narrative will remain in future histories to be interpreted and reinterpreted through the process of continued transformation. The ability to collaborate, to exchange knowledge and skills across disciplines is evidenced through new ideas and discoveries that facilitate the cross-pollination of Art and Science, Design and New Media, Physics and Music. Fashion innovation responds to design issues, finding new methods of integrating technology and communicating meanings that “expand the language of art, design, engineering and science, and that open up new vistas of creativity and

invention.” 2 The 3 ROOMS: Object Design + the Body project and exhibition draws upon existing knowledge and methods of research to integrate specialist craftsmanship that push the disciplinary boundaries of fashion, textile and product design, challenging contributors to change their perspective of fashion as a form of object design. Contributing artists Alister Yiap, Jocelyn Tan and Elizabeth Delfs are interdisciplinary creatives whose conceptual thinking and creative outcomes cannot be defined by one area of study. Yiap’s work sits between jewelry, fashion and object design. Off the body, his sculptural forms blur the boundary between design and sculpture, object and accessory. Tan has an interdisciplinary education background in fashion, textiles, product and furniture design, evidenced through her multifaceted outcomes. Delfs refers to herself as an interdisciplinary artist ensuring her work is perceived without pre-connotations of textiles or fashion. Interdisciplinary study and approach are critical because they explore the creation of what Shanken refers to as “boundary objects” 3 – capable of transcending the limits of any one discipline. Much of contemporary fashion appears to be

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stuck in a cyclical nature of referencing historical costume, and digging out retrospective styles as a source for inspiration. For fashion to push boundaries, to be new and challenging, the existing approach to fashion must surely be renegotiated. Zoe Ryan suggests that conceptual visionaries such as Sandra Backlund, Bless and Boudicca explore collaboration and interdisciplinarity to extend their practice beyond garment. These designers construct narratives that frame their clothing and accessories which provides insight into their creative process and emphasizes their ideas and inventive spirit, offering more complex readings of their work.4 Designers who successfully cross the boundaries of their discipline are able to develop expertise in various areas because they seek change, find multiple outcomes and embrace interdisciplinarity. 3 ROOMS: Object Design + the Body asked participants to reconsider the process of fashion design by adapting traditional methods of garment construction and engaging in methods of investigation to move fashion away from its existing ties with garment production. Engaging in interdisciplinary research and practice encouraged students to find new ways of designing and making fashion that explored object design with references to the body, rather than redesigning existing clothing made exclusively to be worn as garment. Using object design as a basis for investigation, students sourced and experimented with alternative materials and construction techniques as seen in Edison Wong’s (Fig. 1) creative process journal. Contributing students who systematically embraced interdisciplinarity challenged not only how object can be considered fashion, but how the presentation of their objects within an exhibition format, and the interaction of the audience with these objects, facilitated new fashion concepts. Edison Wong’s installation Presence of the Void (Fig. 2) examines how the mold or casting of an object can be considered as valuable as the final outcome. His molded boundary objects speak of the body through silhouette and form, and exist as two mirrored structures that sit between sculpture and garment, presence and absence, interior and exterior spaces. 3 ROOMS: Object Design + the Body showcases fashion innovation that relies on

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contributors to draw upon their existing knowledge to integrate ideas, synthesise similarities and produce new outcomes that blur the perspective of what fashion is, and should be. Valencia Angelina Soenoyo’s project Digicrafted Armoury (Fig. 3) uses traditional knitting techniques combined with non-fashion materials - telephone cable wire and silicone tubing - to create a sculptural piece of contemporary armour. When considering the exhibition format, Soenoyo looked to the museumification of fashion and textiles to create an interactive security system which pokes fun at how the value of fashion is determined and presented. Similarly, Melissa Surya’s Imperfectly Formed bodice (Fig. 5) uses unconventional materials, cable ties and string to utilise knowledge of wrapping and binding around the body. Her textiles (Fig. 6) combine traditional basket weaving

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Edison Wong Presence Of The Void

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Valencia Angelina Soenoyo Digicrafted Armoury

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techniques with unorthodox, non fashion related materials. Surya’s work suggests an upper body accessory that blurs the boundaries between gender, shape, and body type, and asks the viewer to question ‘whose body may go beneath this?’ The 3 ROOMS: Object Design + the Body project aims to showcase innovation that moves beyond the casual creation of structural forms and aesthetically pleasing fashion related objects. The works exhibited in this exhibition profiles the collective creativity of participants and their ability to see patterns and make connections between seemingly unrelated concepts and ideas.5 The interdisciplinary practice of the three contributing artists, and participating students similarly explore the fringes of various disciplines of study from sculpture and textiles, to interior, product, and fashion design; the exhibited works investigating the relationships between art and technology, fashion and the body.

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REFERENCES Cope, B. & Kalantzis, M. (2011) Design in Principle and Practice: A reconsideration of the terms of design engagement. The Design Journal, Volume 14, Issue 1. Berg: UK.

ENDNOTE Ryan, Z. (2012) Fashioning the Object: Bless, Boudicca, Sandra Backlund. The Art Institute of Chicago, Yale University Press: New Haven, USA.

Shanken, A. (2005) Artists in Industry and the Academy: Collaborative Research, Interdisciplinary Scholarship and the Creation and Interpretation of Hybrid Forms. Leonardo, Volume 38, Number 5. MIT Press: USA.

Melissa Surya Imperfectly Formed

Pink, D. (2005) A Whole New Mind. Riverhead Books, Penguin Group: New York.

Cope & Kalantzis: 203-234. Shanken: 417. Ryan: 12-14. Shanken: 418. Pink:142.

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Photography: Meiji Nguyen

JOCELYN

TAN

Perth based designer and contributing artist in 3 ROOMS, Jocelyn Tan’s installation investigate the space between garment and accessory and the slippages between retail and exhibition display. Tan’s designs encourage the wearer to interact with her work, allowing the production of an exchange market between society and consumable products. In this way, accessory becomes a process that carries the self beyond adornment. She asserts that the only permanent theme of the fashion world is its constant subjection to flux and the temporary nature of design. Her

bricolage of product, furniture and fashion is sleek, and contemporary and explores the concept of interactive design through suggesting altered ways of making / wearing / using and present the idea that the wearer’s role is to define the functions of the products they are experiencing. Students responding to Tan’s designs looked at the inter-disciplinary approach to fashion design and investigated parallel concepts in retail visual merchandising as a means of presenting their work within new exhibition formats.

Jocelyn Tan Pre-Fab

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Fashion behaves like a language – an exchange market between the world, its products and individuals where temporary and alteration are permanent themes. In this design system, the idea of accessory is presented as more than just adornment; it is an exercise to be completed for and beyond the body. Most importantly: these products involve your design input. Photographer: Greg Woodward Lauren Sims Micro

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An exploration into the unseen parallel world that surrounds us… The work of science photographer Steve Gschmeissner allows us to get a close up view through the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM imager y). Only through these technologies are we able to view the contents of our surrounding micro-world close up, an environment we know so little about. This invisible realm filled with other worldly creatures and organisms has greatly influenced the peculiar textures and sculptural silhouettes seen throughout this collection. My intention is to create a series of garments that directly reference such unrecognizable living microorganisms, reflecting on my fascination with them.

Ariana Davis Atanga

Photographer: Cameron Etchells Acelyn Chuabaazuan Painting Hair My work explores the displacement of hair, which is used to represent our individuality. Since our hair can be altered in many various ways due to its ability to regenerate its length, it offers individuals endless opportunities to express their personalities through it. My work is presented in two unique ways; image and painting.

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My work is in response to Jocelyn Tan’s visualisation of garment as a language- integrating and blurring the lines between psychology, garment and installation. The Rorschach test is a well recognised mechanism used to delve into the human psyche. It is a test of perception, of the way in which we see and interpret the world as individuals. Much like the way in which we view fashion, art and design. We are constantly testing ourselves to determine an understanding of what we are viewing. In the method of the Rorschach test, this installation invites the viewer to define what they see, questioning the boundaries bet ween wearable garment and art installation. Photographer: Cameron Etchells

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I want to investigate the space between garment and accessory focusing on the slippages between the two. I believe that fashion is more than just clothes, and that garments can be created to comment on and express particular ideas and values. I have portrayed this through the exploration and modernisation of ancestral traditions within my garments. Atanga translates to adorn, embellish or enhance; in Maori culture cloaks blur the line between garment and traditional adornments. This is explored from a modern perspective through embellishment with distinct, symbolic feathers and knotting from my own cultural history of life on the land and sea.

Photographer: Cameron Etchells Katherine Young Nebulous

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Valencia Angelina Soenoyo Digicrafted Armoury

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Imogene Spencer Subconscious Skins

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This collection redefines clothing as having a primary function to provide protection. Digicraf ted Armour y showcases hand -craf ted knitting inspired by the construction of historical O’Yoroi Japanese armour. The installation of my work poses questions about “museum security systems” and uses interactive technology to protect the valuable hand crafted design.

The textiles are transformed to wearable pieces, and the initial concepts are further portrayed as a type of body adornment. The installation showcases five garments and their journey from a conceptual ar t space to a fashion retail space. In response to Jocelyn Tan’s work, Subconscious Skins investigates the fine lines between retail and exhibition display.

Timothy Watson Woven Backpack

Photographer: Greg Woodward

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This piece looks at carrying vessels through time. It takes its form from the old and new, with construction referencing the woven baskets that have been a means of conveying goods for millennia, and drawing form from the more recent invention of the back pack. The aim was to blend the old and new harmoniously, in order to create a functional object that can be worn on the body or displayed as a sculptural item. The work was created using old technology, that was channelled into a contemporary style. The woven component was constructed by hand out of silk organza and is shaped using traditional practices of basketry. It is attached to a panel that is subtly shaped so that it forms a casing to the body if desired, or has a natural drape if suspended. Celene Bridge Princess and the Goblin

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Throughout histor y, “hair ” for women essentially symbolises the power of attraction, health and status. Hair elements from traditional Asian beauty of Chinese Empress, Japanese Geisha, and Korean Meori, played major roles as accessories for notions of a “perfect woman” at that time. In a contemporary world, although myths, taboos and traditional believes still remain, the evolution of hair throughout the centuries have been modified and innovated with the development of technology. Idealistic Per fection por trays a contemporar y ideal of ‘per fec tion and power ’ using ar tificial fibres to showcase traditional Chinese braiding.

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The accessories featured in the installation are inspired by The Princess and the Goblin by George McDonald, a fairytale about love, life and evil. The accessories are handmade, carved from a block of wood into the general shape, then finely worked into and whittled down with scalpel, sandpaper and engraving tools. My love lies in the fine details and the act of creating a piece from start to finish. Although the pieces are created with the body in mind, in terms of fit, position and logic, they are sculptures when taken out of the context of body. The body is another surface for these sculptures to adorn. Each piece tells a different story, the context of which can also change with its surroundings. The Lion Bag is inspired by Goblins - blind, vicious, and cunning. As an object it is ambigous and mysterious, a threatening jaw that lashes through orange faux fur. The Wounded Bird is a piece that represents human error and guilt. In the story, Curdie shoots a bird, and regret, sadness and guilt overcome him as he tries to heal it. The piece represents the vulnerability of small creatures to humans, and the power we have to destroy and heal. The Flaming Roses Hand, which when worn on the inner hand, touches to the finger tips, as if in prayer. It is inspired by a scene in the book where Curdie thrusts his hands into a pit of burning roses. Remaining unscathed, he gains powers to see good and evil in people. Photographer: Greg Woodward

Nalin Cherdjareewatananun Idealistic Perfection

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Photography: Cheyne Tillier-Daly

ALI STER

Y I AP

Perth based designer Alister Yiap is the mastermind behind jewelry label, Malachi. To identify the different practices within the discipline of jewelry Yiap created a Runway Couture line which explored the meeting point between between jewelry and garment. Yiap’s work has the capacity to represent the transformative potential of object design and installation. His work in contemporary wearables aims to harness new potentials for acrylic, a material that has saturated the jewelry industry. He attempts to redefine the potential of this

material in the hope of exploring new graphics and possibilities for his products. Yiap’s talent for design manifests itself in harsh lines and geometric patterns that create three-dimensional pieces with the ability to carry form. Selected works that respond to Yiap’s jewelry examine alternative materials and construction methods outside of familiar processes of pattern drafting and production methods. These materials transform the object from fashion to new potential design narratives.

Alister Yiap Diamond Sky

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Fascinated by facets and fashion, my work focuses on identity and individuality, and how one finds oneself through art practice. Photographer: Aaron McPolin Shan Low Connected

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My work features paper structures that suggest shapes and silhouettes of garments. Using the theor y of the historical Elizabethan dress that used the space between body and the environment, combined with the mathematical influence of origami, I have explored the creation of new structures.

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The concept of fashion is one of change, and the process of change generally produces waste. As consumers of fashion goods, many people have moved toward Fast Fashion, which is low-cost clothing based on high-cost luxury fashion trends. This is a fast-response system that encourages disposability. My work aims to bridge this disparity by providing a multi-functional, modular system that can be reconfigured into multi designs. In this way, the concept of change in the fashion context can still be achieved while cutting down on wastage. Stephanie Fulham Cellular Forms

Valentina Chua Paper Extraordinaire

Melissa Surya Imperfectly Formed

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Referencing the Kayan tribesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; neck adornment created by the stack of brass rings, my design is inspired by my narrative of the women uncoiling the neck rings to portray the feeling of freedom. This uncoiling is translated by the use of unconventional materials such as insulated cables to form an asymmetrical and fluid shape that depicts a resistance against standards of beauty; juxtaposing the organic form with industrial materials.

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The beginning of life commences with the production of cells. With modern technology today, we are able to investigate these microorganisms through the use of science. These technologies enable us to explore and investigate form, structure and pattern created within these organisms. To fully examine them through a microscope we not only flatten but compress their bodies until they are a two-dimensional form. It is this process I have begun to experiment with; taking the flattened form and reconstructing it into a sculptural piece using two dimensional mediums. From this method I have created new structures that are specifically pulled from certain cells within the body. Rebuilding these cellular forms in a new format, to enable a new perspective and new convention of a medium that is so essential to the function of life. Concentrating on a specific cell pulled from the body, I have multiplied, layered and built structures that have the ability to be reintroduced to the body through their ability to be worn. The pieces push the boundary of wearability and the capacity to be integrated into a space as an installation. Independent from the body the structures are complex in construction and allow the viewer to challenge their perspective by its repeating layers. On the body the same structure holds a completely different visual interpretation highlighting the bodyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s inner workings bringing them to surface exposing them and creating an aesthetic allure that draws the viewerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interest.

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Edison Wong The Presence of the Void

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The Presence of the Void illustrates the expansion of the body beyond its confines. It reveals the extension to which fashion, and architecture can be interdisciplinary by interpreting space as strictly internal and external. The void evokes the perforation between the internal and external of the body. Revealing the paradox of seen and unseen, the Presence of the Void offers an environment that eradicates the perimeter of the body and built environment. Ivanna Ainora Kuswara The Mask of Reality

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Through dress we can reveal or conceal our identity. Using the Balinese mask as a source of inspiration to hide the identity of the wearer, I found unconventional materials to create a modern mask that holds the power of freedom. Each Balinese mask has different character, purpose and story. The role of the mask is not just to hide the identity of the wearer but empower them with the ability to converse with or the Gods or their ancestors.

Pathmapriya D/O Algassam Mystical Desire

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Gods and Goddesses are the most prominent aspect of Hinduism. There are diverse deities and their manifestations in the history of the Hindu religion. Inspired by Ardhanariswara â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a manifestation where deity Shiva and his wife Parvati appear as an androgynous form of half male and half female, my piece of artwork evolves around the transformative potential of object design. It is a jewelry inspired object for both men and women, and a decorative piece of art work when absent from the body.

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Photographer: Fhenny Herlianti Iskandar Setiawan Plume Paradise

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Feathers conjure up a sense of fantasy and carr y fabulous stories of people and environment. Admiring the flaws and imperfections of the natural and handmade, my work is not simply about mimicking biological forms but trying to understand the processes by which those forms came about. The object Plume Paradise represents the transformative potential of object installation. It is a futuristic yet organic sculpture that casts a beautiful bird of paradise shadow as well as proposing a unique headdress. Hu Min Gaea

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With social development and progress, human kindâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s productive labour has gradually transformed from physical to mental labour. As a result a large par t of outdoor labour has been transferred to indoor space. My design is a futuristic suggestion of how clothing and materials will change as society moves indoors from the outdoors.

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Photography:Eva Fernandez

ELI ZABETH

D ELFS

Interdisciplinary artist Elizabeth Delfs investigates the dialogue between cloth and the absent body. Delfs’ work explores the interaction between the organic and the inorganic and the bodies place within built environment. The work that she is exhibiting for 3 ROOMS encapsulates the more sensual elements of her vision with ethereal fabrics that are able to vacillate between two-dimensional shapes and three dimensional sculptures. The

sculpture distorts the angles of the body and the perforations in the material collapse the boundary between interior and exterior, exploding the scope of the viewer’s perspective. The exhibited works that respond to Delfs’ sculptural forms similarly blur the line between the conceptual polarities of object /surface, permanent /ephemeral, gender /genderless, sculpture /garment.

Elizabeth Delfs Revolutions

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My practice sits between garment construction and the built environment and explores the rendering of space through objects that vacillate between habitations and figurative sculpture articulated by the transference of qualities from the body and the built environment. These works come from the series Revolutions and are created with the ability to expand and collapse, allowing them to be configured to a specific location, on the floor, wall or body. Combining elements of the mobius band to create non-orientable objects, the geometric stencil work combined with material to evoke movement, changing mass and shifting surface. Samuel McCloy I was never here

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The project, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I was never hereâ&#x20AC;?, is an examination of the metaphorical walls that a reser ved person will build around themselves as an emotional barrier. By blurring the lines between the body and the space around it, this installation shows how a person hides aspects of themselves. This project employs visual illusions to display a human form that is not completely present, presenting a for tified personality surrounded by walls that contains their most vulnerable aspects. Hannah Steens Concerning the Collective

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Through engagement with the potential of installation, this body of work investigates the relationships between fashion, architecture and art. The installation of object is a subtle reflection of materiality in fashion, the presence of space in architecture and installation in ar t. The organic cloth-like structure combines an unconventional material, rubber band, with the traditional process of knitting. The combination of process and material provides links to fashion, architecture and art. The object resembles a piece of draped cloth forming space between the folds. The traditional process of knitting is used to create cloth from the rubber bands. The individual rubber bands are laced together into a long thread and then knitted together. Knitted from three different sizes of rubber band, the object is formed from the singular to form the collective. Through the repetition and linkage of the individual elements, this visual organism explores the ideas of the power of a collective body. The collection and series of connections between the single rubber bands form a strong, collective structure. The organic structure of the rubber cloth investigates the potential for its application as a material and as an object. Stephanie Kinsman Unattainable

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Garments are directly related to the body. The body is an impor tant par t of how an individual is viewed and how you view other people. There are many stereotypes and ideologies associated with the body, particularly the female body. The ideal female body is fairly unrealistic, with women longing for the height and slenderness of a model as well as the curves of a sixties pinup girl.

The body is obviously a natural object. However it is interesting to see how unrealistic and unnatural the ideal body type is to most and how some women even resor t to unnatural procedures and unhealthy habits to obtain this ideal. Through this installation the ideal body is investigated through natural fibres and fabrics in contrast to the unnatural body shape that has been moulded. The installed pieces are garments. These garments give the impression that they are to be worn. However due to the lack of openings on these garments, they are unwearable, suggesting how the ideal body is unattainable and gives one an unnatural impression. Emily Muco Entropic

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Entropy is the tendency of all things to move from a state of equilibrium or order to a state of chaos. I see this kind of shift reflected in the phenomenon that was the Ballet Russes, which in the early part of the 20th century turned the world of dance, music, art and fashion on its head. The Ballets Russes introduced a bright and bold explosion colour, vitality and dynamism replacing the dull, ordered and lifeless forms of the traditional ballet. Manipulation and construction of fabrics create a sense of turbulence and vitality. Forms that have a sense of erratic and random movement. Vivid colours and exuberant shapes blending harmoniously, creating garments which are expressive but also functional. Intense and energetic, an expression of vigorous movement. The contours created through seams, pattern and tucking techniques form diverse shapes which give rise to bizarre textures and silhouettes.

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Mei Yen Loke Reveiling

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Reveiling presents the veil not just as an article of clothing, but also as a concept of complex metaphors that invite viewers to see through the veil’s current controversies. The veil is stripped of its political contentions, and ideas of concealment and revelation are explored visually as visitors are invited to cloak themselves in a suspended veil that reveal and expose all at once. A webcam invites visitors to stare at their own gaze; to be the obser ver and the observed simultaneously. The profundity of this process lies in the enablement of viewers to confront their perceptions of veiling and the veiled subject. Therein lies the revelation that comes within the concealment. Hailey Lim SW Women of our Time

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“Everything we see hides another thing, we always want to see what is hidden by what we see.” Magritte My installation work reflects the contradiction of the idealization of women in our time. Women are hindered by perceptions of how they should behave. I reference traditional 16th century dress, whereby women were heavily dressed, covered up from top to bottom. Yet, at the same time it was popular to fantasize about women being naked, especially in fine arts. This shows that even though women can be seen as fully covered they are still objectified.

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Shinead Gecas Arcana

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The work is grounded on ideas of esoteric spiritual transformation coupled with a study on Carl Jung’s psychological adaptations of Alchemy. It includes hand dyed textile lengths, photographic works and small glass/acetate works that seek to visually suggest the convoluted changing nature of human spirituality and its relevance to the 21st century. The work aims to intrigue, confuse and draw light on an area that is continuously discredited in modern day society and hopes to encourage a viewer to consider on the various ideas surrounding spirituality.

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Photographer: Greg Woodward Maleka Rajul Shah Integrated illumination

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The Bandhani is a type of Indian textile that is usually worn on the body. This installation combines textiles and interiors to explore the atypical link between the different design pathways. It shows how design knows no confines, restriction or bonds. Integrated Illumination explores the vibrancy of Indian culture by using a contemporary approach towards the textiles and its interactions with other materials. Illumination, in terms of the actual lighting that shines through the fabric. The key textile techniques and technologies; that are fragmented, borrowed and combined together, from the different time periods that they are developed in. By changing the parameters of what is considered to be textiles, this installation shows how fashion, as a whole, is ironic: always up-to-date, yet always out-dated.

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SPEC I AL THAN KS

N U R H I D AYAH BA K A R DR CHARLES MEREWETHER L I O N EL R O U D AU T Circe Henestrosa MARIA WALF VINCENTE DELGADO AGNES CHONG RAMESH NARAYANAN JESSICA AnNE RAHARDJO JOLEEN LOH MOHAMMED REDZUAN BIN ZEMMY SUFIAN SAMSIYAR

Reference to the Perth Fashion Festival exhibition Beyond Garment in the development of 3 ROOMS: Object, Design + the Body is acknowledged and has been approved by the Perth Fashion Festival.

3 R O O M S : O b j e ct, D ES I G N + T HE B O DY

E X H I B I T I O N C U R AT O R S A N N E FA R R E N E M I LY W I LLS

I n s titut e o f C ont e m p or a ry Art s S I N GAP O R E

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form of by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. The publisher does not warrant or assume any legal responsibility for the publication’s contents. All opinions expressed in the book are of the authors and do not neccessarily reflect those of LASALLE College of the Arts. ©2012 Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore ©2012 Individual contributions: the contributors ISBN: 978-981-07-4653-7 Design by SUSEJ Edited by Jessica Anne Rahardjo Printed in Singapore (1000 copies)