digital garden

A consumed garment is devoured and assimilated by the wearer, with both entities diluted - the integrity of the garment and the humanity of the wearer are debased and demeaned. But if a designed object is not to be consumed, how is it to be interacted with? A garment could be distributed without the exchange of money, but this would not guarantee the absence of a consuming mentality or approach. It is not the purchasing of the object that invokes its subordination, but rather the “discovery” of the object – the superficial interaction and “reflection” of the self that the consumer “uncovers”. How could garment interaction that is neither comsumptive nor contrived be facilitated?

I have been participating in some third year assessments this week, interacting with the garments and trying to be consciously aware (via reflection) of my role in the performance. In particular, at one stage I was a carpet, furnished with miniature white house objects. I found that I became an open ghost house, observing my incomplete clean objects challenge my sense of scale and highlight the joyous filthiness (rapture burden) of my garment-self. This garment drew me into the dialogue between the sterile, the stale and kitsch representations of transience or translucence. I did not find this interaction contrived, as I was an active participant in the creative process. This action would not be repeated. There was no ready-made, one-size-fits-all gallery “experience”, and in reality my experience was in no way the goal of the dressing. There was no explicit intention of having the information distort, no way in which the creators desired the interaction to occur. This type of spontaneous evocation of beauty is what I desire to facilitate as a creator. In another assessment, the student spoke of how her understanding of the garments evolved with the interpretation of each wearer.

These events lead me to the understanding that wearing is a powerful element within creative process, and continues (refreshes?) the symbiotic dialogue between garment, creator, wearer and viewer. So how to distribute clothing in a manner that recognises this, and feeds fluidly through and alongside the design process? I think it will take me time to fully understand the weight of this question.