TvH Statement

.1 What is your craft? (define your discipline, method or approach)

At the moment I find it hard to give my craft a name, at first I was sure it was Fashion design, though I’m more on the art side of fashion than designing a fashion collection and I want to integrate technology in the garments. I think I should my craft Fashion tech or Cyber couture, honestly I’m better at defining what I want to do.

My focus lies on integrating interactive technology in garments, for entertainment proposes. I want to create pieces for performances, installations of wearable art, which interact with each other or the surroundings and critical pieces with concepts about health and life.

The technology I’m talking about will be for instance lights reacting to sound, moving textiles activated by the wearers movement or embroidered speakers which are controlled by the wearers magnetic glove.

On one hand I want to create my own pieces and on the other I want to offer my services as a fashion designer to help other designers create quality garments with integrated technology. Because a lot of Fashion tech is made without much knowledge about garment construction, fashion design and textile techniques. For me the quality of material, construction and fit are key for an outstanding design and I focus on these parts a lot, next to the quality of the design of course.

I want to create garments with integrated technology which is more fashionable, so not only focussing on the function of the technology and putting it on the body, but integrating it in a design for the body.

For creating my designs I want to explore combining traditional textile and tailoring techniques with the integration of technology. I love creating textiles and I want to see what is possible with these traditional techniques like knitting and lace making with technology like lights, actuators and handmade speakers.

.2 What are the tools and media of your craft?

For fashion the traditional way of presenting your newest creations is a fashion show. It started in the 1800’s when Parisian Couture Salons showed their new collection to their clientele by having models parade around the Salon in the newest costumes. The fashion show has seen some shifts of change happening over the centuries, but the concept is still very much the same, models walk back and forth to present a garment. Though there are designers using other ways to present a collection, by using film like Garath Pugh or a performance like Rick Owens Step dancers. Though this is sporadic and they fall back into the norm with the following show.

Next to the shows there is the Lookbook, basically a portfolio for a specific product or collection, not an entire body of work. Personally really like the way Monique van Heist presents her continuous collection hellofashion. Van Heist also photographs her clients in their daily lives while wearing the clothes from hellofashion, instead of using professional models who fake a character, look or lifestyle.

For a brand or designer the internet is very important, of course most people are connected to the internet most of the time, so social media is one of the biggest platforms to bring the awareness to a brand, new developments etc. Some of the bigger labels also choose to stream their fashion shows, so more people are able to enjoy the spectacle. Selling online is a great a lot of smaller collections are only available online. So this also means that branding has gotten a huge online focus.

For the wearable technology the concept of presenting a garment in a fashion show is also adopted. Which is often the wrong platform, it depends on what the purpose of the garment is and how the technology is triggered for it to work on a runway.

This is all generally spoken. So how do I want to present my work?

.3 What are the borders of this practice? (what new media technologies have arisen / what is its future of the field))

For now technology will become more integrated in our clothing, ranging from interactive garments for entertainment to functional garments which can monitor/support our health. I do think at some point there will be a societal shift to wanting less technology, but technology will certainly not vanish from our daily needs.

.4 Connect to a historical discourse and give concrete examples (images too please) of inspiring historical and contemporary practitioners

Technology can be an ethical nightmare. What kind of data does the technology collect? How is this data stored and processed? I’m talking invasion of privacy here, a subject of which I’m fascinated and slightly paranoid by.

So what is the definition of privacy? According to the oxford dictionary, ‘A state in which one is not observed or by other people’. This is a much wider definition than I expected, for me this means invading one’s privacy is just looking at them, I didn’t realise it was so easy. But here I guess the difference between privacy and secrecy steps in, which I think get’s explained very clearly in a Cypherpunks manifesto by Eric Huges. “Privacy is not secrecy. A private matter is something one doesn't want the whole world to know, but a secret matter is something one doesn't want anybody to know. Privacy is the power to selectively reveal oneself to the world.”

Some of the projects that came to mind when talking about privacy and secrecy.. The Glasshole wifi block by Julian Oliver… The Google glass was one of the first thing that I thought off, I’ve read many interviews and blogs about the users and what fascinates me is the fact most really don’t understand why people don’t want others to run around them with the glasses.

The Glasshole script obtains the mac addresses of the wifi users and compares them with the known MAC prefix for the Google Glass, if it matches it will throw the user of the wifi. http://julianoliver.com/output/log_2014-05-30_20-52

Gallery by Yolanda Dominguez… ‘The ‘Gallery’ project is aimed to shed light over one of the characteristics of our society: the morbid and addictive act of looking at intimate photos of others through the Internet.’

I like the fact that the visitor has a choice to look at the personal info on the artists phone which is displayed in the exhibition. So you get presented with a dilemma, it is presented as a part of the exhibition, but by scrolling through the photo gallery you’re also invading the artist’s privacy.

http://www.yolandadominguez.com/en/project/gallery-2014/

Nest by Jakob Geltner… I love the satire behind the Urban installations of Geltner, treating technology as a invasive species.

http://www.geltner.cz/root/nest-01/

x.pose by Xuedi Chen… ‘In the digital realm we are naked and vulnerable.’ I’m not sure if I fully agree with this project though. First of all nudity does not equal vulnerability in my opinion. And if she wouldn’t want you to see her nipples she wouldn’t wear it…

https://vimeo.com/97703615

GER MOOD SWEATER by Sensoree SENSOREE has crafted a soft sensor design called the The GER: Galvanic Extimacy Responder, as it promotes extimacy – externalized intimacy. The sensors are located on the hands and reads excitement levels then translates the data into a palette of affective colors.’ I think I prefer the mood sweater over the x.pose when it comes to the type of exposure. I’m not saying you emotions are more personal that your nipples, but somehow it feels more invasive to take away the option to hide your emotions.

http://sensoree.com/artifacts/ger-mood-sweater/’

Paparazzi lover by Ricardo O ‘Nascimento & Ambasja Blanken "Paparazzi lover” helps the wearer to remind photographers who the real star is. In a sea of flash lights, the interactive technology in the dress senses when the crowd needs a gentle nudge to properly direct their attention. So the dress lights up when it senses flashes of light, this also creates a difficult to capture dress, which can be a way of claiming privacy in an open space.

http://www.onascimento.com/#/paparazzi-lover/

Up until now my work has not touched the ethics of technology, because I just recently decided to focus on creating Fashion tech. During the minor I want to continue my research into privacy & the ethics of technology.